Puppet Killer: Slaying homages in a most epic way.
Film review by Ashley Turner

Puppet Killer is a horror film written by Kevin Mosley and Lisa Ovies, directed by Lisa Ovies; starring Aleks Paunovic, Lee Majdoub, Lisa Durupt, Richard Harmon, Gigi Saul Guerrero, and Kyle Cassie.

Synopsis: "While celebrating Christmas at a cabin in the woods, a group of high school students are stalked by a psychotic killer obsessed with horror movie icons."



Puppet Killer opens with the quick introduction of an interesting looking puppet named Simon being given to an infant by his mother. My first thought was, “Who in the hell would give something like that to a child?” My question was quickly answered with our protagonist’s mother introducing the infant to any and all of the slasher and gore-filled movies of the time. Ahhhh. Yep. That would be the kind of person. No judgement. Carry on.

We see this adorable family bonding over horror films as the child grows, puppet in hand (quite literally). As the child displays more and more unsettling behavior as he ages, I assumed where this was going, and as a lifelong horror fan, I hoped that I was wrong. I mean, not all horror fans are serial killers, am I right? Some maybe….but not all.



Our first on-screen kill is everything I hoped it would be: absolutely brutal and gory. We fast forward 10 years into the future, and we quickly realize that this 40-something year old brute of a man is supposed to be a teen version of our infant protagonist. He speaks of his trauma to a hilariously unfiltered school counselor and I realize this film is going to have fun with classic horror tropes. The over-the-top-horror-obsessed mom in the beginning, along with overall casting choices that definitely cause a long moment of pause, tell me that this is going to be a parody or a film that knows how to push the envelope. The story feels so absurd and yet engaging that I am completely into finding out which it is.



Our cast of typical mixed archetypes (again, so obviously not teens) head to the woods. It’s a beautiful nod to all of the 80s films of the past where our main cast carry the five-o-clock shadows and voluptuous curves of obvious adults. They engage in the typical slasher film behavior or drinking, sex, and drugs…while still managing to layer in an innocence that typical teens trying to “be bad” possess. This is quite a big feat considering the obvious age of our cast. Kudos to fantastic acting. It takes talent to deliver deadpan comedy in a horror setting.

The dialogue is very tongue-in-cheek, interlaced with dry humor that definitely evokes chuckles and a perma-grin throughout the film. The deaths are truly epic, gory, and disturbing, which help balance the lighter tones of the film. Puppet Killer absolutely knows how to have fun with itself without being a parody of horror. Any assumptions or storyline foreshadowing I made at the beginning were absolutely annihilated and I love that this story kept me on my toes.



With a murderous pink puppet that sounds like Elmo and hilarious horror references to the horror greats, this is a bundle of gory fun! It’s an entertaining ride of comedy and horror that successfully pays tribute to the campy slasher flicks of the past. This just might be a new favorite on my Christmas horror films list…it happens during Christmas time, so I’m going to go ahead and categorize it as a Christmas horror film. I kind of do what I want.

I highly recommend watching this film. It’s fun, it’s gory, and it’s exactly the kind of horror you have fun watching with a group of friends. Put on your jingle bells, buckle in, and enjoy the ride!

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Website: industry-works.com/project/puppet-killer
IMDB: imdb.com/title/tt4278760/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
Regal Ticket link: removies.com