Having escaped from the hotel, the new puppet master and the remaining dolls find their encounters with the demon cult aren't over as they launch another attempt at protecting their ancient secrets forcing them all into one last battle to finally defeat the beings.

This here wasn't all that bad of an effort in the series. As this one manages to follow-up on the story-line from the previous effort, in effect leading through the events of the last film to start this one off with as it deals with the ramifications of their actions dealing with the police, this one feels the most logically connected and cohesive entries here by finally giving some answers as to what's going on. There's a lot to like here about how that in itself corresponds to the different elements of the past movies with the connection found between the serum's mechanical frequencies and the gateway into the other dimension which finally solves the riddle of how they worked and why they were initially targeting the computer group from before. That also leaves the film with some enjoyable action scenes as the confrontations that arrive here come into play quite nicely against the story-line here with the majority of the film afterward dealing with the robbers' attempt to snatch them up inside the hotel and resorting to plenty of great encounters protecting themselves, leading to the demon puppet arriving along the way which generates not only their encounters with the puppets but also with the demon-puppet creature getting involved with the series of encounters in the hallways as it tracks down the group in some fun, chilling stalking scenes. Still, the majority of this time is used with the puppets in control leading to some suspenseful stalking scenes of them looking for the puppets throughout the darkened hallways of the house, the fun of the kitchen encounter with the robbers or the great sequence in the lab trying to resurrect the main doll to help them fight off the creatures, providing the big finale battle with the puppets and the demon puppet being that ends up resolving the entire story-line quite nicely. These here give this one enough to like to hold out over the few minor flaws here. The main problem here is the fact that there's quite a large amount of time here spent without bringing the demon- puppets as there's very little screen-time here that it almost makes the film forget they're even involved much in the film. There's a point where it could've easily brought them into play here as they're attacking the puppets for the main story-line and the entrance into the dimension happened quite early, so there's little excuse as for what there's little need for it to be as uninvolved as it is in that manner. That also highlights the fact that the main puppet doesn't have a whole lot of screen-time anyway as the entire film comes off like the last one where they spend the whole film trying to reanimate it when it was already alive, so it all builds up to that fight. It's a little repetitive, which is what holds this back somewhat from the previous effort.

Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter (the actual on-screen title on my copy was just Puppet Master 5) starts with boy genius Rick Meyers (Gordon Currie) at a police station being interrogated over the murders of Dr's. Baker & Piper as well as his mate Cameron (who were all killed in Puppet Master 4 (1993)),the evidence against Rick is strong & he is charged with the three murders. Fellow Omega scientist Dr. Jennings (Ian Ogilvy) reads Rick's outlandish statement about living puppets & senses the opportunity to make a bundle of cash so he takes along three guy's to help him break into the Bogeda Bay Inn & steal the puppets for himself. Meanwhile Rick gets out on bail & heads for the Inn to get the puppets in order to help clear himself & the evil ancient Egyptian God Sutek still wants to kill Rick & destroy the puppets & sends yet another little monster to do just that.

Billed & planned as the final Puppet Master film this was the fourth straight sequel to the rather excellent Puppetmaster (1989) & was in fact filmed back-to-back with the previous entry Puppet Master 4 & as such features a lot of the same cast, crew, locations, props & special effects as well as having a story which follows on directly from the events of the previous film. Again directed by Jeff Burr & written by the same five(!) people responsible for Puppet Master 4 this is a disappointing entry in what was a fantastic series of horror film up to & including Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge (1991) & you can see why the series has died a death if you compare this with the earlier entries. For a start the plot is all over the place, at first it directly contradicts Puppet Master 4 as the reason for Sutek wanting to kill Rick & destroy the puppets is because he wanted to protect the secret of life that Toulon had stolen from him but at the start of Puppet Master 5 it is said Sutek wants to kill Rick & destroy the puppets to learn the secret himself before reverting back to the premise of Puppet Master 4 for the final twenty minutes. Then there's the odd plot hole which states that Sutek can't travel between dimensions yet where did all the creatures he sent in Puppet Master 4 come from? The body count is again far too low, several of the main character's from Puppet Master 4 return including Lauren who manages to psychically control computers while she is in a coma! Also what happened to the murder charges against Rick? Did the police just forget about them? Again the once cool killer puppets don't kill anyone, aren't evil & generally are portrayed as the heroes which to me is just all wrong & evidence the makers wanted to tone things down for a newer & younger audience. Although the duration of the film is just over 80 odd minutes there's a fairly long compilation of footage from Puppet Master 4 to act as a recap or to fill those in who haven't seen it.

After his absence in Puppet Master 4 the cool puppet Torch makes an appearance here as does Blade, Jester, Pinhead, Tunneller, Six Shooter & the new puppet Decapitron. They are still very cool & the film picks up whenever they are on screen but not much is done with them & they don't get to be evil anymore which just doesn't sit right with me. The special effects are alright, there are less of them than in Puppet Master 4 & a lot less stop-motion animation. Like Puppet Master 4 the violence, gore & nudity of the excellent first three Puppet Master films have been reduced to virtually zero, there's a few cuts seen on someone's face & a bit of blood splatter & that's it. If not for some strong profanity this would pass as a PG. The final fight between the Sutek creature & the puppets looks a bit silly & like the sort of thing your six year old kid brother would set-up & stage with his Star Wars figures.

Like Puppet Master 4 the Bogeda Bay Inn scenes are well lit & shot but the rest of it looks cheap & Sutek & his liar look absolutely awful & feel like they belong in a different film (for some reason the actor playing Sutek is not credited in either Puppet Master 4 or 5). The acting is OK, the two girls from Puppet Master 4 barely feature this time around while British veteran actor Ian Ogilvy brings a bit of class to things.

Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter wasn't the final chapter at all although considering how poor it is & what the makers have done with a once great franchise it maybe should have been. Followed by Curse of the Puppet Master (1998) & you know a series is in trouble when the makers stop numbering them...

The greedy Dr. Jennings (a nicely slimy portrayal by Ian Ogilvy) wants the puppets for himself so he can sell them as military weapons. Meanwhile, evil dark pharaoh Sutek sends his minion Totem into our dimension to kill Rick Myers (an earnest and likable performance by Gordon Currie). Director Jeff Burr relates the enjoyable premise at a snappy pace, maintains a generally serious tone throughout, stages the monster attack scenes with flair, and delivers a sizable smattering of splatter. The solid acting from the able cast rates as another real asset: the lovely Chandra West as Rick's sweet gal pal Susie, the fetching Teresa Hill as vulnerable psychic Lauren, Nicholas Guest as the sleazy Hendy, William E. Pugh as tough hood Hason, and Duane Whitaker as wormy low-life Scott. Guy Rolfe makes sporadic appearances as Andre Toulon. Popping up in nifty bits are Ron "Superfly" O'Neal as a skeptical detective, Diane McBain as an attorney, and Clu Gulager as a businessman. Sutek and Totem both make for a gnarly demons. Moreover, the puppets posses a certain quirky charm and it's nice to see them working together for a good cause (the sequence at the end with the little guys taking on Totem is especially cool and rousing). Adolfo Bartoli's slick cinematography gives the picture a pleasing polished look and makes inspired occasional use of tilted camera angles. The shivery score by Richard Band and Michael Weatherwax does the shuddery trick. A fun flick.