User reviews

Reasonably entertaining entry into the 50s sci fi/horror genre.

Star John Hoyt was always interesting to watch (check out his brief but commanding performance as antique shop proprietor Nils Dryer in "The Big Combo").

The basic theme of this film had, in fact, already been tried out the year before in the vastly superior "Incredible Shrinking Man". However, the 'puppet twist' (good name for a song!) was certainly an original touch.

Co-star John Agar is smoothly competent and does his best against the odds.

Strictly for those whose tastes lean towards the ultra-cheesy variety of midnight movie fare.

This was your typical low (I mean low!) budget sci-fi film and the film really doesn't build to an exciting climax. The story starts with a pretty young woman named Sally (June Kenney) who applies for an office job at a small company that makes dolls. She is hired by the kindly owner Mr. Franz (John Hoyt) who keeps losing his office workers. While working for Franz she meets a business associate named Bob Westley (John Agar) and of course he is smitten by her immediately and it doesn't take long for them to start dating and eventually he proposes and wants her to move to St. Louis with him. Franz discovers this and Bob disappears. Sally thinks he is making people into dolls and she goes to the cops and talks to Sgt. Paterson (Jack Kosslyn) who is interested because others have disappeared who been in contact with Franz. Finally Franz gets Sally alone and "Poof"! She wakes up and she's shrunken! Franz brings out Bob and a bunch of others that he has shrunk. Franz is able to shrink people with a machine that uses audio waves to break things down into energy matter. Franz is a lonely old man and he wants company! This film was directed by veteran Bert I. Gordon who would end up directing one of my favorite films of all time "Village of the Giants". Gordon usually made his films about people either growing or shrinking. Hoyt gives a convincing performance as Franz and if he's not just irritating then he's aggravating but thats what you would come to expect from an old kook. Kenney is very attractive and its easy to see why she was used in several of these types of films. Agar had already begun his slump into "Z" movie stardom and its very amusing to watch him get angry and tear apart the marionette. The film has an ending that is somewhat inconclusive but maybe Gordon wanted it that way just in case! Very silly film has lousy special effects but thats the charm to these movies. Several of the actors from "Earth vs. The Spider" appear in this film as Gordon liked using actors that he was comfortable with. Gordon's daughter Susan appears as the little blond girl. If you love these cheap sci-fi films of the 50's like I do, then you want to check this out!

You know we never do learn just how the machine that shrinks folks to doll like size came to the possession of puppetmaker John Hoyt. He had no science or electronic background we're told about.

This is one weird film about a man who for fun and pleasure shrinks people to miniature size and keeps them around. Among others he shrinks are his new secretary June Kenney and her salesman boyfriend John Agar. When he proposes marriage and she wants to leave, Hoyt can't bear to part with either.

Hoyt is the whole show here in this B film quickie. It's not enough for a film that can't quite decide how seriously it wants to be taken.

What should you do if your wife leaves you for another man? John Hoyt, playing a German puppeteer, decides that he will devise some incredibly complex scientific device that miniaturizes the people he likes so they will never again leave him. Director/producer Bert I. Gordon does it again; he creates a film with a pretty ridiculous script, interesting if not always impressive special effects, and an entertaining film notwithstanding. The film starts out with many puppets already "made" and then shows how Hoyt creates some, interacts with some, how some try to escape and so on... Much of the film is used to let Gordon showcase his effects as the little people are surrounded by large objects. One little person even gets to sing a hip rock song. Hmmm...okay. Ultimately I liked Attack of the Puppet People. It doesn't have the greatest story or acting or effects, but it has heart. It is an inferior film in every way to the impressive Dr. Cyclops made with Albert Dekker the previous decade. Hoyt gives a heartfelt and tired performance. John Agar plays the man who has fallen in love with Hoyt's newest blonde bombshell secretary. He literally has a short fuse! The other actors are competent if nothing else. For me the most fun scene is that with the little girl, played by Gordon's real life daughter Susan, comes into to get her doll fixed and finds a matchbox. Another Mr. BIG production that is fun.

A lonely, deranged puppet-master (John Hoyt) designs a machine that shrinks people.

Although this film has had rather negative reviews over the years and holds a poor ranking on IMDb, there is a special kind of enjoyment in this film, and any with John Agar and / or directed by Bert Gordon. Are the special effects terrible? Yes. Is the plot weak? Surely. But we expect that from 1950s science fiction films, which I think works in the movie's favor (although decades too late).

I also appreciate the historical value of this film and its role in the Watergate scandal. I am not familiar with the story, so I cannot say if it is true, but the idea is that instead of warning his co-conspirators of detectives, a Watergate burglar was busy watching this film. Hence, this movie can be credited with bringing down Richard Nixon. That is quite a feat!

As an added bonus, this film marks the acting debut of Susan Gordon, the director's daughter, who would go on to appear in many of his pictures and in other productions. She was "cast" completely by accident when the real actress was not available, and this decision may have altered the history of the role the Gordon family took in film.

