Directed by Dvid DeCoteau and written by Charles Band, C. Courtney Joyner and David Schmoeller, Puppet Master III is not a sequel but instead a prequel, starring Guy Rolfe as the creator of the many puppets that we’ve come to know, love and maybe be afraid of, the legendary Andre Toulon.

When the story begins, Toulon and his wife Elsa (Sarah Douglas) are doing puppet shows for kids but also working in some anti-Third Reich messaging, like how Six-Shooter attacks a Fuhrer puppet. A German scientist named Dr. Hess (David Abercrombie) wants his formula for creating living puppets while Major Kraus (Richard Lynch) wants to arrest him for treason, so he takes him and his puppets Tunneler and Pinhead. He also kills Elsa right after Toulon gives her a puppet with her likeness. That puppet becomes Leech Woman and we also get to see another creation named Jester.

Hess isn’t horrible. He bonds with Toulon, who explains that each puppet was someone he knew  and loved. Their strong will to live after death kept them living within each of his creations. This is also the origin of Blade, who may be the most popular of the puppets.

I hate that the new movies make the puppets become Nazis instead of killing them. Let’s get back to the idea of this movie because it works so much better.