Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

John Tedrick Let me start off by saying that I find the Puppet Master mythology to be one of the more intriguing of the horror genre. The idea behind it, the concept and the "lore" supporting it, is far more interesting to me than the concepts of other, better-known horror films, such as Halloween or especially Friday the 13th. There is a mysticism, an aura of magic, around watching the puppets do what they do,that keeps me interested in them, even while other elements of the films sink into the abyss of Z-rated schlock. Sadly, the charm of these puppets is not enough to support their films, especially with the absence of the late David Allen's stellar special effects. Primarily, it seems like the weakest element to these films is the writing, which generally seems rote or amateur. If it's not the writing, then it's the acting, or the production values. In one way or another, something seems off. Axis of Evil is no exception. A direct sequel to the prologue of the 1989 Puppet Master, Axis of Evil branches off into a sort of "side story" about a young man's discovery of the puppets of Andre Toulon,a German puppeteer who killed himself to protect his reanimation serum from the clutches of the Nazis. It then tells the story of his struggle against two Nazi assassins, named Max and Klaus, who are trying to secure the serum and the puppets for Hitler. Also involved is a Japanese saboteur named Ozu, who has her own plans for the elixir, which rhyme with "give serum to the emperor! Much reward! Yay!". The story, while fairly mundane, does have a bit of weight behind it. However, while the story had the potential to make Axis of Evil more than what it is, the execution floored this possibility. The puppet effects, created by Gage Munster, aren't anywhere near as strong or graceful as they ought to be, considering the focus of the film is on the puppets. I understand that these aren't supposed to be Jurassic Park-quality special effects; they're living puppets, after all. But there's still something wrong about their inorganic clumsiness. It veers out of context and into being cheap. Out of special effects, the production design is actually fairly strong, with visible effort put into the sets and costumes. The human element of the film, the acting, isn't terribly shabby in itself; the trouble in this respect comes from the casting. All of the characters who feel off in the film aren't acted out poorly, they're just acted out by people who are too young for the roles. The best example of this can be found in the antagonists. The actors who play the Nazis cannot be far beyond their 20s, while they should be in their late-30s or 40s for the roles of Max and Klaus. Their youth makes them both hard to take very seriously. Also, Jenna Gallaher's character seems to demand "dame", while she gives it "valley girl". On another note, the revised score by Richard Band is refreshing. I really wish I could say better of Axis of Evil, I really do. I want to like the new Puppet Master films like I liked the first wave. But ever since Full Moon Features left Paramount, the studio has been stuck in a rut that is still evident in Axis of Evil. So is not to say that the film is bad; it is improved over the past few installments. I just wish it was better. Axis of Evil does end with a cliffhanger, a setup for the inevitable and imminent sequel, Axis Rising. Here's hoping it's an improvement over this film. Here's hoping it's the 21st-century sequel that the puppets, the fans, and the license deserve.

MaximumMadness Director David Decoteau's ("Puppet Master III", "Curse of the Puppet Master" and "Retro Puppet Master") 2010 direct-to-DVD prequel "Puppet Master: Axis of Evil" is quite a surprise. It's not a good movie by any means, don't get me wrong. It's really bad at times, but it's also highly enjoyable as a cheap horror film and has some good fun moments, and it is a definite step up after the abysmal, cheap clip-show of a film the prior entry ("Legacy") was.The films starts off with an extremely well-done retcon of the original "Puppet Master" film's prologue, almost seamlessly mixing old archival footage and new footage- Danny Coogan (Levi Fletcher), a young man whom wants to fight in World War II but can't due to a bad limp, stumbles into the room of the puppet master Andre Toulon (William Hickey in archival footage) just moments after he killed himself. Danny had been shown Toulon's puppets before, and is able to recover them from their hiding place in the wall, vowing to take care of them and keep them safe from the Nazis Max and Klaus who had been sent to retrieve them for Hitler. (Max and Klaus are played by Tom Sandoval and Aaron Riber) Danny returns home to Los Angeles China-Town district where his mother and older brother (about to depart for the war) live, and where his girlfriend Beth (Jenna Gallaher) works. However, Max and Klaus track down Danny's address and begrudgingly unite with a Japanese spy and her associates to retrieve the puppets for the Axis, and to blow up the factory where Beth works, which may or may not be home to a new secret Allied weapon.I will give credit where credit is due- there are a lot of good, fun moments in this direct-to-DVD film. Some of the ret-con work in the beginning is highly impressive (it matches perfectly except for slight differences in the lighting), the characters though underdeveloped and poorly acted are likable, and there's even some good unintentional social commentary. (Including a good jab at American ignorance in that our Japanese villainess is able to hide out in plain sight in China-Town because Americans are too ignorant to be able to tell Chinese and Japanese apart.) It's also just good to see the puppets in action again as a fan of earlier installments in the series.However, when this film falls apart and times, it really falls apart. For one, it's 81 minutes long, but nearly ten minutes of that footage includes the opening and closing credits, and a large portion of archival footage from the original film, so the film is really only about 71 minutes of new footage. And it just isn't enough time to develop the sort-of story the director and writer are going for. You can tell that a lot of scenes must have been cut for budget and time reasons (too much is implied through dialog when it should have been shown on screen, and the film takes place in the same few locations from scene to scene), and it hurts the film. What makes this even stranger is that it's not a fast film, per say, it's actually a slower-moving film editing-wise, which makes it seem even shorter than it already is. It really could have benefited from another 10 minutes of footage.Two, this is not really a well-made movie. It feels far too low-budget. The puppet effects are all very bland and basic and look arguably worse than they did in earlier films. The production design is very cheap. The acting isn't the greatest (the actors are charming, but just can't act). It just reeks of "low budget direct-to-DVD." Those complains being said, this is still a watchable film. It's one of the weaker entries in the series (to be honest, the series has gotten a lot worse since the third film), but is still mildly entertaining. I'd give it a just under-average 4 out of 10. If you're a fan of the earlier films, pick up the box set of all nine official entries and give this one a watch. It's worth seeing for the fans.

