Puppet Master: Axis of Evil

Director - David DeCoteau (Swamp Freak, 90210 Shark Attack)
Starring - Levi Fiehler (Moonshine Inc., Ray Donovan), Jenna Gallaher (Nightfall, Gateway), and Taylor M. Graham (Breaking Wind, Blood Effects)
Release Date - 2010
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "The legends of horror have returned"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I recently watched Troma's Surf Nazis Must Die as a break from the Puppet Master series.  I really enjoyed my time with this box set but some of the movies were leagues better than others.  Sadly, some did not stand the test of time that well.  After watching Surf Nazis Must Die I decided to venture back to the Puppet Master Toulon's Trunk set to watch some more puppet on Nazi action.  The next film in the set begins a new era in the Puppet Master saga that ties the story closely with the opening act of the first film.  This installment, Puppet Master: Axis of Evil is the tenth film in the series and focuses more on the Nazis and World War II.  It wasn't a bad film but wasn't as great as some of the others.
     The film follows a young man with a bad leg who works as a hired hand at his uncle's hotel.  He befriends Andre Toulon and is told about his special puppets and the  Nazis' interest in them.  The Nazis are about to catch him so he kills himself after hiding his puppets in the wall.  The young man takes the puppets back to his mother's home and inadvertently discover the Nazis and Japanese working together to destroy a weapons manufacturing plant.  Now he must team up with his girlfriend and the puppets to stop the Axis power from sabotaging the war effort.
     I wasn't expecting much from this installment.  The last two didn't stand the test of time and were honestly a rather boring experience.  Axis of Evil was not a bad film.  In fact, it was actually pretty entertaining but it didn't look like the classic Puppet Master films.  Instead, it looked and felt like another Evil Bong or Gingerdead Man film.  The acting in this one is easily one of the weaker film in the series.  The cast is very one dimensional and does very little to make their characters feel believable.  The direction missed it's mark and the cast did not seem dedicated to their roles.  The story for this one is actually pretty clever.  The film picks up just mere moments after the first film and stars a whole new story arc.  Sadly, the story does start to fall apart towards the end.  Its obvious that the film was meant to have a sequel but cutting the story in half made this installment fall short.  Finally, the film does have a few on screen kills but they are pretty weak when you compare them to the other films in the series.  The practical effects are minimal and the visual effects are an eye sore.  With that being said, I love the look of the old and new puppets.  They look great and get the viewer excited for the film.  Overall, Puppet Master: Axis of Evil is a decent entry in the series but just doesn't cut it among the better films.  It is worth a shot but not much replay value.