[Film Review] Puppet Killer (2019)

“You’re never too young for good movies!”

Puppet Killer (2019) is the Christmas horror-comedy to add to your watchlist this season. It tells the story of Jamie (Aleks Paunovic), who watches a horror movie with his mom and dad every Christmas. This tradition begins when he is just a few months old, and while his father is hesitant that Jamie is too young, his mother is adamant and a die-hard horror fan. Jamie always has his puppet, Simon, with him as his horror-movie buddy. Jamie’s mother dies of cancer, and his dad remarries, but Jamie witnesses Simon kill his stepmother. Ten years later, as a high school senior, Jamie and his friends are going to spend a drunken weekend at the cabin where it all happened. Will Simon be waiting to slaughter Jamie’s friends? Or was it all in Jamie’s mind the whole time? Puppet Killer strikes the perfect balance of horror and comedy. 

I was laughing out loud throughout the film. The actors deliver purposefully over-the-top performances, impeccably portraying their place in the friendship group - a bro, a loner, a stoner, a promiscuous girl, and a wholesome couple. In true slasher fashion, adult actors play teenage characters, and no portrayal is more egregious than “seventeen” year old Jamie- played by a fifty year old actor, clearly older than everyone, including his father. The commitment to that joke remains funny the whole time he is on screen. The jokes are delivered dryly and sincerely, which makes them land in the most hilarious way. For me to quote any of the jokes in this review wouldn’t get the humor across, because it relies on the excellent comedic timing of the actors. 

At the same time, this film was obviously made by people who adore horror films. The characters exist within our world and know our horror movie tropes. One of the friends regularly points out the way things are unfolding like a horror movie, right at the same time the audience knows it. But the film also subverts some tropes. One of the men in the group is a virgin, instead of the typical virginal woman, and the predictable paranormal structure is flipped on its head when no one believes a man about what is happening, rather than a woman being called “crazy” for thinking something spooky is going on. The kills are gruesome and the camera doesn’t shy away from the gore. Entrails spill and blood gushes. The puppet has a creepy voice, and is often heard giggling offscreen, or scampering past just out of view.  It’s shot like a horror film, even the comedic parts, which adds to the self-aware humor and tonal balance of the film. 

Many scenes feel like a reward for horror fanatics to flex their trivia knowledge. Homages and Easter eggs are everywhere. Horror fans will recognize sound design reminiscent of Friday the 13th (1980) and music that brings to mind A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). There is a shot of a character named Heather, which is lit just like Nancy at the end of NOES, until she quickly turns around and the scene becomes reminiscent of Sidney Prescott taunting the killer from her porch in Scream (1996). But it gets even more fun as the references become more obvious. In the last third of the movie, the humor ramps up, and the homages become hilarious emulations of horror scenes that we know and love. For example, Simon the puppet says, “Welcome to my nightmare motherfucker” and stabs a character with Freddy’s glove. There were at least ten other classic horror films lovingly referenced, and it was so much fun to feel like a part of that as it unfolded.

Puppet Killer is the perfect movie for this season, right between Halloween and Christmas. It’s got all the fun and horror of Halloween, and it’s not so Christmassy that it could only be watched on Christmas or Christmas Eve. If you’re like me and you need some help getting over the end of the Halloween season, this movie is a perfect comfort watch. I plan to put it on my seasonal watchlist from here on. Get cozy with your egg nog or hot cocoa, count all your favorite horror references, and enjoy Puppet Killer, available on digital download starting 29th November. 

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