Puppet Master (1989)

Directed by David Schmoeller. Starring Paul Le Mat, Irene Miracle, Robin Frates, Matt Roe, Kathryn O’Reilly, Jimmie F. Skaggs, Mews Small, William Hickey. [R]

Schlocky horror nuttiness gathers psychics in an old hotel upon the suicide of an old acquaintance, where they’re slaughtered by sentient puppets (er, dolls, so who knows what’s up with that title). Badly directed and stiffly acted, with only some okay stop-motion animation effects to endorse in this tedious exercise in intermittent sadism. When the dolls are wreaking havoc, they’re silly; when they’re offscreen, the pic is deathly dull. Those dreary stretches provide opportunities to let the mind wander over a slew of unanswered questions about the little toy beasts: where do those leeches come from, why does the drill make a whirring sound as if there’s a little motor inside the doll’s head, and so forth? Unaccountably earned a cult following, resulting in several direct-to-video sequels and spin-offs.

17/100