Yet another minor classic from the 1950s has been released in a pristine B & W print to DVD for posterity and fans' delight. I recall the television print being yellowed and water-marked, but not here, in its crystal clarity, and sharp sound. John Hoyt is excellent as a once-jilted European doll maker who has devised a machine that can shrink animals and humans to about one-sixth their size. When his current secretary/receptionist June Kenney decides to quit to marry John Agar, his loneliness gets the better of him, and they are victimized, along with previous unfortunates. Great rock music is worked into the plot, and they are terrified by a giant rat, cat and dog. Adolph Glasser's music is robust and amplified, the technical effects by the director Bert Gordon well-done for the time (his daughter Susan Gordon plays the little blonde girl). Kenney is a lovely, blue-eyed, shapely blonde, who was "Teen-Age Doll" (1957), while Agar has his best moments in an unnerving puppet show scene with a Dr. Jekyll character. Included in the cast is Laurie Mitchell, the "Queen of Outer Space" (1958), giving a good performance as do the others. Toward the latter part of the decade, nothing was too wild to hit this lucrative market, and this engaging picture stands up to the test of time.

This film essentially begins with a young woman by the name of "Sally Reynolds" (June Kenney) inquiring about an ad in the paper advertising a job for a receptionist at a small doll manufacturing company in Los Angeles. From what she is told by the dollmaker, "Mr. Franz" (John Hoyt) the previous secretary had left rather abruptly and even though her instincts warn her against accepting the job, she becomes convinced by his entreaties and does so anyway. Not long after that she meets a traveling salesman by the name of "Bob Westley" (John Agar) and they soon become romantically involved. However, upon accepting his proposal of marriage and agreeing to quit her job and move to St. Louis with him in a few days, they discover that Mr. Franz does not like the idea at all and things begin to happen that neither her nor Bob could ever quite imagine. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a movie which turned out to be quite different than what I was expecting. To that effect, while it might qualify as either a Sci-Fi or Horror film in the technical sense, there really wasn't much horror to be found here at all. Likewise, there wasn't very much suspense either. Even so, this was still an entertaining film in a grade-B sort of way and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

This is the only review for this film? Well I better milk it for everything it's worth! This movie is truly one of the best 50s sci-fi movies. Bert I. Gordon does it again; he really did his best work in the 50s. The story is quite simple: a dollmaker shrinks people so he can keep the people he loves close to him. The effects are above average considering the age of the film and the acting is pretty good. But what do you really look for in a 50s sci-fi movie? Special effects and monsters, of course. Now monsters aren't present (unless you count a giant cat and a giant rat), but the special effects are great! The best scene: John Agar and June Kenney are forced to be a part of a puppet show, Agar gets annoyed and beats his marionette "co-star" to a pulp!

After his massive success with giant size folks in "The Cyclops" and "The Amazing Colossal Man" director Bert I. Gordon decided to go small with "Attack of the Puppet People," a nod to Universal's "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (a nice twist found it theatrically paired with his sequel "War of the Colossal Beast"), methodically building an air of mystery for the first half hour as various characters visit the office of Dolls Incorporated only to disappear without a trace. John Hoyt portrays the proprietor Mr. Franz, hiring new secretary Sally Reynolds (June Kenney) and associate Bob Westley (John Agar), who then both vanish after she fails to convince the police to check up on the missing people (in a disquieting moment, a lookalike Bob doll is lit on fire inside its plastic tube). The two newcomers are greeted by four others, all kept in suspended animation without air in their individual tubes. It's not really clear how former puppeteer Franz has developed a machine that works like a projector but in reverse, producing a ray that shrinks the subject to whatever size he desires, just a simple plot contrivance. We only see six of the dozen victims walking around, strangely complacent until the indignant Bob gets them to wake up to their predicament and attempt to escape. Once the cops get too close Mr. Franz decides that suicide is the only way out, unwilling to grant them freedom from captivity, all done just to alleviate his terrible loneliness. Bob and Sally must make it back to the shop before Franz does during a going away party at a nearby theater, encountering danger from a rat, a cat, a dog and a reckless automobile (there's also an adorable kitty seen living in a matchbox). The special effects are fairly basic and none too convincing, and little actually happens to support the lengthy exposition, a distraction since none of the characters are developed to any degree except for the villain. John Hoyt offers more substance to the role than is there in the script, a sketchy European background working with old friend Emil, another latter day performance from Michael Mark, father of Little Maria in the 1931 "Frankenstein." One can see the necessity of preventing his various young secretaries from leaving, but what could be his connection to a teenage boy and active Marine?

