Puppet Master is an American horror film series which focuses on a group of anthropomorphic puppets animated by an Egyptian spell, each equipped with its own unique and dangerous device and are represented as heroes, antiheroes and antagonists. The franchise was created by Charles Band and Kenneth J. Hall. The series consists of 15 films, 11 mainline, one crossover film, a reboot and two spin-offs.

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Quick Facts Puppet Master, Directed by ...

Puppet Master
Region 1 (US) DVD box set containing the first seven installments.
Directed by	Charles Band David W. Allen David DeCoteau Jeff Burr David Schmoeller Ted Nicolaou Sonny Laguna Tommy Wiklund John Lechago
Written by	Kenneth J. Hall David Pabian C. Courtney Joyner David Schmoeller Douglas Aarniokoski Steven E. Carr Jo Duffy Todd Henschell Benjamin Carr David S. Goyer Ted Nicolaou Shane Bitterling August White S. Craig Zahler
Produced by	Charles Band Hope Perello Gordon Gustafson Kirk Edward Hansen Vlad Paunescu Dana Scanlan Mona C. Vasiloiu Kurt Iswarienko Matt Wolpert Alan Bursteen Cary Glieberman
Music by	Richard Band Jeffrey Walton John Massari Peter Bernstein Jerry Smith
Distributed by	Full Moon Features
Release date	1989–present
Running time	1,220 minutes (15 films)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4.23 million (combined total)

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Produced by Full Moon Features, the series was established in 1989 with the eponymous first installment, which has since been followed by ten sequels, a crossover with the characters of Demonic Toys, a 2018 reboot entitled The Littlest Reich, a spin-off film about the puppet Blade, a spin-off film about Retro Puppet Master's Doktor Death, two comic book mini-series, an ongoing comic book series, a free-to-play multiplayer video game by October Games, as well as numerous other collector's items.^{[citation needed]}

After the collapse of his film studio Empire Pictures, Charles Band relocated to the United States and opened Full Moon Productions. Band's goal with Full Moon was to create low-budget horror, science fiction and fantasy films that mirrored the quality of films with more generous budgets. After partnering with Paramount Pictures and Pioneer Home Entertainment, Full Moon began production on its first feature film, Puppet Master, which had a premise similar to an earlier Empire film produced by Band, Dolls. Originally intended for theatrical release in summer 1989, Puppet Master was ultimately pushed to a direct-to-video release on October 12, 1989, as Band felt he was likely to make more money this way than he would in the theatrical market.

Puppet Master proved to be a success, and the film's cult status has led to the production of ten sequels, as well as a crossover with another Full Moon series, Demonic Toys.^[1] A documentary featurette titled No Strings Attached was included on VHS and Laserdisc pressings.

1990 saw the release of a sequel, Puppet Master II, and later in 1991, Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge, the latter a series prequel. Toulon's Revenge was the first installment to feature Guy Rolfe in the role of puppeteer Andre Toulon (in the prior films Toulon was portrayed by William Hickey and Steve Welles, respectively). Rolfe reprised the role of Toulon for three additional films. After his death in 2003, he posthumously appeared in The Legacy through extensive use of archival footage. In 1993 Full Moon began shooting another two sequels simultaneously, Puppet Master 4 and Puppet Master 5. The latter, as the title indicates, was intended to be the final installment of the series.

After the release of The Final Chapter in September 1994, Full Moon opted to retire Puppet Master and announced that a spin-off trilogy titled Puppet Wars would begin production in 1995.^[2] The spin-off trilogy was cancelled, leaving the series to continue its legacy through merchandising and a growing cult following.

Due to demand from video retailers and fans for a new installment, four years after retirement, the franchise was revived by the production of a sixth entry, Curse of the Puppet Master, in 1998. This was the first installment not to have David W. Allen involved with stop-motion special effects. By this time, Paramount had ended its deal with Full Moon, so the film used a combination of rod and string puppets, as well as archival footage to conserve costs. In September 1999, Full Moon Features released Totem, featuring characters similar to the Totems of the fourth film.

Also in 1999, a second prequel (taking place at an even earlier time than Toulon's Revenge) was released, titled Retro Puppet Master. The original idea for the seventh installment was for it to take place following Toulon's Revenge, with Toulon and his puppets escaping Germany by train, after which they are confronted by Nazis and demons. This idea was abandoned because the distributor, the Kushner Locke Company, thought it would offend the German audience, although it later formed the basis for the ninth installment of the series, Puppet Master: Axis of Evil. Retro Puppet Master was an anomaly to the series, in that the main theme composed by Richard Band was completely absent, and with its PG-13 rating, this was the first installment not to be rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America. The films following this would all fall under not rated.

