After having success with their inaugural release Puppet Master, Full Moon Entertainment followed it a year later with this second entry and it actually manages to be almost as enjoyable thanks to the steady helming of special effects man David Allen (directing his first, and only, full-length movie), a decent batch of kills, and better production values than most of the, seemingly endless, sequels. Puppet Master II is a movie from back when the series didn't feel like a bunch of lame retreads and is probably the third best film of the nine(!) coming in solidly behind the original and David DeCoteau's third entry.

Our favourite puppets ("Blade", "Tunneler", "Leach Woman", and "Pinhead") are back and up to no good as they resurrect their master, Toulon, from the grave using a glowing green liquid in order for him to help them regain their powers. Another way that'll help is that it just so happens that a group of paranormal investigators, led by Elizabeth MacLellan, have shown up at the hotel on Bodega Bay in order to investigate the events of the original movie.

When they first get there, everything seems pretty normal (well apart from a few out-of-place supernatural moments with chanting and oddly glowing lights), but soon enough that all changes as Toulon (wrapped in bandages and looking like The Invisible Man) shows-up on the scene claiming to be the hotel's owner and his gang of puppets start their killing anew in order to collect the "brain matter" necessary for their master's revival serum. This leads to a finale were the puppets are pitted against their master when Toulon's obsession with his dead wife, Elsa, has him more focused on bringing him and MacLellan together (since she reminds him or her) than helping his creations as they intended in the first place.

Puppet Master II is a fun little movie. If you can forget about that junky "body switch" finale and just enjoy the murderous little dolls killing spree then you're more than likely going to have fun with this one. It slings more blood than most of the watered-down sequels that'd follow it, it introduces us to Charlie Spradling (and her perfectly shaped form supplying us the skin quotient), and it even manages to work in some flashbacks to give us more back story on how Toulon and his puppets came to be - something that would be given more focus in the following year's entry.

Also, due to having Allen at the helm, the puppet effects here are still pretty damn decent and on the level of the original (before they become too obvious and weak) and it's our first introduction to new puppet, "Torch", and his flamethrower hand. And it's hard to complain when the movie even manages to throw in an odd, unrelated puppet attack on a small boy with obvious issues - and a whip that he pretends to whip his "Nazi" action figure with.

If you're interested in this series, then you'll want to see this one - in fact you can't really go wrong with the first four of the set. It's a competently made, and entertaining, time even if you'll be wondering why Toulon's appearance (and his Dracula-like accent) doesn't manage to freak out his guests and why the cute Spradling never managed to become a regular Full Moon actress. If you're sharp enough you might notice a glimpse of the puppet strings during one of the attack scenes. (Chris Hartley, 12/4/05)

Directed By: David Allen.
Written By: David Pabian.

Starring: Elizabeth MacLellan, Collin Bernsen, Gregory Webb, Charlie Spradling.