Puppet Master II

Director - David Allen (The Dungeonmaster, The Magic Treasure)
Starring - Elizabeth MacLellan (Friday's Curse, Jake and the Fatman), Collin Bernsen (Creep Van, Savage Land), and Steve Welles (The Addams Family, They Came from Outer Space)
Release Date - 1990
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "They're back.  No strings attached"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Here we go!  After watching the first Puppet Master flick I couldn't wait to see the sequel.  Many of my horror friends on social media told me that the second film in the series is the best.  I always find it strange that most fans cling to the classic sequels but refuse to give most modern sequels a chance. Many proclaim movies like Bride of Re-Animator, Dawn of the Dead, Evil Dead II, and Friday the 13th Part II to be their favorite films but then immediately start bashing a sequel as soon as it's announced.  Just some food for thought.  Anyway, after watching the awesome first film I went ahead and tossed in the second film in the Toulon Puppet Master Trunk Set.

     The follows the puppets from the first film who use the serum that keeps them alive to resurrect Andre Toulon.  Toulon has now been dead for 51 years and is brought back to life in a decomposed state.  He wraps himself in bandages and returns to the inn where he killed himself.  Inside is a group of parapsychologists.  There was a murder in the inn sometime ago and a woman had her brains removed through her nose.  There has been several instances of animals being killed in the surrounding countryside and their brains have been removed in a similar fashion.  While they are investigating they suspect Toulon, who has let his presence be known, is responsible for the murders and when their friends turn up dead they quickly learn why Toulon and his band of puppets are killing and extracting the brain.
       I can see why a lot of fans enjoyed this follow up.  Sadly, I didn't like it as much as the first film but I do see why so many can hold this one is such high regard.  The acting in this one is more of what we got in the first film.  The characters are very one dimensional so the cast doesn't have much to work with.  They do a decent job trying to give them personality and bringing them to life but they still fall flat.  The story for this one has a lot of potential but feels sloppy in a sense.  I had hoped that the opening scene with the re-animated Toulon rising from the grave would set the tone for the film but it doesn't.  This gruesome scene really got me excited for the film but the film mostly follows the same look and feel as the first one but was unable to pull together a story as well polished as the first film.  It almost contradicts the first film.  In the first film Toulon is portrayed as a genuinely kind old man who hid his puppets before the Nazi's could get their hands on them and then killed himself before they could torture him to get his secret.  In the follow up film Toulon is maniacal who becomes obsessed with a woman who he things is the reincarnation of his long dead wife.  He then sends his puppets to kill for him in order to get her along and to create more serum for himself.  This is not the same Toulon which takes away from the fun in the first film.  Finally, this one is a lot more dark than the first film.  We get some amazing practical effects.  Sadly, the best effects are delivered during the opening sequence and never topped throughout the film.  Overall, Puppet Master II is a fun watch but I don't see it being better than the first.  Fans of the first should check it out but continuity errors takes away from the film.