An eighth entry, entitled The Legacy, was released in 2003, however only a fraction contains original footage; the remainder is archival footage used to summarize the series thus far. The same year, a crossover film featuring the animated playthings of Full Moon's Puppet Master and Demonic Toys series aired on Sci-Fi Channel, although it was said it did not take place in the same continuity as either of those franchises.^[1]

In 2005, Band alluded to a possible television series titled Puppet Wars (see left for promotional artwork) and expressed interest in seeing a video game adaptation of the franchise developed.^[3] In June 2008, Band announced that a ninth installment of the series is planned, tentatively subtitled Axis of Evil.^[4] In March 2009, it was reported that Band is also interested in remaking 1989's Puppet Master in 3-D.^[5] Similarly, the original film was reissued by Razor Digital in 2007 in DualDisc format, featuring both standard and stereoscopic versions.

In June 2009, the Full Moon website posted updates about the latest installment, revealing the roster of puppets to be included, as well as principal cast members Levi Fiehler and Jerry Hoffman. Puppet Master: Axis of Evil was released on DVD, Blu-ray and streaming in 2010.

In 2012, Full Moon released the tenth installment, entitled Puppet Master X: Axis Rising, which continued the story and events from the previous film.

In 2017, Full Moon announced that Puppet Master: Axis Termination would debut exclusively on Full Moon Streaming in three parts starting in September 2017.

In 2018, a reboot was produced under the title Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich.

In 2020, a spin-off film revolving around the puppet Blade was released under the title Blade: The Iron Cross.

In 2022, a second spin-off film about Doktor Death (from Retro) was released as Puppet Master: Doktor Death.

In March 2023, a third spin-off centered around Leech Woman was announced with Puppet Master: Furnace Leech Woman.^[6] The status of the film is currently unknown after a series of delays and conflicting back and forth messages from the director and Full Moon suggesting it may have been cancelled or postponed.[7]

The most well-received Puppet Master installments are generally those released before the series' four-year hiatus. As the series was revived at a time when Full Moon Features was no longer partnered with Paramount Pictures, the studio's finances grew increasingly tight, and as a result, the quality of each subsequent Puppet Master title (as well as numerous other Full Moon productions) suffered. On Rotten Tomatoes, the only two installments that have been rated by critics are Puppet Master, which has a 43% rating out of 7 reviews,^[8] and Puppet Master II, which has a 33% rating out of 6 reviews.^[9] The films have scored slightly higher with audiences, rating 51%^[10] and 47%,^[11] respectively.

• The Puppet Master Adventure - A four-issue comic book limited series written and drawn by Australian comic book creators Dave de Vries and Glenn Lumsden and printed by Eternity Comics. It was followed by a two-issue sequel titled Children of the Puppet Master also by de Vries and Lumsden.
• The Puppet Master Action Figures - A series of action figures produced by Full Moon Toys, and scale replicas of the series' puppets, produced by Full Moon Playthings in 1998. The action figures have since been discontinued and are now collectors items.
• The Puppet Master Model Kits- A series of model kits, of various puppets from the movie were released in 1991. Not all of the puppets were released in these scale model kits. Although they were discontinued, they have recently been re-released by Full Moon Direct.
• The Puppet Master Trading Cards - a set of collectible cards of the Puppet Master characters. Also were limited edition stickers of each of the puppets face.
• The Puppet Master Costumes - A set of Clothing and Halloween costumes of the series' puppets.
• Puppet Master (Action Lab Comics) - An ongoing comic book series written by Shawn Gabborin and published by Action Lab Comics begun in 2015. The series was an instant hit among fans and is known for its attention to detail regarding the Puppet Master lore.
• Puppet Master: The Game - A multiplayer horror video game made by October Games.

An official video game adaptation created by October Games has been in development as early as 2012.

In Baby Oopsie, exclusive gameplay was shown on a television screen whilst the end credits reveal the game had been officially licensed by Full Moon and was in active development.

In September 2021, Full Moon released a trailer for the game, early access for the game released in late 2022 on Steam.^[20] the free-to-play game officially released on Steam on March 1, 2023.^{[21][22][23][24]}