When Puppets and Dolls Attack
(Wizard Entertainment Region 1 NTSC DVD)
(2005)
review by Head Cheeze

During the VHS boom, the rental store closest to my house featured this great little corner that had a faux "haunted castle" entrance, cobwebs, and an assortment of spooky props and cutlery dangling from the ceiling. This section housed literally dozens of off-the-wall horror titles ranging from Tim Ritter's Truth or Dare to the Troma collection, and I always felt as though that particular part of the store was pretty much tailor-made for me and my friends, as we were usually the only ones ever in there. It was back then that I first stumbled upon Charles Band's Puppet Master. I fell in love with that film instantly, as it combined horror and humour with some wickedly fun special effects, as well as some of the most unique antagonists I'd ever seen in a horror film. While Band served as producer on this film, he would later helm the sequels which, given the gradual decline of the market, were less impressive, but still genuinely fun flicks whose cult audience gratefully consumed other "killer doll/puppet" flicks Band and Full Moon seemed to crank out at an alarming rate.

Now, Wizard Entertainment presents something of a "greatest hits" package of this horror sub-genre, with the compilation When Puppets and Dolls Attack! Featuring over three hours of kills and thrills from the Puppet Master/Demonic Toys/Dollman series, this DVD is a Full Moon fan's wet dream. It's a fast-paced, well edited collection that sort of glosses over the boring parts of these films (the humans!) and cuts straight to the marionette mayhem, with heaps of gore and some laugh-out-loud funny moments that will make fans of these films weep with joy.

The DVD also features a boatload of extras, including behind the scenes featurettes from the first five Puppet Master films, as well as Totem, Ragdoll, Dollman vs. Demonic Toys, trailers and more. There's literally hours upon hours of entertainment, here, and if you're a Full Moon junkie, Wizard (Band's new company) has your fix in one convenient (and budget priced) disc.

I had loads of fun with this one, though, to be honest, there's almost too much stuff here! The feature itself would probably have been better served were it cut down by a third, but that's just me; diehard fans would probably have appreciated even more!

In the end, you get a solid weekend's worth of entertainment for less than a large pizza, and a welcome walk down memory lane, which is a bargain at any price.