Puppet Master (1989)

★★★★★

Director: David Schmoeller
Studio: Empire Pictures/Full Moon Entertainment

Synopsis:
1939, Bodega Bay, California. A marionette craftsman named Andre Toulon (William Hickey) takes a gun to his own head as members of the Nazi SS converge upon his home, but not before hiding his treasured puppets in a chest along with the Indian puppet, named Gengie, in a panel in the wall.
The scene shifts to 1989. Four psychics meet for a stay at an Inn in Bodega Bay, all which claim to have been lured there, through visions of a colleague named Neil Gallagher. The group soon finds out that Neil has since committed suicide via a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Strange visions begin to plague the group of psychics and The Puppets begin their systematic extermination of the unsuspecting guests. Soon it is realized that the recently departed Neil, although now deceased, happened across Toulon's formula that would grant him everlasting life following his own demise, as well as Andre's secret to bringing inanimate objects, such as puppets, to life.
The newly resurrected Neil, newly appointed Master of the puppets, has commanded them to kill his former colleagues and they obediently begin to do so, until he hurts one of their own. Their subsequent revolt, leaving him in quite the unhappy and eliminated state.

Mike's Thoughts:
I LOVE this movie! It has remained a favorite of mine from the time I first laid
eyes on it. You cannot get anymore innovative than the imaginative storyline and fresh and well-designed characters that this film introduced. Watch it repeatedly!

Look For:
Creepy ballroom scene (I had nightmares for weeks!) and the seductive Leech Woman.

Waxwork (1988)

★★★★☆

Director: Anthony Hickox
Studio: Live/Artisan

Synopsis:
A group of young adults, led by Mark Loftmore (Zach Galligan) and Sarah Brightman (Deborah Foreman), take a trip to a recently opened wax museum in their town. We soon discover something evil lurks behind the doors of this once, seemingly innocent gallery. The curator of the museum, David Lincoln (David Warner), seeks to open a portal to Hell through which horrifying monsters of histories past will rise again to conquer the living. In order to accomplish this, Lincoln must find several specimens to sacrifice to the dark and malevolent gods. One by one, the protagonists discover that the wax effigies they came to admire are both very real and very dangerous.


Mike's Thoughts:
This movie was one that I can recall first seeing at a young age. I have always been mesmerized by the allure and mystery of the wax museum and this movie completely acts out all of my fantasies regarding this gallery of wonder.
Yes, it's low-budget. Yes, it's campy. Yes, it's awesome!

Look For:
Zach Galligan (star of Gremlins 1&2) as Mark Loftmore.

Phantasm (1979)

★★★★★

Director: Don Coscarelli
Studio: AVCO Embassy Pictures

Synopsis:
Phantasm (also released as Never Dead in Australia) is a low-budget horror film produced in 1977 and released in 1979. The film was directed, written, photographed, co-produced and edited by Don Coscarelli.
PHANTASM is the horror shocker that started it all.
Michael Baldwin and Bill Thornbury star as two brothers who discover that their local mortuary hides a legion of hooded killer dwarf-creatures, a flying silver sphere of death, and is home to a sinister mortician known only as the Tall Man. This nefarious undertaker (with an iconic performance by Angus Scrimm) enslaves the souls of the damned and in the process, "digs" his place into the pantheon of classic horror villains.
As the two brothers explore bizarre events unfolding in their small town, the mystery of The Morningside Mortuary unfolds. PHANTASM remains unlike any fright film that’s come before. Is it reality or a dark phantasm?
Reggie Bannister co-stars as the intrepid ice cream vendor (named Reggie, would you believe?) who would lay his body down on the fires of hell for his friends.

Phantasm shall forever remain “A provocative blend of science-fiction, horror and fantasy, the Phantasm films continue to haunt the consciousness long after the Halloweens and Friday the 13ths have faded from memory.”
- Rue Morgue Magazine

Mike's Thoughts:
This film embedded itself into my psyche from a young age. There has never been a time that I have been in a cemetery, mausoleum, at a funeral, or caught the foreign scent of formaldehyde, where I have not thought of this movie. The villain (Angus Scrimm, The Tall Man) is looming, mysterious, memorable and just plain creepy. Though several follow-ups have been produced, the initial film takes the cake. A cult-horror classic that will forever remain a King in it's genre.

Look For:
The sphere scene in the mausoleum and the über acting of Reggie Bannister, who definitively proves that a bald man CAN and SHOULD always remain comfortable and sound in his ponytail rocking abilities!