Attack of the Puppet People

Yes, welcome to another cheerfully inept Bert I. Gordon (B.I.G) Sci-Fi/horror romp, in which the silliness usually triumphs over adequate scripting and where the special effects look cheaper than half a handful of pennies. "Attack of the Puppet People" is a thoroughly shameless cash-in on the success of "The Incredible Shrinking Man", but in this light-headed story there's no room for building up claustrophobic atmosphere, let alone the preaching of philosophical messages. It's a fun and charming little movie, but totally lacking depth, credibility and a proper elaboration of the basic premise. John Hoyt stars as a brilliant doll maker slash inventor of shrinking equipment (rather unusual combination, but okay), but he's very lonely and emotionally frustrated since his beloved wife walked out on him once, several years ago. So now, he uses his magic, invisible ray projecting devise to miniaturize the people he risks losing, like his cute secretary Sally and her fiancé Bob. Mr. Franz keeps his little friends asleep in tubes, but also does his best to entertain them with tiny dance parties, the newest Barbie & Ken outfits and even trips to the 'Jekyl & Hyde' marionette-theater. The 'attack' referred to in the title is quite inaccurate, as the little folks don't attack anyone (with the exception of a lifeless Dr. Jekyll marionette) but they do want to escape and regain their normal previous measurements. "Attack of the Puppet People" is a fairly forgettable and poor film, but it's slightly better and more stylish than most of the things B.I.G accomplished and at least it's never boring. Hoyt is fine as the pitiable & awkward old toymaker, but the supportive cast is too underdeveloped and bleak. If anything, this is an insignificant but pleasant 50's gem with some funny highlights, like the marionette-fight and one of the shrunken gals quacking the cheesy theme song "I'm your living Doll".

Attack of the Puppet People (1958)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Lesser film from Bert I Gordon about a lonely old doll maker (John Hoyt) who comes up with something new to stay busy. Instead of making dolls he's going to take real people and shrink them down to a doll size. Two such people (including June Kenney) decide that they don't want to remain this size so they fight to become big again. ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE is a pretty disappointing film when you consider there's really no puppets and no attacks. This is a pretty screenplay that really doesn't offer up anything overly interesting and it appears that no one was really interested in coming up with a story that you could care about. The doll maker really isn't all that interesting and we really don't learn about him being lonely until the end of the picture. Perhaps if they had worked this in earlier we could have gained some sort of connection with him. The secretary role isn't any better as we never begin to care what happens to her. Gordon does a pretty good job with the special effects, which might be the only time in his career. I thought the rear projection was obviously horrible but there's a lot of stuff dealing with miniatures that actually work. The long sequence where a group of people try to escape the office was well-directed and a lot of credit goes to the special effects for actually looking real. The performances are another good thing as Hoyt manages to be good in his role as does John Agar as the woman's love interest. At 79-minutes the film seems a little long at times but I'm sure fans of the director will still want to check this out. Others should probably stay clear.

What should you do if your wife leaves you for another man? John Hoyt, playing a German puppeteer, decides that he will devise some incredibly complex scientific device that miniaturizes the people he likes so they will never again leave him. Director/producer Bert I. Gordon does it again; he creates a film with a pretty ridiculous script, interesting if not always impressive special effects, and an entertaining film notwithstanding. The film starts out with many puppets already "made" and then shows how Hoyt creates some, interacts with some, how some try to escape and so on... Much of the film is used to let Gordon showcase his effects as the little people are surrounded by large objects. One little person even gets to sing a hip rock song. Hmmm...okay. Ultimately I liked Attack of the Puppet People. It doesn't have the greatest story or acting or effects, but it has heart. It is an inferior film in every way to the impressive Dr. Cyclops made with Albert Dekker the previous decade. Hoyt gives a heartfelt and tired performance. John Agar plays the man who has fallen in love with Hoyt's newest blonde bombshell secretary. He literally has a short fuse! The other actors are competent if nothing else. For me the most fun scene is that with the little girl, played by Gordon's real life daughter Susan, comes into to get her doll fixed and finds a matchbox. Another Mr. BIG production that is fun.

After his massive success with giant size folks in "The Cyclops" and "The Amazing Colossal Man" director Bert I. Gordon decided to go small with "Attack of the Puppet People," a nod to Universal's "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (a nice twist found it theatrically paired with his sequel "War of the Colossal Beast"), methodically building an air of mystery for the first half hour as various characters visit the office of Dolls Incorporated only to disappear without a trace. John Hoyt portrays the proprietor Mr. Franz, hiring new secretary Sally Reynolds (June Kenney) and associate Bob Westley (John Agar), who then both vanish after she fails to convince the police to check up on the missing people (in a disquieting moment, a lookalike Bob doll is lit on fire inside its plastic tube). The two newcomers are greeted by four others, all kept in suspended animation without air in their individual tubes. It's not really clear how former puppeteer Franz has developed a machine that works like a projector but in reverse, producing a ray that shrinks the subject to whatever size he desires, just a simple plot contrivance. We only see six of the dozen victims walking around, strangely complacent until the indignant Bob gets them to wake up to their predicament and attempt to escape. Once the cops get too close Mr. Franz decides that suicide is the only way out, unwilling to grant them freedom from captivity, all done just to alleviate his terrible loneliness. Bob and Sally must make it back to the shop before Franz does during a going away party at a nearby theater, encountering danger from a rat, a cat, a dog and a reckless automobile (there's also an adorable kitty seen living in a matchbox). The special effects are fairly basic and none too convincing, and little actually happens to support the lengthy exposition, a distraction since none of the characters are developed to any degree except for the villain. John Hoyt offers more substance to the role than is there in the script, a sketchy European background working with old friend Emil, another latter day performance from Michael Mark, father of Little Maria in the 1931 "Frankenstein." One can see the necessity of preventing his various young secretaries from leaving, but what could be his connection to a teenage boy and active Marine?

You know we never do learn just how the machine that shrinks folks to doll like size came to the possession of puppetmaker John Hoyt. He had no science or electronic background we're told about.

This is one weird film about a man who for fun and pleasure shrinks people to miniature size and keeps them around. Among others he shrinks are his new secretary June Kenney and her salesman boyfriend John Agar. When he proposes marriage and she wants to leave, Hoyt can't bear to part with either.

Hoyt is the whole show here in this B film quickie. It's not enough for a film that can't quite decide how seriously it wants to be taken.