The Puppetman

Brandon Christensen's films have maintained an incredible stability in terms of quality – all of them are net two stars for me. Sufficient in terms of craftsmanship, though not a great execution of a material that others have approached better. There are two or three scenes in The Puppetman worth talking about (a montage of a gym and a library, the death of a likeable character in a car, a police station), the rest is dull mediocrity crowned by a joyless finale. It actually snapped me out of my lethargy a bit in the end, I was really wondering why they brought it to such a strangely unsatisfying conclusion. (23.10.2023)

A big fan of the Final Destination films could have made something like It Follows, but they would have had to mine the spirit of Buffalo at least halfway as effectively as David Robert Mitchell did with Detroit, and really push the atmosphere of unknown evil, which pulls the strings of puppets while they are fully aware. A few gore moments will remind you of the aforementioned FD franchise, but overall, it’s nothing that would make Michael Paré more disheveled. As for leisure activities, Dolos and Azazel are essentially poor souls. When they want to play badminton or chess together, it feels quite impersonal. (09.11.2023)