| Retro Puppet Master | |
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Release Date |
1999 |
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Director |
David DeCoteau |
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Puppet Master 7: Retro Puppet Master (Otherwise known as Retro Puppetmaster) is a 1999 horror film written by Charles Band, Benjamin Carr and David Schmoeller, and directed by David DeCoteau. It is the seventh film in the Puppet Master franchise, a prequel to 1991's Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge, and stars Greg Sestero as a young Andre Toulon, Jack Donner as an Egyptian responsible for teaching Toulon how to animate his puppets, and Stephen Blackehart, Robert Radoveanu and Vitalie Bantas as demons who pursue Toulon for his magic. While Retro Puppet Master serves to explain how Toulon began practicing the spell which animates his puppets, it ignores what was originally established in Puppet Master II as exactly how he learned the spell of animation. The film was also Guy Rolfe's final appearance as Andre Toulon, save for flashback footage in Puppet Master: The Legacy.
Plot:[]
In 1944, (in contrast to Puppet Master 1 establishing that Toulon committed suicide in 1939 and should've been 1938), In Switzerland, taking place after the events of Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge and before the events of Puppet Master. Toulon and his little friends are still on the run, and decide to hide in the Kolewige, an Inn that's 4 miles from the Swiss border. Blade finds the wooden head of an old puppet named Cyclops in their trunk, and when Toulon sees it, he then tells his puppets the adventures with the woman he loves, and his retro puppets, starting in Cairo, Egypt, in 1902.
An Egyptian sorcerer, named Afzel, has stolen the secret of life, and is fleeing the servants of an evil Egyptian god, named Sutekh. Two servants, imbued with magical power from Sutekh, attack him, but are killed easily by Afzel and his own magical power. After dispatching the two servants he begins his journey to Paris.
Meanwhile, Sutekh has given life to three of his oldest servants—Egyptian mummies. After they rise from their chamber they too begin to pursue Afzel. At the same time, in Paris, a young Andre Toulon is putting on a puppet show of Dante's Divine Comedy. Watching from the crowd is Elsa, who has left her cold-hearted ambassador abusive father and harmless mother (who wasn't in this) to view the wonders of the country and has decided to see the play. In the sewers nearby the three mummies have hired two thugs to kill Afzel. The thugs are necessary since Afzel has the power to sense the coming of the mummies.
Afzel is beaten brutally until Elsa, leaving the theater, sees them and cries for help. The thugs then scatter, leaving Toulon and Elsa to pick Afzel up and bring him inside. Later, when he stirs from his sleep, he talks with Toulon and reveals that he knows the secret of life. Toulon is skeptical until Afzel begins to make the puppets move. Now Toulon realizes he is genuine and begins to learn his powers. Then Afzel starts to make the puppets draw a barrier that's supposed to protect him if the servants come back.
While stepping outside for a brief moment, Toulon begins to talk to a beggar who has sat on the steps since the beginning of the movie. However, he is dead, and when Andre becomes aware of this he begins to mourn. Afzel tells him to bring him inside to teach him the true secret of life. After bringing him inside they use a ring to transfer the soul of the beggar to the puppet, "Pinhead". The puppet starts to move but, after a few questions the puppet runs away into the theater. Later on, Elsa returns to talk to Toulon, until her father's rude servants come by, and they take Elsa and Toulon back to her house, and after Toulon talks to the father, he gets knocked out, and is then thrown into the woods.
The next day, back at the theater, Valentin storms in as the barrier written on paper falls off the wall, and the three mummies see their chance to attack and begin their rampage through the theater, Valentin finished repairing the door as two of the mummies break in and kills him and Vigo, Vigo runs behind stage to Duval and Latour and falls dead, Duval stabs the lead mummy in his hand as the mummy kills him with his other hand, Latuor gets out a gun and shoots the lead mummy three times as the other mummy comes in through the back door and all three of them use their magic to kill him, Afzel appears and says Sutekh shall not claim his life, and kills himself with his own magic. Satisfied with victory, the mummies begin to leave. Once Toulon returns from the woods, he sees what has happened and acts quickly by putting their souls inside his puppets.
The men return, having sensed someone with the knowledge of the secret of life, and try to kill Toulon. His puppets, however, formidable foes, having killed one of the mummies with Six Shooter by shooting the chandelier chains, causing it to crush the servant. The two henchmen retreat in order to plot the capture of Elsa to lure Toulon into a trap.
Feeling that he had won the battle, Andre and his puppets go to a train station to leave Paris to Kara, Togo before things start to get bad, not realizing they had already begun. The servants capture Elsa, and then send a dream to Toulon that shows Elsa tied up, and a train. Knowing the meaning, he quickly changes trains to Merca, Somalia and gets his puppets ready for the showdown. When the train leaves, Andre looks around, having released his puppets and letting them follow him throughout the train, until finally coming to the last car and finding Elsa tied up like in his dream. The two men appear and ask for the secret of life.