Paul Andrews Puppet Master: Axis of Evil starts at Bodega Bay hotel during 1939 as two Nazi's Max (Tom Sandoval) & Klaus (Aaron Riber) search for puppeteer Andre Toulon who has developed a serum to bring his inanimate wooden puppets to life, before Max & Klaus can find Toulon he kills himself & his secrets are seemingly lost forever. However a young craftsman named Danny Coogan (Levi Fiehler) discovers Toulon's puppets & magical serum & takes them back home with him. Frustrated at not being able to fight on the World War II front line Danny recognises one of the Nazi's while visiting his girlfriend & is determined to prove that he is right, Danny learns of the Nazi's teaming up with the Japanese in an attempt to sabotage the American war effort & Danny, along with his killer puppets, decides he has to stop them...Directed by David DeCoteau this is, believe it or not, the ninth entry in the Puppet Master series of killer toy films that really should have ended after part three although parts four & five are alright but everything after that sucks with this Puppet Master: Axis of Evil being the worst of the lot. The Puppet Master films have long since gone past the point where the makers no longer number them & just try to give them cool sounding subtitles but that doesn't fool anybody, does it? This is total crap if I am being honest, the plot is silly with the killer puppets having less & less to do with each film, here they barely feature & just tend to stand around while the script manages to make an entire spin-off film out of the five minute pre-credits sequence from the original Puppetmaster (1989) which is as bad as it sounds & the puppets get to fight the Nazi's & Japs who are planning to blow up some sort of factory somewhere in the US, hey none of it is explained so don't expect anything more revelatory than that because you will be disappointed. The script takes a stab at bring up moralistic issues about going to war, staying behind, the impact on friends & family & other such points but it's all pretty boring & is badly written sub soap opera melodrama of the worst kind. Is there anything positive I can say about Puppet Master: Axis of Evil? Well, actually no.There are not enough kills or gore here with the puppets underused yet again, OK I understand special effects are expensive but what else are we even watching this crap for if not for the cool killer puppets? A guy eats a Leech when he mistakes it for some of his dinner (I am not joking either), a guy gets the top of his head drilled & thats about it. The kills, settings, special effects & build-up are very lame & forgettable. The new puppet Ninja is awful & is far to bland & ordinary looking. Set in late 30's America there are a few decent costumes but the majority of the film takes place in one of four locations. In fact the best looking parts of the film are those edited in from the original Puppetmaster.Filmed in China this is set entirely in the US, I assume it was cheaper to film over there than in the US as penny pinching Charles Band doesn't like to spend money if he doesn't have to. The acting is bad from all involved, it's not just the puppets that look lifeless & wooden here.Puppet Master: Axis of Evil is terrible, the end leaves things wide open for a further sequel which I can only hope I will never see but know that I will still be dumb enough to watch it. Watch the original again instead or one of the two first sequels when the makers were still trying to make good films.

weemonk I remember watching the first Puppet Master film in my teens and thinking it was a pretty good. I remember watching the second and thinking it was pretty poor. I remember watching the third and thinking that, whilst low budget, it was a good film.I say remember as I'm 31 now and it was quite a while a go. But being the film fanatic that I am, I still remember the puppets and their names.Even though more Puppet Master films were made, I didn't follow the series after the third one....until I noticed that a new film had been released and that the story would take place early Toulon days - like the third film, which worked - so I thought I'd jump back in and see where the series was up to.Unfortunately, by the 10th instalment filming is on a micro budget and it shows! I liked the story and thought it was engaging enough. I looked past some of the shoddy acting and poor performances.....but the thing I just couldn't forgive was the lack of budget given towards the puppets! It was poor and disgraceful. At no point did you feel that Blade (my favourite since the first) and co. were alive. There wasn't the slightest effort made at all. If you were to make a home movie about puppets that are alive, the best you'd be able to do to make it look convincing is move the puppet with your hand so the camera can not see - this is exactly what happened in this film. No attempt at animatronics or stop motion capture.The original Puppet Master was made in 1989 - all these years later, it still outclasses this instalment in every department.The good thing that did come out of this film is that my interest is rekindled and I've obtained Puppet Master 1-9 which I'm going to watch!EDIT - Just watch 1-4 as the series goes down hill from 5 onwards :)