The Puppet Masters (1994)

Director:

Stuart Orme

Writers (WGA):

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

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
David Pasquesi	...	Vargas
Andrew Robinson	...	Hawthorne
Benj Thall	...	Jeff
Bo Sharon	...	Casey
Nick Browne	...	Mike
Donna Garrett	...	Miss Haines
William Wellman Jr.	...	Doctor
Elizabeth Sung	...	Technician #1
Dinah Lenney	...	Technician #2
Tom Dugan	...	Operator #1
Dale Dye	...	Brande
John C. Cooke	...	Lt. Abbey
Julian Scott Urena	...	Infantryman (as Fabio Urena)
Michael Shamus Wiles	...	Capt. Earley
Todd Bryant	...	Soldier
Don James	...	Soldier
J. Marvin Campbell	...	Soldier
James Pearson	...	Merging Soldier
Evan C. Morris	...	Danny
K.T. Vogt	...	Slugged Woman
Dale Harimoto	...	Anchorwoman
Alexa Jago	...	Wendy Markham
Eric Briant Wells	...	Vince Hayward
Marianne Curan	...	Newscaster
Katy Summerland	...	Graves' Assistant
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joyce Lasley	...	Secretary (uncredited)
John Lizzi	...	Military Communications Officer (uncredited)

Directed by
Stuart Orme

Writing credits (WGA)
Robert A. Heinlein		(novel)
Ted Elliott		(screenplay) &
Terry Rossio		(screenplay) and
David S. Goyer		(screenplay)

Produced by
James Axotis	....	field producer
Michael Engelberg	....	executive producer
Ralph Winter	....	producer

Original Music by
Colin Towns

Cinematography by
Clive Tickner

Film Editing by
William Goldenberg

Casting by
Sharon Howard-Field

Production Design by
Daniel A. Lomino

Art Direction by
James Hegedus

Set Decoration by
Cloudia

Costume Design by
Tom Bronson

Makeup Department
Greg Cannom	....	special makeup effects
Ann Masterson	....	makeup department head
Keith VanderLaan	....	makeup effects supervisor: Cannom Creations

Production Management
Andrew G. La Marca	....	unit production manager
Lorie Zerweck	....	unit manager: second unit

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jeffrey J. Dashnaw	....	second unit director
Michael Grossman	....	first assistant director
Pamela Kuri	....	second assistant director
Molly M. Mayeux	....	second assistant director: second unit
J.B. Rogers	....	first assistant director: second unit (as James B. Rogers)

Art Department
Fred Apolito	....	propmaker
Jason Bedig	....	leadman
Gina Cafasso	....	art department coordinator
Joseph Calta	....	stand-by painter
Michael Diersing	....	construction coordinator
William J. Durrell Jr.	....	assistant art director
Scott E. Handt	....	construction foreman
Chuck Herrmann	....	property assistant
Scott Lafferty	....	propmaker
Alan Manzer	....	set designer
Karl J. Martin	....	set designer
Bruce Richter	....	carpenter
Jim Zemansky	....	property master
Clyde Zimmerman	....	paint supervisor
Steven Hintz	....	propmaker (uncredited)

Sound Department
Andrew Adams	....	utility sound
Robert J. Anderson Jr.	....	sound mixer
Rick Ash	....	sound re-recording mixer
Julia Evershade	....	supervising adr editor
Dennis Fuller	....	boom operator
Mark A. Mangini	....	supervising sound editor
John Pospisil	....	sound designer
Geoffrey G. Rubay	....	sound editor
Curt Schulkey	....	supervising sound editor
Solange S. Schwalbe	....	foley supervisor
Dean A. Zupancic	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Roy Arbogast	....	special effects
Roland Blancaflor	....	foam runner
Roland Blancaflor	....	special effects technician: Cannom Creations
Greg Cannom	....	special makeup effects creator
Gustavo R. Ferreyra	....	special effects technician
Linda Frobos	....	sculptor
Glen Hanz	....	sculptor
Louis Kiss	....	runner
John Logan	....	creature effects production coordinator
James McLoughlin	....	moldmaker
Larry Odien	....	mechanics and animatronics designer
Larry Odien	....	special effects supervisor
Kevin Pike	....	special effects set foreman
Steve Prouty	....	moldmaker
Anton Rupprecht	....	mechanic
Aaron Sims	....	painter
David Sosalla	....	animatronics
David Sosalla	....	creature effects coordinator
Todd Tucker	....	moldmaker
Keith VanderLaan	....	on-set coordinator
Robert E. Watson	....	moldmaker
Jaime Galindo	....	special effects laborer (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Michael Curtis	....	main title animation
Dorne Huebler	....	digital supervisor
John R. McConnell	....	digital artist
Peter Montgomery	....	visual effects supervisor
Winston Quitasol	....	digital compositor
Wally Schaab	....	digital artist

