PUPPET KILLER ***** 2019 Canada Dir: Lisa Ovies
When he was little, Jaime (Aleks Paunovic) and his mother shared a passion for horror movies. After she dies, he watches them all with his best friend, a puppet named Simon (voiced by Lee Majdoub). Ten years later, he returns to his family’s cabin—where he’s convinced Simon killed his wicked stepmother—to celebrate Christmas with some friends. But soon, they realize they’re being stalked by a psychotic killer puppet with a passion for horror movie icons.
PUPPET KILLER is a funny, irreverent film full of surprises. It delivers exactly what it promises (a killer puppet) but offers so much more. Director Lisa Ovies had a vision, and she executed it well. From the visual gags (like the cast being roughly 20 years too old to be in high school, as a reference to Jaime Lee Curtis who was nearly 30 when she played Laurie Strode) to the many references to 70s and 80s horror movies, it’s an outrageous homage to a beloved genre. But it’s more than just a love letter to horror. It’s very much something new, and something every horror fan would get a kick out of—especially fans of Canadian horror, who will no doubt be thrilled by a twisted double-hitter cameo.
Watch PUPPET KILLER. It’s a straightforward, funny-as-hell slasher, and has as many one-liners as it does buckets of blood.
Review by Julia Lynch