Puppet Master 2 1990 - An Educational Public Service
In
what is a hallmark of this long running franchise, we lose the people who
survived the first film in between movies. The previous owner of the Bodega Bay Inn, and widow of the psychic undead villain of the last movie, died by her brain pulled out her nose like mummification rituals, under
mysterious circumstances. (At least until you see this film.) We also learn Alex, the remaining psychic from last round, was driven insane due to his encounters with living puppets and undead former colleagues, as
happens.
This
movie may be the best film from a technical "actual quality" standard. (Not counting the next one which stands head and shoulders above the rest.) The
effects are top notch (to the point that the footage from this one got reused the
most) the overall plot works (on its own), the acting is decent (for late night cable) there’s
multiple sets and locations used, and the story goes in some cool directions.
However,
it doesn’t really fit in with the overall mythology of the franchise. Some
people think this is really the final story chronologically, but I think they’re
wrong too. Luckily, I am insane, and have figured that all out, which I’ll get
to at the end.
The
story picks up some random time later with the puppets pouring a very
Re-Animatory looking green liquid into Toulon’s grave. The date on the grave is
already wrong, and this is the last time I’ll come close to referencing an
actual dates used in these stories to keep my head from exploding.
New
Puppet in This one-Torch-
Torch, who gets constructed in this one (sadly meaning he can't be in any flashback films) is very cool. He’s in a German military looking coat with the spiked
helmet, and is made of metal. His teeth are bullets and his eyes light up red
when he does his thing. His thing being using the flame thrower which is his
left arm. Having Torch in a film is VERY expensive because of all the
additional costs of fire safety gear and personnel. This is why we see him so
rarely after his first, stellar appearance. Sounds- a much deeper and stronger
hiss than Blade.
To
keep the psychic thing going, a group of government paranormal researchers show
up to the closed Bodega Bay Inn to investigate what happened in the last movie. A wrapped like the
Invisible Man looking guy who calls himself “Eriquee” (pronounced "Eric") is living in the hotel but
no one notices him for a while. It’s clear to the viewers that he is Toulon,
and that’s well before he builds Torch. One of the researcher’s aunt shows up. (I think.
It could be his Mom. While the films are remastered, there are, sadly, no subtitles.)
Her name is Camille, and she is a psychic for a tabloid who comes to help.
(Played by Nita Talbot, the token “actor you’ve actually seen before” in this
one.) To find them, she asks directions from two, ill tempered, very clearly
southern, farm owning rednecks who for some reason live in California. Camille
drinks a lot and values feelings over thinking.
This
movie is one of the key Lore sources. There’s a flashback to Toulon in Egypt. (Which
they will insert fully, or partially, into a great many follow up entries into
this franchise.) This Egyptian trip is presumably where Toulon picked up - or was given - or
stole - the Scroll of Osiris which has part of the secret of living puppets and/ or immortality in it. There he met a spooky bearded man with Star Trek
Original Series lighting on his eyes . That guy mentally sets Toulon’s stage on
fire while Toulon is showing a stringless Mephistopheles puppet with a head that looks a great deal like Blade.Nothing is ever made of this connection, nor do they explain (yet) how he has living puppets before this trip. There’s also a weird, mystical Arabian
monkey looking living puppet that was used to demonstrate… something to him.
The Green Fluid was presumably introduced to Toulon, or stolen by him as well
on this trip...maybe. The franchise is more than a tad vague on the relationship
between the scroll, the spells, the part of the brain needed and the green
fluid, all of which contribute to the living puppets and the quest for
immortality. To continue the Egyptian connection, the Bodega Bay Inn is
location is “Scarab Hill.”
Tunneler
takes out one of the researchers after a bit of late night cable fooling
around. The drilling puppet is captured and the parapsychologist's equipment and investigations “reveal” how the
puppets work. They are “biomechanical” even though nothing inside them looks biological. What is revealed inside them is a collection of
gears but also some kind of tubing based circulatory system, but no motors.
One
of the best effect based scenes is Leech Woman and Torch doing a one two attack
on the farmhouse rednecks. I mean, I guess they could be Neo Nazis which would tie in
with the rest of the franchise well. I wonder if this scene was the inspiration
for the tiny Ash attack in the farmhouse from Army of Darkness. Torch’s
premier attack is a heck of a burn stunt. Sadly, because the studio thought she
was too icky, Leech Woman gets tossed into a furnace. I mean, she’s in the next
film which is a prequel, and some later ones as well, so that’s another thing I
need to tackle in my Grand Unified Puppetmaster theory.
Fortunately,
in the scene I am convinced inspired Woody scaring Sid in the first Toy
Story, the camera cuts away before Torch cooks the rotten kid after the farmhouse conflagration.
The
giant lore dump comes because Eriquee (Toulon) realizes the main researcher looks
exactly like his wife, Elsa, and decides she’s the reincarnation of her. This
goes against a lot of stuff that happens in other movies, so perhaps being undead has
addled his mind. (Or, more likely, perhaps at the end of this, I’ll have some wild theories about how this isn't really Toulon to tie everything together. )The Puppets attacked people in and out of the
house because Toulon needs a part of the brain for his green fluid production.
You’d think this would get expanded beyond this generality in the later entries
when they get more into the process, but no. Honestly, undead Toulon’s performance, both in and out of bandages, here is wildly, entertainingly insane. Makes you wonder how great it would have
been if they kept William Hickey, but Steve
Welles did fantastically.
Just
a note here: I know late night cable mandates sheet covered, half dressed
fooling around sessions. But our protagonist, the main researcher, just met this guy and her brother was very recently drilled to
death by a tiny wooden soldier.
Toulon’s
big plan here is transferring his and his “reincarnated wife’s” consciousness
into human size puppets. Honestly, that’s a pretty cool idea, and a way to get
around a lot of problems various scientists have in later films with their "undead
soldier" ideas. It is a shame that concept is also ignored in every other
movie. The makeup effects on undead Toulon are impressive, and the combination
of the spell, the green brain fluid and pouring his own blood into the puppet
were neat ideas. "Toulon" has a German accent here, even though when we meet him in the next film, he's French. This franchise tends to put a lot of thought into each entry…
but almost none into connecting them. It’s a good thing I’m here.
Having
some animal brain parts in the green fluid makes man sized puppet Toulon (who
looks CREEPY AS HELL) make animal noises. A little cross inspiration for Beyond Re-Animator perhaps?
Before
he can kill “not Elsa” the puppets turn on him. Because he yelled at them for
the animal brains? Because somehow this was over the line evil compared to the
other deaths? No (he said foreshadowing his own crazy theory) because they
realize this thing isn’t really Toulon. As "Not Elsa" is rescued by her beau, Torch gives us yet another pricy and expensive burn stunt on Toulon, likely doing far more damage to the Inn than we see in movies Four and Five.
The Jester brings the green fluid over to Camille’s body and the end has her CREEPY AS HELL human sized puppet version (using the one Toulon made for "Elsa") with the puppets in a kid’s entertainment van about to enter a mental hospital for children.
The
van, her, and this idea are never seen again. Nor is it explained how the
puppets get back to the Bodega Bay. Again, it is fortunate I am here to figure
all this out, isn’t it?
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