Stunts
Gregory J. Barnett	....	stunts (as Greg Barnett)
Bobby Bass	....	stunts
May Boss	....	stunts
Charlie Brewer	....	stunts
Jeff Brockton	....	stunt performer
Jeffrey J. Dashnaw	....	stunt coordinator
Jan M. Davis	....	aerial stunt coordinator
Annie Ellis	....	stunts
Kenny Endoso	....	stunts
Danny Epper	....	stunts
Christian J. Fletcher	....	stunt double
Lance Gilbert	....	stunts
Jeff Imada	....	stunts
Jeff Jensen	....	stunts
Henry Kingi Jr.	....	stunts
Billy D. Lucas	....	stunts
Lisa McCullough	....	stunts
Bennie Moore	....	stunts
Chad Randall	....	stunt coordinator: second unit
Moe Viletto	....	skydiving stunt safety coordinator
Tom Harper	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Marsha Blackburn	....	still photographer
Mark 'Boylee' Boyle	....	loader
John J. Connor	....	director of photography: second unit
John T. Connor	....	assistant camera: "a" camera
Gary Dagg	....	key grip
Anthony Gaudioz	....	camera operator
Joe Kelly	....	best boy grip
Jerry L. Marshall	....	rigging grip
Peter McAdams	....	grip
Brennan L. Price	....	lighting technician
John 'Fest' Sandau	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Cricket Sloat	....	dimmer board operator
Dan Kneece	....	Steadicam operator (uncredited)

Casting Department
Douglas Wright	....	casting associate

Transportation Department
Phil Strauss	....	driver: cast
Don Tardino	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Rory J. Aylward	....	technical advisor: military
Susan Bierbaum	....	script supervisor
Jan M. Davis	....	jumper (as Jan Davis)
Brad Hood	....	jumper
Mike Hoy	....	pilot
Samuel F. Kinder	....	craft service
Darrin Lipscomb	....	assistant location manager
Larry Madrid	....	animal trainer
Bobby McDonald	....	pilot: huey 212 pilot (as Bob McDonald)
Laurie Morgenthal	....	production assistant
Alan D. Purwin	....	aerial coordinator
Alan D. Purwin	....	pilot
Michael Roberts	....	production accountant
Tom Sanders	....	skydiving coordinator
Risé Stefani	....	technical advisor
Jeffrey D. Stevens	....	key medic
Michael Tamburro	....	pilot: jet ranger
Robert 'Bobby Z' Zajonc	....	pilot: jet ranger

Production Companies

• Hollywood Pictures

Distributors

• Buena Vista Pictures (1994) (USA) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Gaumont Buena Vista International (GBVI) (1995) (France) (theatrical)
• Hollywood Pictures Home Video (video)

Special Effects

• Buena Vista Visual Effects

Other Companies

• Inter Video  24 frame video services

Also Known As:

Robert A. Heinlein's The Puppet Masters (USA) (complete title)
Les maîtres du monde (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
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]
Puppet Masters (Sweden) [sv]
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 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | France:U | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #33291) | 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:

Crew or equipment visible: After the president is saved by the OSI agents, just after Donald Sutherland enters the room a crew member's hand can be seen catching the door.

Quotes:

[After Sam rescues Andrew by shooting him]
Andrew: [musingly] I can't believe you shot me.
Sam: Well, what would you have done?
Andrew: [nonchalant] Oh, I'd have shot you, of course.

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.