Andre displays the scroll where the secret is written and asks, "How do you know I haven't copied it?" to which the leader states he did not have enough time to do so, but still is doubtful he hadn't. Andre, noticing he is distracted, attacks the leader while his puppets attack the other. A large struggle breaks out, and the other henchman is killed with the final leader of the three being thrown from the car. Freeing Elsa, the group rides away in the train, beginning their long amazing adventure. After telling the story, Toulon wonders if the puppets are wondering what happened to the other puppets, so he told them that is another story. He decides to tell them later in the future.
Trivia[]
The original drawing of retro puppet master.
- This is the only puppet master movie that is PG-13 instead of R
- This movie was Filmed back-to-back with Witchouse.
- The back of the DVD claims that the movie takes place in 1892.
- The footage of the train was actually second unit footage filmed for what was supposed to have been the Puppet Wars mini-trilogy.
- The film was also Guy Rolfe's final appearance as Andre Toulon, before he died in 2003 his final appearance was later save for flashback footage in Puppet Master The Legacy.
- The Kusner-Locke version of the film has some extended scenes. It was released on a Region 2 DVD by BlackHorse entertainment.
- This is the only puppet master movie that does not have the original Puppet Master Theme Soundtrack
- In contrast to Puppet Master 1 establishing that Toulon committed suicide in 1939, It's originally 1938.
- There is a scene of Greg Sestero on the set of Retro Puppet Master in the Jame Franco movie 'The Disaster Artist'.
Characters[]
Puppets[]
Credits[]
Information from IMDB
Directed by []
| David DeCoteau | ... | (as Joseph Tennent) |
Writing Credits []
| Charles Band | ... | (original story) |
| Neal Marshall Stevens | ... | (screenplay) (as Benjamin Carr) |
| David Schmoeller | ... | (characters) (uncredited) |
Cast []
| [1] | Greg Sestero | ... | Young Toulon |
| [2] | Brigitta Dau | ... | Ilsa |
| [3] | Stephen Blackehart | ... | First Servant |
| [4] | Jack Donner | ... | Afzel |
| [5] | Guy Rolfe | ... | Elder Toulon |
| [6] | Robert Radoveanu | ... | Second Servant |
| [7] | Vitalie Bantas | ... | Third Servant |
| [8] | Sando Teodor | ... | Latour (as Sandu Teodor) |
| [9] | George Calin | ... | Valentin |
| [10] | Giuliano Doman | ... | Vigo (as Juliano Doman) |
| [11] | Vlad Dulea | ... | Duval |
| [12] | Dan Fintescu | ... | Beggar |
| [13] | Serban Celea | ... | Father |
| [14] | Elvira Deatcu | ... | Margarette |
| [15] | Claudiu Trandafir | ... | Leader |
| [16] | Marcel Cobzariu | ... | First Tough (as Marcello Cobzariu) |
| [17] | Viorel Manole | ... | Second Tough |
| [18] | Mihai Verbintschi | ... | First Pursurer |
| [19] | Adrian Ciobanu | ... | Second Pursuer |
| [20] | Razvan Popa | ... | Assistant |
| [21] | Aurelian Popa | ... | Official |
| [22] | Cristian Irimia | ... | Conductor |
| [23] | Ion Bechet | ... | Ticket Agent |
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| [24] | John R. Ellis | ... | Ticket Agent (voice) (uncredited) |
Produced by []
| Charles Band | ... | executive producer |
| Danny Draven | ... | post producer |
| Kirk Edward Hansen | ... | producer |
| Michael J. Mahoney | ... | co-producer |
| Vlad Paunescu | ... | producer |
| Dana Scanlan | ... | co-producer |
| Mona C. Vasiloiu | ... | associate producer |
| Michael C. Cuddy | ... | co-producer (uncredited) |
Music by []
| John Massari | ||
Cinematography by []
| Viorel Sergovici | ... | director of photography (as Viorel Sergovici Jr.) |
Film Editing by []
| Don Adams | ||
Casting By []
| Perry Bullington | ||
| Robert MacDonald | ||
Production Design by []
| Radu Corciova | ||
Art Direction by []
| Ioana Corciova | ... | (as Joana Corciova) |
Set Decoration by []
| Viorel Ghenea | ||
Costume Design by []
| Oana Paunescu | ||
Makeup Department []
| Daniela Busoiu | ... | key makeup artist (as Dana Busoiu) |
| Catalin Ciutu | ... | hair stylist / makeup artist |
| Letitia Ghenea | ... | key makeup artist |