Attack of the Puppet People (1958)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Lesser film from Bert I Gordon about a lonely old doll maker (John Hoyt) who comes up with something new to stay busy. Instead of making dolls he's going to take real people and shrink them down to a doll size. Two such people (including June Kenney) decide that they don't want to remain this size so they fight to become big again. ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE is a pretty disappointing film when you consider there's really no puppets and no attacks. This is a pretty screenplay that really doesn't offer up anything overly interesting and it appears that no one was really interested in coming up with a story that you could care about. The doll maker really isn't all that interesting and we really don't learn about him being lonely until the end of the picture. Perhaps if they had worked this in earlier we could have gained some sort of connection with him. The secretary role isn't any better as we never begin to care what happens to her. Gordon does a pretty good job with the special effects, which might be the only time in his career. I thought the rear projection was obviously horrible but there's a lot of stuff dealing with miniatures that actually work. The long sequence where a group of people try to escape the office was well-directed and a lot of credit goes to the special effects for actually looking real. The performances are another good thing as Hoyt manages to be good in his role as does John Agar as the woman's love interest. At 79-minutes the film seems a little long at times but I'm sure fans of the director will still want to check this out. Others should probably stay clear.

This movie contains no puppets, puppet people or attacks but why should a movie title make sense? The story isn't great but the special effects are good for the 50s.

Yes, welcome to another cheerfully inept Bert I. Gordon (B.I.G) Sci-Fi/horror romp, in which the silliness usually triumphs over adequate scripting and where the special effects look cheaper than half a handful of pennies. "Attack of the Puppet People" is a thoroughly shameless cash-in on the success of "The Incredible Shrinking Man", but in this light-headed story there's no room for building up claustrophobic atmosphere, let alone the preaching of philosophical messages. It's a fun and charming little movie, but totally lacking depth, credibility and a proper elaboration of the basic premise. John Hoyt stars as a brilliant doll maker slash inventor of shrinking equipment (rather unusual combination, but okay), but he's very lonely and emotionally frustrated since his beloved wife walked out on him once, several years ago. So now, he uses his magic, invisible ray projecting devise to miniaturize the people he risks losing, like his cute secretary Sally and her fiancé Bob. Mr. Franz keeps his little friends asleep in tubes, but also does his best to entertain them with tiny dance parties, the newest Barbie & Ken outfits and even trips to the 'Jekyl & Hyde' marionette-theater. The 'attack' referred to in the title is quite inaccurate, as the little folks don't attack anyone (with the exception of a lifeless Dr. Jekyll marionette) but they do want to escape and regain their normal previous measurements. "Attack of the Puppet People" is a fairly forgettable and poor film, but it's slightly better and more stylish than most of the things B.I.G accomplished and at least it's never boring. Hoyt is fine as the pitiable & awkward old toymaker, but the supportive cast is too underdeveloped and bleak. If anything, this is an insignificant but pleasant 50's gem with some funny highlights, like the marionette-fight and one of the shrunken gals quacking the cheesy theme song "I'm your living Doll".

Although not on a par with "Incredible Shrinking Man." the special effects in The Attack of the Puppet People (1958) are OK considering the low budget.

A major theme of the film is the consideration of loneliness and how it can be an all-consuming force that can eat away at the fabric of a person's soul and sanity. Thus, we have a non-stereotypical mad scientist who is really a lonely old man in need of company. He may intend no harm, but his view of reality has become so warped that he is unable to see what he has become - an obsessed, demented and insanely possessive old man.

The acting performances are competent, and the film's pace never allows boredom to set in.

Bert I. Gordon (aka BIG) was known for his ridiculous but enjoyable movies. "Attack of the Puppet People" is a prime example. It's about a doll maker (John Hoyt) who is actually shrinking humans down to the size of dolls and keeping them. So, his secretary (June Kenney) becomes the latest victim. It's a pretty fun movie. In fact, there's a scene that I'm surprised got past the censors (you'll know it when you see it).

Yes, the title and poster are both misleading (the dog only appears for about a minute), but the point of the movie is to have fun, and it succeeds, and even has a cool dance scene. As it was, I read that this movie played a role in Watergate: the person who was supposed to be keeping a lookout was watching "AotPP" and wouldn't tear himself away from it. I don't know if that story is true, but if it is, then he must have been savoring that one scene that I mentioned. That scene, for lack of a better description, is truly a PIECE OF HEAVEN! Anyway, really fun.

PS: John Agar was Shirley Temple's first husband.

Cheap and cheerful special effects, make that VERY cheap and cheerful special effects, but I suspect that the budget was very low. For a 1950s Sci-Fi "B" movie this was a very good effort and well worth watching.

A question for trivia buffs...

Question: As opposed to doing his job, what was the security guard watching on telly the night five burglars broke into the Watergate complex on June 17, 1972?

Answer: Attack of the Puppet People!!!

Consequently, this exercise in severe silliness played an important part in bringing down a president and changing the world forever. For the record, in the film itself there is no attacking but there definitely is puppet people. One out of two's not bad.

Now, this is a strange little man. Mr Franz (John Hoyt) makes dolls. But, in addition to his regular dolls, he has some very special ones that look oh so realistic.

Left by his wife for an acrobat, Franz has found a way that one one he loves will ever leave again.

Sally Reynolds (June Kenney), his new secretary found out the hard way that Franz can't bear to part with those he loves.

But, the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, and so do the plans of Mr Franz as Bob (John Agar) save the day and his love.

A strange film.