After 2017’s Puppet Master: Axis Termination closed out The Axis Trilogy, the long-running franchise was put on hold. In 2018, the famous horror magazine Fangoria released a soft reboot called Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich with Band producing. The following year, Charles Band announced The Deadly Ten, a series of ten films produced in-house at Full Moon. The first two titles announced, Weedjies: Halloweed Night and Necropolis: Legion, were released in October and November 2019, respectively. Another film announced for The Deadly Ten was a Puppet Master spin-off directed by John Lechago of Killjoy 3 fame. The movie would be a direct continuation of The Axis Trilogy that focused on the iconic puppet, Blade. While initially scheduled for a December 2019 release, the film was pushed back to the following year. In mid-2020, during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Blade: The Iron Cross slashed onto Full Moon’s streaming service.
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Synopsis
Young psychic Elisa Ivanov (Tania Fox) works as a reporter while holding onto Andre Toulon’s puppets. Elsewhere, Ingenieur Erich Hauser (Roy Abramsohn) has synthesized Toulon’s life-giving serum to create an army of the undead. Hauser has discovered that he can harness bio-energy to bring the recently dead back to life after experiencing intense drama. Unfortunately for him, his experiments lead to several bodies turning up, which Elisa and photographer Barney (Griffin Blazi) discover. Meanwhile, Detective Joe Gray (Vincent Cusimano) also investigates the bodies and discovers the Nazis’ involvement. With their army of the undead rising, Elisa uses her psychic abilities to reawaken Blade to battle the Nazis. Hauser’s ultimate plan is to transmit a Death Ray to wipe out humanity and turn them into zombies. It’s up to a psychic, a photographer, a detective, and a puppet to save the world.
Review
While Blade: The Iron Cross isn’t the return to form fans might’ve hoped for, it’s not without its merits. For one, gorehounds will appreciate how bloody this movie is, with every throat slash resulting in gallons of blood. Also, it was wise for them to use Blade as the central figure since he’s arguably the most iconic puppet. The cast all do a decent job, with Tania Fox and Vincent Cusimano being the highlights. Roy Abramsohn makes for a proper lead villain, chewing up as much scenery as possible. Speaking of scenery, while the sets reveal the film’s low budget, they’re unique enough to add variety. Admittedly, the film doesn’t have the flair John Lechago lent to the Killjoy sequels, but it has some moody lighting. Lastly, the movie is short, clocking in at roughly 70 minutes, much less than the last film.
Unfortunately, that’s where any positives I can glean from this anemic spin-off end, as this is ultimately a disappointment. Sure, the series dropped in quality after Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter, but some entries were decent. While this one isn’t a glorified clip show, this spin-off shows how much the series has gone downhill. For one, Blade barely appears in the movie, which happens to feature his name in the title. Some technical problems pop up, such as establishing shots featuring a modern-looking city despite the 1945 setting. Plus, some scenes have an actor donning a Blade costume since they couldn’t afford stop-motion, and it sticks out. But what kills this spin-off’s potential is that it’s boring, which is the worst thing a movie can be. Overall, Blade: The Iron Cross isn’t the worst, but this iconic killer puppet deserved better.
Buy Blade: The Iron Cross from Amazon: https://amzn.to/44BQ8Bk.
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