Puppet Master - The Legacy

Puppet Master: The Legacy is a 2004 horror film written by C. Courtney Joyner and David Schmoeller, and directed by Charles Band. It is the eighth film in the Puppet Master franchise, the sequel to 1998's Curse of the Puppet Master, and stars Jacob Witkin as an elderly Peter Hertz (a character who appeared as a child in Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge) and Kate Orsini as a mercenary hired to confront Hertz for information regarding the magic puppeteer Andre Toulon used to animate his puppets.

 

Plot

The film begins with a rogue agent, Maclain (Kate Orsini), is in one of the rooms in the Bodega Bay Inn, reading Toulon's diary. While reading, we are viewed a flashback from Puppet Master II. A Cairo Merchant (Ivan J. Rado) is selling the formula to Toulon (Steve Welles) and his wife Elsa (Elizabeth MacLellan). Suddenly, the diary bursts into flames, due to a light shining against a magnifying glass, and Maclain continues to search around the hotel for more evidence. As she enters the basement, she finds a man named Eric Weiss (Jacob Witkin) talking to the last Toulon puppets: Blade, Pinhead, Jester, Tunneler, and Six Shooter. Eric explains that he knew Toulon before he died, and that he swore he wouldn't pass it to anyone else. Maclain threatens Eric with a gun, and he takes out a tape recorder, and plays a recording that Toulon left him, explaining how he first got the secret of re-animation in Retro Puppet Master.

After the tape recording's finished, Eric reveals that his real name is Peter Hertz, the boy who saved by Toulon in Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge, and then he starts telling Maclain the adventures he and Toulon had together. After the conversation, Maclain, stressed out, shoots Eric in the knee, knowing he knows more about Toulon and his puppet's bloody legacy. Eric, believing that Toulon only killed those who deserved to die, accidentally brings up the subject of the murders that happened in Puppet Master II. With Maclain still threatening Eric with the gun, Eric plays another tape recording of Toulon, explaining the adventure of Rick Myers in Puppet Master 4, where Maclain explains that Rick tried to keep the diary away from her, so she shot him four times. Eric, then plays another tape recording, and we are viewed the events of Curse of the Puppet Master. After the recording, Pinhead throws a mallet at Maclain's head and Eric shots her in the heart with her own gun, for trying to take over the puppets.

Maclain, minutes away from death, explains that's not what she wants, and then brings up the subject of the puppets bringing Toulon back in Puppet Master II, and how he began his final experiment: soul transferrence. She then explains that she's not here for the secret of bringing the puppets to life, she wants to know what makes them die for good so she can sell their secret on the open market. Maclain finally comes clean: I was sent here for the secret by the creatures Toulon left behind. The immortals, souls trapped in wooden bodies, living every day in agony. All they want is revenge on their Puppet Master, and now that's you (Eric) Congratulations on your legacy. After coming clean, Maclain drops dead on the floor. Eric hears something behind, turns around, points the gun at the camera, and shoots it. Then a note appears:The producers would like to thank all the cast and crew that helped make the Puppet Master series a tremendous success over the years.

 

Featured puppets

Egyptian goblin puppet
Pinhead
Six Shooter
Tunneler
Blade
Jester
Leech Woman
Cyclops
Retro Six Shooter
Doctor Death
Retro Blade
Drill Sergeant
Retro Pinhead
Torch
Decapitron
Robert "Tank" Winsley