| Puppet Master 4 | |
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Release Date |
1993 |
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Director |
Jeff Burr |
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Puppet Master 4 (Also Known as "Puppet Master 4: When Bad Puppets Turn Good or Puppet Master 4: The Demon) is a 1993 horror film written by Charles Band among others, and directed by Jeff Burr. It is the fourth film in the Puppet Master franchise, a sequel to 1991's Puppet Master II, and stars Gordon Currie as a youth scientist who, along with his friends, played by Chandra West, Ash Adams and Teresa Hill, is attacked by demons; the animated puppets of Andre Toulon serve to protect the group, similar to the role they played in the prequel Toulon's Revenge, rather than terrorize, as they had in the first and second films. Originally, Puppet Master 4 was intended to have the subtitle The Demon.
Puppet Master 4, as well as the second, third, and fifth installments of the series, were only available in DVD format through a Full Moon Features box set that has since been discontinued. However, in 2007, Full Moon Features reacquired the rights to the first five films, and the boxset has since been reissued and is available directly from Full Moon, as well as through several online retailers.
Plot[]
In the underworld, the demon lord Sutekh sends forth a trio of diminutive servants called Totems, magically controlled by his netherworld minions, to kill those who possess the secret of animation, including the magic Andre Toulon used to give his puppets life. It transpires also that a team of researchers working on the development of artificial intelligence are close to discovering Toulon's secret. Sutekh sends one of the Totems as a package to two of the researchers involved, Dr. Piper and Dr. Baker of the Phoenix Division, who are taken by surprise, killed and stripped off their souls by the foul creature.
One of the researchers, a talented young man named Rick Myers, is working as a caretaker at the Bodega Bay Inn and has also been using it for a place to conduct his experiments on the A.I. project. The same night Drs. Piper and Baker are murdered, Rick's friends Suzie, Lauren, and Cameron come to visit him. At dinner, Lauren, who is a psychic, finds Blade (who had been discovered earlier by Rick inside the house and is still animate) and then Toulon's old trunk, with the puppets, Toulons diary and some phials with the life-giving formula inside. Out of curiosity, Rick and his friends use the fluid on the puppets, and one by one they awaken; next to Blade, they find Pinhead, Six Shooter, Tunneler and Jester. (Torch, who joins the puppet cast in the sequel, makes no appearance here.)
Fascinated by the puppets' spontaneous reactions, and believing that the formula is the answer to the running AI projects, Rick wants to see how smart they are by playing a laser tag game with Pinhead and Tunneler. Cameron, who is competing with Rick for success, tries to use the formula's secret for his personal gain, and he and Lauren decide to use a strange gameboard found in the trunk to try and contact Toulon for its exact composition (the recipe of which was not recorded in the diary). But the glowing pyramid icon which goes with the board is a conduit between the mortal world and the underworld; Sutekh uses the link to send two of his Totems to attack. Cameron and Lauren attempt to flee by car, but Cameron is ambushed by one of the Totems inside his car and killed, while Lauren manages to get back into the hotel. When Rick looks after Cameron, the Totem attacks him as well, but he manages to escape.
But inside the inn, the third Totem, sent in earlier by package, is also on the prowl. The puppets, intend on protecting Rick, search the hotel and soon manage to kill one of the Totems in the kitchen and, through its supervision link, its controller in the underworld. Then Toulon's spirit, who has been appearing around the hotel all night, tells the puppets to animate the Decapitron. Under Rick and Suzie's astonished eyes, the puppets move up to Rick's room, retrieve a box which contains yet another puppet with a soft plastic head, and revive it with the formula and a lightning strike. The two remaining Totems attack to disrupt the process, but one is electrocuted when Six Shooter uses a wire as a lariat to divert some of the lightning's power into the Totem. Decapitron briefly awakens, and his head morphs into the likeness of Toulon, who explains to Rick the origin and the secret of the life-giving formula. The phial, however, turns out to be missing; immediately suspecting Cameron, Rick goes back to search his body, where he does find the phial.
Meanwhile, the last Totem corners the panicked Lauren and prepares to drain her life away when Suzie interferes and douses it with acid. Toulon speaks through Lauren, urging Rick to animate Decapitron to destroy the Totem, and Rick uses his computer to divert power from his generator into Decapitron, bringing him to life. As the Totem attacks, Decapitron exchanges his plastic head for an electron-bolt launching system and destroys the creature. Afterwards, Toulon speaks to Rick yet again, surrendering custody of his puppets and the formula to him and promising his help in times of need.
Trivia[]
- The Decapitron puppet idea was taken from an unfilmed movie entitled "Decapitron", which was to have been a big budget picture by Charles Band's previous studios Empire pictures. However, the studio went bankrupt before the project got off the ground.
- This movie was filmed back to back with Puppet Master 5.
Characters[]
Puppets[]
Credits[]
Information from IMDB
Directed by []
| Jeff Burr | ||
Writing Credits []
| Todd Henschell | ... | (screenplay) & |
| Steven E. Carr | ... | (screenplay) & |
| Jo Duffy | ... | (screenplay) and |
| Douglas Aarniokoski | ... | (screenplay) (as Doug Aarniokoski) & |
| Keith Payson | ... | (screenplay) |
| David Schmoeller | ... | (characters) (uncredited) |
Cast []
| [1] | Gordon Currie | ... | Rick Myers |
| [2] | Chandra West | ... | Susie |
| [3] | Ash Adams | ... | Cameron (as Jason Adams) |
| [4] | Teresa Hill | ... | Lauren |
| [5] | Guy Rolfe | ... | Toulon |
| [6] | Felton Perry | ... | Dr. Carl Baker |
| [7] | Stacie Randall | ... | Dr. Leslie Piper |
| [8] | Michael Shamus Wiles | ... | Stanley (as Mike Wiles) |
| [9] | Dan Zukovic | ... | Delivery Man |
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| [10] | Albert Band | ... | Six-Shooter (uncredited) |
| [11] | Jake McKinnon | ... | Sutek (uncredited) |
Produced by []
| Charles Band | ... | producer |
| Keith Payson | ... | line producer |
Music by []
| Richard Band | ||
Cinematography by []
| Adolfo Bartoli | ... | director of photography |
Film Editing by []
| Mark Manos | ||
| Margeret-Anne Smith | ... | (as Margaret-Anne Smith) |
Casting By []
| Perry Bullington | ||
| Robert MacDonald | ||
Production Design by []
| Milo | ||
Art Direction by []
| Arlan Jay Vetter | ||
Set Decoration by []
| Nicki Roberts | ||
Costume Design by []
| Greg LaVoi | ||
Makeup Department []
| Christl Colven | ... | assistant makeup artist (as Cristl Colven) |
| Michael Deak | ... | special makeup effects supervisor (as Michael S. Deak) |
| Palah Sandling | ... | key makeup artist |
Production Management []
| Mary Jasionowski | ... | production manager |
| Gretchen G. Wieland | ... | post-production supervisor |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director []
| Douglas Aarniokoski | ... | first assistant director (as Doug Aarniokoski) / second unit director (as Doug Aarniokoski) |
| Brian Bettwy | ... | second assistant director |
| Dieter Busch | ... | second assistant director: second unit / second second assistant director |
| Richard Woloski | ... | second assistant director: second unit |
Art Department []
| James 'Pat' Satcher | ... | carpenter |
| Ernie Andrasik | ... | carpenter |
| Matthew Kern Atzenhoffer | ... | on-set dresser (as Matthew Atzenhoffer) |
| Jenny Beltran | ... | first assistant props |
| Booka Bikar | ... | set dresser (as Booka Bickar) |
| Brad Douglas | ... | set dresser (as Brad Moreno) |
| James Michael Drury Jr. | ... | carpenter (as James Drury) |
| Elan Evans | ... | lead scenic |
| Grant Garrison | ... | carpenter |
| James E. Georgopoulos | ... | carpenter (as James Georgopoulos) |
| Amy Good | ... | scenic assistant |
| Mike Jayco | ... | carpenter |
| Ken Lucas | ... | carpenter |
| Gay Perello | ... | property master |
| Doug Shaw | ... | carpenter |
| Tetsuro Shimauchi | ... | storyboard artist |
| Phil Storch | ... | carpenter (as Phillip Storch) |
| Barrington Terry | ... | set painter |
| Mauricio Tobar | ... | set painter |
| Pete von Sholly | ... | storyboard artist (as Peter von Sholly) |
| Scot T. Waldon | ... | carpenter (as Scot Thomas Waldon) |
| David Zachary | ... | art department coordinator |
| John Zachary | ... | construction coordinator |
| Ron Durant | ... | set dresser (uncredited) |
Sound Department []
| Sarah Brady | ... | adr editor |
| Bryan Gladstone | ... | recordist |
| Eric Hoeschen | ... | foley mixer |
| Adriane Marfiak | ... | sound effects editor |
| Andy Napell | ... | re-recording mixer |
| Todd Orr | ... | sound effects editor |
| William Radcliffe | ... | boom operator |
| Doug Reed | ... | foley editor |
| D.J. Ritchie | ... | sound mixer |
| Lauren Stephens | ... | dialogue editor |
