The Puppet Master horror franchise has been running strong for over three decades, but one of the series’ most popular puppets is finally getting a solo effort.
Ever since the debut of the original Puppet Master back in 1989, Charles Band and his Full Moon Features have become a haven for low-budget, yet quirky and ambitious horror efforts. The Puppet Master movies have, by far, become the company’s most popular and successful efforts, but Full Moon has developed a number of absurd horror properties and its own strangely connected cinematic universe. Both Full Moon Features and the Puppet Master franchise as a whole have come a long way since 1989, but the first film helped establish the levels of what they could accomplish.
The Puppet Master films tend to revolve around tiny terrors murdering whoever gets in their way, but as the series has progressed, they’ve become steadily focused on keeping the puppets set in World War II, where Nazis are their targets. Regardless as to whether these killer puppets are anti-heroes or outright villains, the movies get creative with different puppets that come to life. Some of these designs are more ambitious than others, and some only last a single film before being pushed out of the continuity, but one puppet that’s been there from the start, and isn’t going anywhere, is the knife-wielding Blade.
After A Dozen Puppet Master Films, Blade Is The First Puppet To Get A Spin-Off
Often seen as the de facto leader of Andre Toulon’s murderous puppets, Blade is the most logical choice to get their own solo film. Blade: The Iron Cross won’t deviate terribly from what’s become the standard formula for the more recent Puppet Master offerings. Set after the events of Puppet Master: Axis Termination, the movie pits Blade and a psychic war journalist against an evil Nazi scientist and his undead Nazi army. Full Moon and Charles Band have long been trying to break up the Puppet Master entourage and attempt to give individual puppets an opportunity to shine while trimming the fat. The company’s latest experimental “Deadly Ten” project has helped finally make this dream a reality.
Full Moon Features have always been adept with low budget filmmaking, but Blade: The Iron Cross was first announced as the initial movie in a project called the “Deadly Ten.” Full Moon will produce ten movies, back-to-back, with webcams present throughout the sets so audiences can watch their filmmaking process. It’s exciting to see that Puppet Master could help kick off this idea. Even though all ten of Full Moon Features’ “Deadly Ten” have been announced and there’s no more Puppet Master content, there’s no reason a second round of this experiment couldn’t take place. If Blade: The Iron Cross ends up being a big hit, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a Leech Woman or Torch spin-off in the works as well.
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