Attack of the Puppet People (1958)

“Attack of the Puppet People” was produced and directed by B-movie figurehead Bert I. Gordon, or “Mr. Big,” as he's known in the cult film community. He's known specifically for his “giant monster” movies: he uses rear-projection techniques in order to create giant (insert anything you can name here). As you could guess, he's produced his fair share of underwhelming work by working in such a specific niche. However, in “Attack of the Puppet People.” Bert turns his voodoo-magic shrink-ray knob down to around 4 and actually focuses on other aspects, creating a mutant fusion of unintentional humor, drama, and psychological horror that's actually surprisingly compelling.

This flick has a very peculiar case of Multiple Personality Disorder. Right from the start, it firmly establishes itself as a cheesy movie via corny acting and a dunderheaded “I'm happy all the time!” sort of soundtrack. However, as the film progresses, at sporadic intervals, the film will explode into ridiculously awesome moments of drama/psychological horror, only to regress back into the innocent facade that it had put up earlier. It may take multiple viewings of the film to realize that it works this way, but it's really quite effective. (As you can tell, I watch these movies way, way, way too much.)

"Attack of the Puppet People" opens up with Sally Reynolds (June Kenney), the female protagonist, taking a Girl Scout troupe on a field trip into the city to a doll factory. The primary aesthetics are established pretty quickly, harboring that totally corny 50's feel. Upon entering, Sally meets Mr. Franz (John Hoyt), the manager of said factory.

Right off the bat, you can tell that Mr. Franz isn't exactly the most mentally healthy person ever. I mean, look at this freakin' guy. John Hoyt isn't given a whole lot to utilize in terms of this character, and despite this, he still manages to come off as a creepy, desperate old man in a very believable way. When he lays eyes on Sally, he immediately insists that she work as his new secretary. While Sally had initially gone there with the ulterior motive of getting a job, Franz is so frightening that she is wary. In fact, he has to plead through a solid 40 seconds of awkward screen time before she gives up and takes the job against her better judgment.

On her first day at the job, Sally meets Bob Westley (John Agar), a busy businessman who only likes business. The two hook up rather spontaneously, and...

*NEEDLE SCRATCH.* Yeah, there is one issue with this film, as I just pointed out here: notice how Bob just kind of came out of nowhere in this review, as if I had just written him in on a whim? Every single character is introduced that way in “Attack of the Puppet People.” It's kind of bizarre, but it works for the movie strangely enough. Just like this blog, it's hardly professional. On a more positive note, the rest of the film is set just as briskly as the characters are introduced. Clocking in at a mere 79 minutes, “Puppet People” is hardly a challenging watch.

Anyways, Sally and Bob quickly decide they want to get married. Mr. Franz, on the other hand, has other plans, and by the end of the week, Sally and Bob find themselves no more than six inches tall courtesy of Mr. Franz's handiwork, trapped in his backroom laboratory with a host of other shrunken people.

The scene that proceeds this major plot development, as you could imagine, is a vital factor as to whether or not you'd want to put up with a schlocky 50's B-movie. So, as your official judge, let me tell you that this scene is not only pivotal, but one of the most adeptly directed scenes in here. The direction and camerawork is extremely tight. Mr. Franz is allowed an excellent moment to be exposed in all of his demented, creepy wonderfulness. The scene even ends with a fantastic use of the damsel-scream, one of the best that I've seen in my history of watching B-movies. That scream is an utterly overused cliché in these sorts of movies, but June Kenney really busts her vocal chords delivering one of the single best damsel-screams I've heard, ever. Seriously. Everything about this scene is great.

Mr. Franz reveals that the intensity of his loneliness has driven him to shrink those he likes in order to be able to keep them as “pets,” more or less. To avoid too many spoilers, I'll leave the synopsis at: Bob and Sally spend the rest of the film on a goofy little adventure searching for a way out of their predicament.

The movie has a small cast of entertaining side-characters. Investigator Paterson (Jack Kosslyn) is constantly pondering in a pseudo-intellectual investigator-y sort of way. The stage supervisor is a clueless idiot who can be seen eating a sandwich before it cuts to Bob's proposal if you look hard enough. All the characters are charmingly silly, and it adds nicely to the silly atmosphere of the movie itself.

The most prominent of the side characters, however, is Mr. Franz's best friend, Emil (Michael Mark). Emil is a fellow puppet/doll aficionado who appears to hail from wherever the hell he feels like living whenever the hell he feels like it. Although Emil's existence in the movie can be irritating at times (he's the perfect example of a mediocre filler character), being able to listen to the incoherent babbling of two disgruntled maniacs makes up for this shortfall in spades.

Overall, I'd have to say it isn't too difficult to recommend "Attack of the Puppet People". I even got my parents to watch it. It's completely clean; it has a lot of unintentional humor; it's surprisingly well-directed for a B-movie; and on top of all of that, the story and horror style is extremely unique. Seriously, guys, this thing is available on Amazon Instant Video for FREE and we're still celebrating the holly-jolly holiday spirit, right? Well, what better way to celebrate that holly-jolly spirit than with a goofy 1950's movie? Hit this up, guys. You won't regret it.