Attack of the Puppet People [VHS]
by Bert I. Gordon
![Attack of the Puppet People [VHS]](/images/Attack-of-the-Puppet-People-VHS-0792843894-L.jpg)
List Price:
Our Price: $0.48
You Save: $9.46 (95%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: VHS Video
See more movie releases
Buy this VHS video movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: Jack Kosslyn, John Agar, John Hoyt, June Kenney, Michael MarkDirector: Bert I. Gordon
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC, Original recording reissued
Running Time: 79 minutes
Release Date: 2000-03-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
VHS Movie Reviews of Attack of the Puppet People [VHS]
Movie Review: Only John Hoyt Shows Class
Summary: 3 Stars
When director Bert Gordon saw the unexpected profits from his AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN and the earlier INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, he decided that there was room enough in Hollywood for yet another film on a man out of size. In THE ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE, Gordon reshot the much more artistic ISM minus any mystical or sociological subtext. Here, he cast veteran B actor John Hoyt as Mr. Franz, a demented doll maker who also invented a machine that could shrink human beings down to a mere six inches in height. Gordon did not concern himself with the fact that while it was theoretically possible to shrink matter, the mass would remain constant even while the actual size was reduced. Thus a six inch human being must weigh as much as before, much like a snowball compressed into a tightly packed core. Hoyt plays Franz in a manner that suggests he is your typical Insane Scientist, one who cannot fathom why his shrunken victims might not appreciate his solicitude for their well-being. As usual, Hoyt's smooth diction elevates his performance above his fellow cast. John Agar as Bob the salesman is his usual bland self, one who annoys the audience and the object of his affections, the lovely Sally, equally blandly played by June Kenney. Agar comes across as a jerk, but soon he and Miss Kenney are in a drive in theater where he pops the question with her accepting. There are four other shrunken people. What is astounding about them is that they are played as total airheads. When these four first meet Agar and Kenney, they cannot understand why their new fellow miniatures are not ecstatic about their new station in life. The plot is simple. All the puppet people try to escape. There are some scenes of huge mice, cats, and dogs attacking them, which brings to mind some similar scenes from TISM, though in the latter case, were more startling and acceptable. There is not much to recommend in PUPPET PEOPLE, except that Hoyt manages to come across as one who commits evil but is unaware of doing so. His Mr. Franz is involved in the world of the microcosmic. For him, the macro world is fraught with danger and pain. When he mentions that his wife left him for another, the audience could actually connect with him on a visceral level. Even at the end, with his miniature emprire crumbling, he still convinces us that he is more sinned against than sinning. THE ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE emerges as a mildly cautionary tale of the dangers in reducing the pain in one's heart by reducing the external world down to a more manageable size.
Summary of Attack of the Puppet People [VHS]
After threatening audiences with The Amazing Colossal Man, director-producer-special-effects "whiz" Bert I. Gordon again proves that size does matter in his revamp of The Incredible Shrinking Man for American International Pictures. John Hoyt, the wheelchair-bound tycoon from When Worlds Collide, is Mr. Franz, a lonely doll maker who reduces anyone who abandons him to doll-size. How Franz, a former puppeteer, could accomplish this scientific marvel is never explained, but Franz's collection (who, in an oddly unsettling scene, are forced to participate in a marionette show) include his salesman Bob (John Agar, by now an established B-movie staple) and secretary (June Kenny, from Gordon's Earth vs. the Spider) as well as a handful of strangers (including Ken Miller from I Was a Teenage Werewolf and the Queen of Outer Space herself, Laurie Mitchell). As always, Gordon's limitations overshadow his intentions, and his direction and atrocious effects (AIP monster maker Paul Blaisdell is credited with "special design"), as well as the script by SF hack George Worthing Yates (Them!), undo the film's few laudable aspects, chief among them Hoyt's sympathetic performance. However, his self-promotional skills are topnotch--Bob and Sally see Colossal Man on their drive-in date. Puppet People won't impress younger audiences, but parents raised on a diet of drive-in fodder will appreciate its pulpy plot and solid genre cast. Filmed as The Fantastic Puppet People, it was retitled after being paired on a double bill with War of the Colossal Beast. MGM's full-screen print looks excellent, with only mild speckling. --Paul GaitaComedy VHS Video
VHS Video Movies
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation VHS Video
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics VHS Video
- Comedy VHS Video
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama VHS Video
- Educational
- Fitness
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror VHS Video
- Kids & Family
- Military & War VHS Video
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports VHS Video
- Television VHS Video
- Westerns VHS Video
Movies most talked about in Really Good Bad Sci-Fi Movies
![Attack of the Puppet People [VHS] Image](/images/Attack-of-the-Puppet-People-VHS-0792843894-X.jpg){kind=small}
Attack of the Puppet People [VHS]MGM (Video & DVD); Release date: 2000-03-07; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $0.40
Price in other shops:
![Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Brain That Wouldn't Die [VHS] Image](/images/Mystery-Science-Theater-3000-The-Brain-That-Wouldnt-Die-VHS-6304203993-X.jpg){kind=small}
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Brain That Wouldn't Die [VHS]Rhino / Wea; Release date: 1996-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $19.86
![Mystery Science Theater 3000: Catalina Caper [VHS] Image](/images/Mystery-Science-Theater-3000-Catalina-Caper-VHS-B00001U0DO-X.jpg){kind=small}
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Catalina Caper [VHS]Rhino / Wea; Release date: 1999-10-05; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $18.50
Soylent GreenRelease date: 2003-08-05; DVD
Best price: $15.49
![Mole People [VHS] Image](/images/Mole-People-VHS-6302763924-X.jpg){kind=small}
Mole People [VHS]Universal Studios; Release date: 1996-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $24.95
SleeperRelease date: 2000-07-05; DVD
Best price: $6.13
Price in other shops:
Godzilla 2000Sony; Release date: 2000-12-26; DVD
Best price: $6.22
Price in other shops:
![Mystery Science Theater 3000 - The Beginning of the End [VHS] Image](/images/Mystery-Science-Theater-3000-The-Beginning-of-the-End-VHS-6305320454-X.jpg){kind=small}
Mystery Science Theater 3000 - The Beginning of the End [VHS]Rhino / Wea; Release date: 1999-03-16; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $22.98
Santa Claus Conquers the MartiansRelease date: 2002-09-17; DVD
Best price: $3.38
Price in other shops:
Plan 9 from Outer SpaceKoch International; Release date: 2000-05-16; DVD
Best price: $2.98
Price in other shops:
Similar VHS Movies
The Dunwich HorrorRelease date: 2001-08-28; DVD
Best price: $2.49
Price in other shops:
SquirmTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2003-08-26; DVD
Best price: $3.51
Price in other shops:
Killer Klowns from Outer SpaceTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2001-08-28; DVD
Best price: $2.93
Price in other shops:
X - The Man with the X-Ray EyesRelease date: 2001-06-05; DVD
Best price: $5.46
Price in other shops:
The Island of Dr. MoreauRelease date: 2001-08-28; DVD
Best price: $3.44
Price in other shops:
Mars Needs WomenRelease date: 2001-08-28; DVD
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
BlaculaTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2004-01-20; DVD
Best price: $9.45
Price in other shops:
Die, Monster, Die!Release date: 2001-02-20; DVD
Best price: $2.78
Price in other shops:
The Man From Planet XRelease date: 2001-02-20; DVD
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
Count Yorga, VampireRelease date: 2001-08-28; DVD
Best price: $1.61
Price in other shops: