Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Puppet Master 4 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 3, 2015

Most every studio has a signature franchise. For the longest time, Star Wars and 20th Century Fox were inseparable; think of one and immediately think of the other. That was certainly the granddaddy of them all, but franchises like Star Trek, The Fast and the Furious, and Batman have become closely associated with their respective studios as well. For Full Moon Features, a small direct-to-video label that blossomed in the late 1980s/early 1990s in the video cassette rental sector, that franchise is Puppet Master, a name that certainly doesn't carry the clout of Jurassic Park or Lord of the Rings but, amongst genre aficionados, is well adored. As with many franchises, however, the films have gotten progressively worse over the years, with Puppet Master finding its low point with 2010's Axis of Evil. Yet its middle stretch -- which includes Puppet Master 4 -- delivers perfectly serviceable, if not somewhat bland, franchise entires that do a fair job of continuing on with franchise lore and changing things up while maintaining, mostly, a familiar presentation that should please fans.

Andre Toulon's ability to animate nonliving puppets has caught the attention of a demon that wishes to stifle man's ability to make use of such a great power. The demon Sutekh has sent forth minions to retrieve the secret formula, which leads it to the Bodega Bay Inn, a central location in the Puppet Master universe. Staying there and acting as an off-season caretaker is Rick Myers (Gordon Currie) who has used the Inn's sprawling floor plan to his advantage in his study of robotics and artificial intelligence. His studies are going nowhere, and he's given a break from his work when his friends Susie (Chandra West), Lauren (Teresa Hill), and Cameron (Jason Adams) come for a visit. They locate Toulon's puppets and the formula that gives them life. With the puppets fully animated, the group must fend off a demonic attack that that could spell doom for all involved, human and puppet alike.

Puppet Master 4 takes the series in a new direction, introducing, for the first time, puppets as heroes rather than villains. All of the favorites return. Blade, Pinhead, Six Shooter, Tunneler, and Jester are pulled from storage and unleashed on some, literally, hellacious baddies. The surrounding story isn't overly complex or, frankly, all that interesting. It allows for a serviceable lore-induced backdrop and some nifty practical creature effects that make for a nice change of pace from the usual array of stock series puppets. The film is definitely an effects-first movie. It is, rhythmically, not at all dissimilar from other, similar pictures as it goes through many of the basic Horror movie permutations. Characters are shallow and interchangeable, serving as facilitators for the puppets to do their thing. But give the movie credit for focusing on what audiences want, which is cool puppet battles, not a dramatically rich opus. The film's runtime is brief and paced just well enough to keep the audience interested, a must considering that there's not much substance to be found otherwise.

Puppet Master 4 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Puppet Master 4's 1080p transfer is a solid performer. Light grain is consistent, providing a healthy filmic veneer. A bit of noise and a few spots and speckles creep on top, most obviously noted around the 29:30 mark, but the transfer is otherwise in good working order. Textures are naturally sharp and pleasant. Clothing lines and facial features are dense and detailed but the real winners here are the puppets, which reveal plenty of fine little paint and surface details, and the demons, whose rubbery, gory features are very well pronounced. Colors are rich and vibrant. Rick's red shirt pushes a little too much and threatens to bleed from its confines, but the palette is otherwise stable and healthy. Black levels and flesh tones raise no alarms. This is another in a growing list of quality transfers from Full Moon.

Puppet Master 4 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Puppet Master 4 features a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. While it performs well enough in the broadest sense, the track fails to produce the sort of crystal-clear results demanding listeners expect. Musical clarity is stymied throughout. It's a bit sharp, absent precision definition, and lacking the sort of heft the deeper notes demand. Spacing is fine, however, and there's a slight drift into the rears. Supportive effects sometimes satisfy, sometimes not. Drifting, cracking thunder (though it's again lacking the more potent heft it deserves) lingers nicely but driving rain comes across as more unrefined than lifelike. Sound movement and placement about the stage is good, however, particularly as Rick's robots scurry about in a few scenes. Dialogue is fairly clear and nicely articulated, but prioritization suffers a bit in places, getting lost in the greater shuffle of music and sound effects.

Puppet Master 4 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Puppet Master 4 contains a commentary, a videozone featurette, and assorted trailers for other films in the Puppet Master franchise and from the greater Full Moon catalogue.

• Audio Commentary: With Director Jeff Burr.
• Videozone (480i, 21:04): Charles Band opens by discussing the franchise's history and how it opened up the Full Moon universe. The piece continues on to take an inside look at Puppet Master 4. Also included at the end are short looks at other Full Moon films.
• Trailers (1080p): Specters, Vampire Journals, Puppet Master, Puppet Master 2, Puppet Master 3, Trancers 2, Subspecies 2, and Subspecies 3.

Puppet Master 4 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Director Jeff Burr says in his commentary track that Puppet Master 4 is, essentially, the first half of a longer, what he calls single, film with Puppet Master 5, so it's a shame that Full Moon didn't see fit to release it to Blu-ray at the same time. Nevertheless, Puppet Master 4 makes for a decent enough standalone release that sees the puppets transition from villain to hero and battle some gruesome monsters as part of a larger story that's not exactly on the cutting edge of creativity but that gets the job done. Full Moon's Blu-ray, likewise, gets the job done. Video, as always, is a strength while audio struggles under the constraints of a lossy soundtrack. Supplements include a commentary track and a vintage "Videozone" featurette. Recommended.