| Phillip Raves | ... | sound effects editor (uncredited) |
| Alan B. Samuels | ... | sound mixer (uncredited) |
Special Effects by []
| John P. Cazin | ... | physical effects coordinator (as John Cazin) |
| Chris Endicott | ... | puppet effects coordinator |
| John Paul Fedele | ... | lab technician (as John Fedele) |
| Audrey Goetz | ... | lab technician (as Audrey Mae Goetz) |
| Dennis Gordon | ... | miniature construction: Nemo Productions |
| Kenneth J. Hall | ... | lab technician |
| Jurgen Heimann | ... | special effects |
| Mike McCarty | ... | lab technician |
| Jake McKinnon | ... | lab technician (as Jake 'The Snake' McKinnon) |
| Kevin O'Hara | ... | additional puppeteer |
| David Perteet | ... | lab technician (as Dave Perteet) |
| Tuck John Porter | ... | lab technician |
| Mark Rappaport | ... | puppet mechanics |
| Charles Schneider | ... | lab technician |
| John Stewart | ... | miniature construction: Nemo Productions |
| Melanie Tooker | ... | on set supervisor |
| Wayne Toth | ... | sculptor |
| John Wheaton | ... | lab technician |
| Michael Shelton | ... | creature effects crew (uncredited) |
Visual Effects by []
| David Allen | ... | puppet effects |
| Peter Benjamins | ... | systems engineer |
| Linda Drake | ... | laser animation (as Linda Obalil) / optical and digital effects: Motion Opticals (as Linda Obalil) |
| Brent Fletcher | ... | computer effects |
| Mike Frassrand | ... | systems engineer |
| Phil Gallo | ... | systems engineer |
| Kevin Kutchaver | ... | digital supervisor / effects animator |
| Manny Leyva | ... | camera assistant |
| Mark McGee | ... | rotoscoping |
| Mark Rappaport | ... | puppeteer |
| Rita Schrag | ... | camera assistant |
| Jim Stewart | ... | optical and digital effects: Motion Opticals / systems coordinator |
| Randall William Cook | ... | stop-motion animator (uncredited) |
| Michael F. Hoover | ... | digital artist (uncredited) |
| Brett B. White | ... | visual effects stage manager (uncredited) |
Stunts []
| Tim A. Davison | ... | stunt coordinator (as Tim Davison) |
Camera and Electrical Department []
| Jack Anderson | ... | camera operator: second unit |
| Aldo Antonelli | ... | camera operator / director of photography: second unit |
| Chuck Baker | ... | first assistant camera: second unit |
| Mike Butler | ... | electrician |
| Andy Clark | ... | electrician |
| Jessica Bellone D'Altavilla | ... | second assistant camera |
| Stephen C. Dabrowski | ... | grip (as Stephen Dabrowski) / grip: second unit (as Stephen Dabrowski) |
| Chris Gerlach | ... | electrician |
| Taj Gombart | ... | second assistant camera |
| Jim Gordon | ... | dolly: second unit / grip |
| Lon Gowan | ... | video assist operator |
| Rudy Harbon | ... | first assistant camera |
| Ron Hoffman | ... | electrician / gaffer: second unit |
| Steve Iriguchi | ... | key grip |
| Bruce Jagoda | ... | best boy electric / gaffer: second unit |
| Spook James | ... | key grip |
| Keith Jordan | ... | grip |
| Brett Kincheloe | ... | grip / grip: second unit |
| Jeff Kincheloe | ... | best boy grip / key grip: second unit |
| Eric Kramer | ... | electrician |
| Stacy Kunch | ... | electrician |
| Benjamin Lehmann | ... | first assistant camera: second unit (as Benjamin Lehman) / second assistant camera |
| Christopher Loring | ... | electrician (as Chris Loring) |
| Dean Margoulios | ... | second assistant camera: second unit (as Dean Margoulias) |
| Sasha Maslansky | ... | second assistant camera: second unit / video assist operator |
| Robert W. Morgenroth | ... | video supervisor (as Bob Morgenroth) |
| Darryl Murchison | ... | gaffer: second unit (as Daryl Murchison) |
| Glen Naramatsu | ... | electrician: second unit |
| Gus Oliva | ... | electrician |
| Douglas M. Pavone | ... | grip (as Doug Pavone) |
| John Priebe | ... | electrician |
| Ian Robichaud | ... | electrician |
| Larry Roth | ... | gaffer |
| Ralph Scherer | ... | dolly grip / key grip: second unit |
| Miles Thomas | ... | electrician: second unit |
| Scott Toland | ... | electrician / gaffer: second unit |
| Ronald Vidor | ... | camera operator: second unit (as Ron Vidor) / steadicam operator |