Production Management []
| Stefan Angheluta | ... | unit production manager |
| Mickey Kaiserman | ... | executive in charge of production |
| Kenny McCormick | ... | post-production supervisor |
| Joshua Throne | ... | production supervisor (uncredited) |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director []
| Cristian Ciurea | ... | first assistant director |
| Adrian Conerth | ... | first assistant director: second unit |
| Laurentiu Maronese | ... | second assistant director |
| Vladimir Moldoveanu | ... | first assistant director: second unit (as Vladmir Moldoveanu) |
Art Department []
| Gabriel Badea | ... | carpenter |
| Cristian Baluta | ... | property master (as Cristi Baluta) |
| Constantin Bratu | ... | carpenter |
| Gelu Dumitrascuta | ... | painter |
| Adi Handac | ... | props |
| Adrian Marin | ... | carpenter |
| Alexandru Mihai | ... | props studio (as Mihai Alexandru) |
| Gheorghe Rizea | ... | carpenter |
| Cristian Simon | ... | leadman |
| Bebe Soare | ... | leadman |
| Ion Stefaniuc | ... | scenic painter |
| Zoli Szabo | ... | leadman |
| Ica Varna | ... | set dresser (uncredited) |
Sound Department []
| Ariauna Albright | ... | sound support: Fat Cat Post |
| Dan Alexe | ... | boom operator |
| Tiberiu Borcoman | ... | production sound mixer (as Tibi Borcoman) |
| Eric Fahlborg | ... | foley editor (as Eric Fahlberg) / foley recordist (as Eric Fahlberg) |
| Walter W. Grant | ... | sound editor |
| Maui Holcomb | ... | sound editor |
| Marcus Ionis | ... | sound support: Fat Cat Post |
| Chris M. Jacobson | ... | sound designer (as Christopher M. Jacobson) / supervising sound editor (as Christopher M. Jacobson) |
| Sang Kim | ... | sound editor |
| Madison | ... | sound support: Fat Cat Post |
| Jake C. Michaels | ... | adr editor / adr recordist |
| P. Moran | ... | dialogue editor / layback engineer |
| Steven Nielson | ... | sound support: Fat Cat Post (as Steve Nielson) |
| Harry James Picardi | ... | sound support: Fat Cat Post |
| Nicolae Radu | ... | boom operator |
| Shirley Starr | ... | sound support: Fat Cat Post (as Shirley Stark) |
| Heinrich Von Frankl | ... | foley artist (as Dr. Heinrich von Frankl) |
| Chris M. Jacobson | ... | re-recording mixer (uncredited) |
Special Effects by []
| Christopher Bergschneider | ... | effects director: second unit / project coordinator / prosthetic effects designer / special effects producer: prosthetic effects |
| John Deall | ... | additional mechanical designer |
| Jeffrey S. Farley | ... | prosthetic effects designer / prosthetics supervisor / special effects producer: prosthetic effects |
| Leo Farley | ... | materials consultant |
| Russ Herpich | ... | special effects artist (as Russell Herpich) |
| Lucian Iordache | ... | pyrotechnician |
| Scott Klaiber | ... | special effects artist |
| Susan Laprelle | ... | special effects artist (as Sue La Prell) |
| Bud McGrew | ... | consultant: mechanical |
| Thomas Mounkes | ... | special effects artist |
| Ionel Popa | ... | prosthetics |
| Michael Shelton | ... | special effects artist (as Mike Shelton) |
| Kevin Wasner | ... | special effects artist |
Visual Effects by []
| Jerrod Cornish | ... | visual effects co-director |
| William Dempsey | ... | visual effects consultant |
| John R. Ellis | ... | visual effects director |
| David Lange | ... | visual effects co-director |
Stunts []
| Adi Pavloschi | ... | stunt coordinator |
Camera and Electrical Department []
| Nicolae Alexandru | ... | electrician (as Alexandru Nicolae) |
| Calin Catalin | ... | gaffer |
| Gigel Dumitrescu | ... | first assistant camera |
| Cristi Epure | ... | best boy grip (as Cristian Epure) |
| Ilie Georgica | ... | camera assistant: second unit |
| Marcu Ion | ... | electrician |
| Radu Ion | ... | electrician |
| Laurentiu Marcu | ... | second assistant camera (as Marcu Laurentiu) |
| Corina Pana | ... | slate |
| Nicolae Perianu | ... | video assistant |
| Radu Popa | ... | electrician: second unit |
| Gabi Postascu | ... | key grip (as Gabi Postasu) |
| Radu Postasu | ... | grip |
| Viorel Sergovici | ... | camera operator |
