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I can’t tell you how
much I was looking forward to seeing the
first installment of the “Puphedz”
series from Elite Entertainment. I read
about it last year, but had little idea
what to expect. I just knew it sounded cool.
Hmmm… Puppets, horror, blood and comedy…
Everything I consider to be decidedly essential
in any recipe for entertainment. Was I entertained?
Absolutely.
“Puphedz: The Tattle-Tale Heart”
was one of the most original and bizarre
presentations I think I have ever seen.
The premise is simple, but as a whole it’s
hard to describe. You have four actors (puppets)
who travel around in a ramshackle cart,
performing outrageous versions of classic
horror stories. This first one is, of course,
a take-off of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The
Tell Tale Heart.” In it, a young man
is driven to madness by his obsession with
the deformed eye of the old man he lives
with. Well, not ‘Lives With’
lives with. They just live together to save
rent.
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Running only 27 minutes (34 minutes in the long
version), the style is immediately eye-catching.
I can see why it won the “Best Animation”
Award at the 2002 Los Angeles Screamfest Horror
Film Festival. In the opening scene (which has
the only live actor) we see the cart being pulled
by their huge… well uh… cart puller
(Clayton Martinez). The film appears to skip and
there are scratches and blemishes in the film
making it look like an old-time movie.
When it cuts to the ‘puppet show’,
the film becomes cleaner but my attention was
pulled right away into the magnificently designed
sets that were used to tell the tale. They were
fashioned in such a way that everything was skewed.
Doorways, walls and tiles were all set off at
extreme angles. Some of the design was silly,
such as a hanging sun with what appeared to be
a sparkler behind it, but the intentional silliness
translated into laughs for those of us who were
watching. I suggest watching it a couple of times
with the ‘pause’ button ready to catch
all the in-jokes built into the sets.
There are a few extras, but the best was the
Feature Documentary. It was only 16 minutes long,
but the creators were able to cover pretty much
all the bases of what it took to make “Puphedz:
The Tattle-Tale Heart.” And aside from
just seeing how the sets and puppets worked, the
interviews were pretty entertaining, especially
those of writer / director Jurgen Heimann. You’ll
understand why when you see it.
All in all, most of the jokes were good, some
were groaners, but the entire production was top-notch.
From start to finish I found myself laughing one
minute, only to sit in wonder the next at this
amazingly abstract world of puppets. There are
plans to make further “Puphedz” DVDs,
and I for one cannot wait to see them.
Directed by: Jurgen Heiman
Starring: Woodrow J Larchbottom III, Douglas “Chip”
Fir, Peter Feidwood and Leif Applebaum
Extras: Two Versions (Long and Short), Theatrical
Trailers, Cast Bios, Photo Gallery, Feature Documentary
Studio: Elite Entertainment
Release Date: 2/4/2003
Region 1
Website: http://www.puphedz.com
or http://www.elitedisc.com
We'll give Puphedz: The
Tattle-Tale Heart an A.
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