| Mark Volpe | ... | electrician |
Casting Department []
| Helen O'Brien | ... | casting coordinator |
| Richard Rubio | ... | casting assistant |
Costume and Wardrobe Department []
| Emilio Anorve | ... | shopper |
| Carma Huelle | ... | costume supervisor |
| Suzy Painter | ... | set costumer |
Editorial Department []
| Matt Bosson | ... | second assistant editor |
| Maggie Cone | ... | post-production coordinator |
| Armond Ghzanian | ... | post-production assistant |
| Vic Hennegan | ... | post-production assistant |
| Kristine McPherson | ... | assistant editor |
| Sherril Schlesinger | ... | additional editor |
| Chris Weber | ... | negative cutter |
| Gary Weber | ... | negative cutter |
| Jim J. Williams | ... | color timer (as Jim Williams) |
| D. Brett Schramm | ... | post-production assistant (uncredited) |
Location Management []
| Cynthia H. Margulis | ... | location manager (as Cynthia Margulis) |
| Phoebe O'Connor | ... | location assistant |
| Will Regan | ... | location scout |
Music Department []
| Keely Dietrick | ... | music coordinator |
| Dean Schachtel | ... | feature music artist and repertoire |
| Pat Siciliano | ... | music supervisor |
Script and Continuity Department []
| Kimberlee Fenkner | ... | script supervisor: second unit |
| Mary Wright | ... | script supervisor |
Transportation Department []
| Roger Bojarski | ... | transportation captain |
| Gene Carr | ... | driver |
| Patrick Robison | ... | transportation coordinator |
| Lyn Vandeman | ... | driver (as Lynn Vandeman) |
Other crew []
| Mary Jane Amato | ... | assistant production accountant |
| Connie Angland | ... | additional puppeteer (as Connie Anglund) |
| Anthony Allen Barlow | ... | additional puppeteer (as Allen Barlow) |
| Lorraine Benson | ... | assistant production controller |
| Jordan Black | ... | production assistant |
| Steve Blum | ... | materials supervisor |
| Mauricio Buendia | ... | executive spanish relations |
| Bennah Burton-Burtt | ... | assistant: Charles Band |
| Bob Clark | ... | special projects |
| Nat Cooke | ... | office production assistant |
| Jeffrey Court | ... | production controller |
| Marykate Cunningham | ... | contracts administrator |
| Victor Davis | ... | office production assistant |
| Chris Endicott | ... | puppeteer |
| Cynthia Gates Fujikawa | ... | production accountant |
| Breck A. Graham | ... | office production assistant (as Breck Graham) |
| Joseph Grossberg | ... | additional puppeteer |
| Jurgen Heimann | ... | puppeteer |
| Monica Heitmann | ... | publicity coordinator |
| Trellis Huahn | ... | contracts coordinator |
| Suze James | ... | communications coordinator |
| Mickey Kaiserman | ... | executive controller |
| Christian Klump | ... | special projects |
| Michele Lilley | ... | assistant production coordinator |
| Janet Lonsdale | ... | production accountant |
| David Miner Jr. | ... | additional puppeteer (as David Miner) |
| Damon Movitz | ... | production assistant |
| Carolina Narvaez | ... | assistant: spanish relations |
| Phoebe O'Connor | ... | craft service |
| Paul Porter | ... | special projects |
| Allen Posten | ... | production assistant |
| Mark Rappaport | ... | puppeteer |
| David Rimer | ... | key set production assistant |
| Cy Roscoe | ... | special projects |
| James Rowley | ... | production assistant |
| Laurel Schneider | ... | craft service |
| Daniel Schweiger | ... | promotions |
| Kat Scudder | ... | marketing coordinator |
| Leigh Shanta | ... | production coordinator |
| Pauline Shillito | ... | accounting assistant |
| Pat Sjogren | ... | office production assistant |
| Kirk Skodis | ... | additional puppeteer |
| Erica Spano | ... | key set production assistant |
| Holly Speriglio | ... | additional puppeteer |
| Catherine Spindle | ... | marketing executive (as Catherine W. Spindle) |
| Marc E. Spivey | ... | insurance |
| Peter Wetherell | ... | executive international relations |
| Christopher Wheeler | ... | senior coordinating accountant |
| Scott Woodard | ... | additional puppeteer |
| Brett B. White | ... | puppeteer (uncredited) |
| Richard Woloski | ... | production assistant (uncredited) |