The Puppet Masters 1994

Trust No One

5.8 / 10   169 vote(s)
R
Horror Science Fiction Thriller

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

Release Date 1994-10-21
Runtime 1h 49m
Directors Stuart Orme, Clive Tickner, Michael Grossman, Pamela S. Kuri, William J. Durrell Jr., Conte Mark Matal, Jeffrey J. Dashnaw
Producers Ralph Winter, Michael Engelberg
Writers David S. Goyer, Robert A. Heinlein, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio

Donald Sutherland has done some dross in his time, but usually only as a guest star. Here he commits himself to the whole thing and I wonder if now, he regrets it. The mind-numbingly daft plot involves alien creatures that resemble flounders with a proboscis, that ride around on the backs of people, whilst controlling what passes for their minds. "Nivens" (DS) is determined to capture one of these beasties and get it back to the lab for examination. It has all the production values of a solid television movie and hasn't an original bone in it's body. It is a sort of "Alien" meets "Doctor Who" themed enterprise that recycles the rather flawed plot far too often, with little sense of jeopardy and the most obvious solution to the extra-terrestrial invasion plan - just don't wear a shirt with an opaque back! It ends pretty much as expected, with a mediocre supporting cast and some unremarkable dialogue to support the flying jelly special effects. Nothing special, this film.

CinemaSerf