The Puppet Masters (1994)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Stuart Orme

Writers (WGA):

Robert A. Heinlein (novel)
Ted Elliott (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 October 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Trust No-one.

Plot:

The Earth is invaded by alien "slugs" that ride on people's backs and control their minds.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Iowa | President | Suicide | Des Moines Iowa

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Donald Sutherland	...	Andrew Nivens
Eric Thal	...	Sam Nivens
Julie Warner	...	Mary Sefton
Keith David	...	Alex Holland
Will Patton	...	Dr. Graves
Richard Belzer	...	Jarvis
Tom Mason	...	President Douglas
Yaphet Kotto	...	Ressler
Gerry Bamman	...	Viscott
Sam Anderson	...	Culbertson
J. Patrick McCormack	...	Gidding
Marshall Bell	...	General Morgan
Nicholas Cascone	...	Greenberg
Bruce Jarchow	...	Barnes
Benjamin Mouton	...	Higgins

Also Known As:

Robert A. Heinlein's The Puppet Masters (USA) (complete title)
A parazita (Hungary) [hu]
Ailen Master (South Korea) [ko]
Alguien mueve los hilos (Spain) [es]
Gospodarji lutk (Slovenia) [sl]
Il terrore della sesta luna (Italy) [it]
Invadatorii (Romania) [ro]
Les maîtres du monde (France) [fr]
Puppet Masters - Bedrohung aus dem All (Germany) [de]
Uhka tuntemattomasta (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
Varastetut ihmiset (Finland) [fi]

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, sci-fi gore and brief language.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Hungary:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

City Hall - 2600 Fresno Street, Fresno, California, USA

Company:

Hollywood Pictures

Trivia:

At the start of the film when the boys are trying to convince Mary to go inside the fake spaceship, Andrew Nivens says, "She balked at Pirates of the Caribbean." Both Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, two of the films credited screenwriters, went on to write all three of the, "Pirates of the Caribbean," movies.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Near the end of the movie, as a helicopter lands at the "Des Moines" City Hall, tall palm trees are visible in the background.

Quotes:

Niven: It's the kid from the spaceship. Get him off the car.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Faculty (1998)

Maybe it's NOT for purists

However, being that Heinlein was one of the few sci-fi authors I +didn't+ read (I'm more of an Asimov and Bradbury fan myself) as a kid growing up, and I haven't seen the original film, I didn't have any problems with this movie when it came out in theaters. In fact, I found the premise genuinely creepy, the effects highly believable, and the presence of Donald Sutherland to be a masterful touch. It may not go down in the all-time pantheon of "greatest sci-horror films" ever, but if it was playing on HBO I wouldn't change the channel. Sometimes I think people get too caught up in whether a story is true to the original, and forget that it's JUST a movie and they should try to enjoy it on that basis.