| George Stan | ... | electrician |
| Petre Surugiu | ... | generator operator (as Bebe Surugiu) |
| Sorin Udrea | ... | grip: second unit |
| Gheorghe Ursescu | ... | electrician (as George Ursenscu) / electrician: second unit (as George Ursenscu) |
| Radu Aldea | ... | camera operator (uncredited) |
Casting Department []
| Catalin Dordea | ... | casting coordinator |
| Ioana Maximilian | ... | casting coordinator |
Costume and Wardrobe Department []
| Cristina Antón | ... | tailor (as Cristina Anton) |
| Christopher Bergschneider | ... | puppet costumer |
| Hilda Canciu | ... | costumer |
| Mihaela David | ... | wardrobe supervisor |
| Terri Middleton | ... | puppet costumer |
| Doina Raducut | ... | costumer |
| Victoria Dragnea | ... | costume supervisor (uncredited) |
Editorial Department []
| Sandra Lange | ... | post-production assistant |
| Kevin Mueller | ... | post-production coordinator |
| Jeffrey W. Scaduto | ... | on-line editor |
| Lloyd 'Gambo' Taylor | ... | on-line editor (as Lloyd 'Gumbo' Taylor) |
Location Management []
| Adi Conerth | ... | location manager |
Music Department []
| Pat Siciliano | ... | music supervisor |
Script and Continuity Department []
| Cornelia Stefan | ... | script supervisor / script supervisor: second unit |
Transportation Department []
| Raduta Adi | ... | driver (as Adi Raduta) |
| Constantin Antasiuc | ... | driver |
| Marian Anton | ... | driver |
| Ion Balcan | ... | driver |
| Costel Barbu | ... | driver |
| Alfred Bauer | ... | driver |
| Vali Georgescu | ... | driver |
| Damian Ion | ... | transportation coordinator (as Ion Damian) |
| Marcu Ion | ... | driver (as Ion Marcu) |
| Laurentiu Marcu | ... | driver |
| Marian Pascale | ... | driver |
| Cristi Petre | ... | driver |
| Ovidiu Radut | ... | driver (as Ovidiu Radu) |
| Teoharie Ristea | ... | driver |
| Liviu Stan | ... | driver |
| Stefan Tarzioru | ... | driver |
| Mircea Tescula | ... | driver |
| Mircea Tudor | ... | driver |
| Marius Vlad | ... | driver |
Other crew []
| Dara Allison | ... | accounting assistant |
| Marian Anton | ... | craft service |
| Alfred Bauer | ... | cashier |
| Christopher Bergschneider | ... | puppeteer: second unit |
| Doru Bobesiu | ... | extras coordinator |
| Cristian Bostanescu | ... | production coordinator |
| Bennah Burton-Burtt | ... | assistant: Charles Band |
| Janice Clifford | ... | distribution resources |
| Mirela Dabija | ... | caterer |
| Rodica Dinache | ... | chef |
| Jordan Faeth | ... | communication services |
| Gilles Frenchy Gauthier | ... | marketing and creative services (as Giles Gauthier) |
| Letitia Ghenea | ... | puppeteer (as Letitia) / puppeteer: second unit |
| Monica Gheorghe | ... | puppeteer (as Monica) / puppeteer: second unit |
| Marcus Ionis | ... | promotions assistant |
| Dwight Krizman | ... | distribution management |
| Tony Lakatos | ... | production accountant (as Toni Lakatos) |
| Bob Langer | ... | merchandising |
| Ana Llorens | ... | coordinating accountant |
| David Markosyan | ... | communication services |
| Cristiana Mitea | ... | translator |
| Cristina Mnatacanian | ... | puppeteer (as Cristina) / puppeteer: second unit |
| Vladimir Moldoveanu | ... | set production assistant |
| Paul Morzov | ... | vault supervisor |
| Liliana Nedelcu | ... | cook |
| Dave Parker | ... | promotions |
| Marian Pascale | ... | production assistant |
| Hope Payan | ... | corporate accountant |
| Rick Phares | ... | distribution services |
| Scott Phillips | ... | communication services: post-production |
| Marian Popescu | ... | studio manager |
| Ruxandra Popescu | ... | assistant production accountant |
| Iulia Savescu | ... | production secretary |
| Florica Serbanescu | ... | cook |
| Carmen Sercianu | ... | caterer (as Carmen Sercalanu) |
| Diana Sini | ... | production secretary (as Diana Negoitescu) |
| Charles Spencer | ... | financial systems |
| Radu Teodorescu | ... | technical advisor |
| Gina Tucci | ... | office manager |
| Mona C. Vasiloiu | ... | behind the scenes |
| Paul Velcea | ... | supplier |
| Liliana Voicu | ... | cook |