"The Puppetman" [Shudder]

by Joseph Perry and Mike Imboden

In our “The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict” film reviews, Joseph and Mike give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. For this installment, it’s The Puppetman from Brandon Christensen and Not the Funeral Home.

Synopsis

A convicted killer on death row maintains his innocence. The killer's daughter suspects there is truth to her father's claim, when her loved ones begin to die in brutal ways.

The Good

Joseph: I really enjoyed director Brandon Christensen’s first two films, Still/Born and Z (I haven’t yet seen Superhost), and I know that the man knows his way around effective supernatural and psychological horror features on a limited budget. He shows his talents in The Puppetman with a fine story idea, well-written characters and dialogue, a keen eye for framing and composition, and some goosebumps-inducing, suspenseful set pieces. The cast is all-in, with Alyson Gorske leading the way as Michal, a university student whose father David (Zachary Le Vey) stabbed his wife — Michal’s mother — to death when Michal was a little girl. Michal’s backstory, which I won’t go into here so as to avoid spoilers, is also well developed, if not wholly original in horror cinema. The death scenes are either suspenseful, brutal, or both.

Mike: The Puppetman starts out with no messing around, pulling you in quickly and making you wonder just where this thing is going to go. The following ninety minutes go pretty quickly which is a sign of an engaging film and indeed there’s plenty of things happening as we watch Michal, whom we see as a child in the opening moments but is now all grown up and in college, and her friends deal with an increasingly dangerous situation. It should come as no secret that at one person is going to be dealing with being a “puppet” of some kind since it’s right there in the name, but I’m not going to say anything so that if this is the only review you read it won’t give anything of consequence away.

The story by Brandon and Rayn Christensen does a decent job of keeping the viewer wondering what might be coming next, revealing everything slowly enough that there’s no annoying info dump that suddenly reveals causes, effects, and motivations. When the answers DO come, there’s still enough wiggle room to stop you from being 100% certain of what is going on. There are also some pretty impressively brutal kills along the way which are done mostly with practical effects (with a bit of CGI added in), which is always nice to see.

The Bad

Joseph: There’s no getting around how much The Puppetman at times feels like a Final Destination nod in both its build-ups to death set pieces and the manners of demise themselves. The film’s budget doesn’t help in that department, either, as the university campus — admittedly, the story is set during winter vacation — seems empty of all students, faculty, and other staff. The plot sometimes wanders, as well, with supernatural elements including some woo factor in the way of a psychic, police procedural, and the unraveling of a mystery all tugging at each other for time and attention.

Mike: When I saw Brandon Christensen’s Superhost a couple of years back I was very impressed by the slow-burn tension that kept building until Christensen slammed on the gas at the end, resulting in one of the better Shudder originals I have seen to date. Unfortunately, The Puppetman doesn’t land as well for me as the former did.

There are some plot choices that don’t seem to mix too well with one another and a little inconsistency in regards to… let’s keep it somewhat vague by saying “the Puppetman’s abilities” (again, trying to avoid ruining anything) - make a few scenes feel a bit contrived which may pull you out of the moment and possibly letting the air out of any tension that might have been building.

In trying to tell a slightly larger story than he previously has, Christensen seems to stumble a bit when dealing with multiple plot elements.

The Verdict

Joseph: Christensen reaches high with The Puppetman but budgetary constraints hinder the proceedings a bit. Still, the grand ideas are admirable, and there is plenty of good stuff — a solid young acting core, solid production values, and some impressive kills, for example — to keep horror fans entertained throughout for at least one watch.

Mike: If you could get an ‘A’ for effort, The Puppetman would score highly. Alas, there seems to be a bit more going on than Christensen is used to dealing with and as a result the movie stumbles a bit from plot point to plot point. Still, the film isn’t without merits, boasting an engaging story, some fine young actors, and impressive and brutal kills (which do seem a bit “Final Destinationy” as I’m sure some will mention). If you can forgive a few bits that don’t seem to quite work, you should walk away from this feeling satisfied.

The Puppetman, from Shudder, is currently available for streaming on Shudder

The Puppetman