Although some might say it was already there when the franchise began, this film takes a turn for the absurd when a group of demons from Hell decide that they do not want anyone having the secret of the animation formula and so send some totems to Earth to kill anyone in possession of such. It is a good thing for Rick then that he has discovered Toulon’s cabinet, the formula and the puppets who give him a hand in defeating the little monsters.

Unlike the previous films, this movie does not see the puppets killing any people, instead they help out their new master who has revived them, with the exception of Blade who was still kicking around, to kill these Gremlin-like demons. For the most part, the film worked despite how cheesy and how corny it was, but when it cutaway to the demons in hell it instantly reminded you of those types of puppets that Peter Jackson used to operate with in his earlier movies. Unlike the puppets, who looked like puppets, the costumes for the demons looked more like creepy Muppets and so utterly fake that it was hard to take this movie seriously whatsoever. What was supposed to be a horror became a fairly unfunny comedy and so far, the worst of the series by a long shot.

Toulon once again makes an appearance in the film, though long dead by this point, so of course, it is as a ghost, imprinting upon his puppets, namely a newly revealed little devil named Decapitron. Blade, Pinhead, Jester, Tunneler and Six Shooter return for this latest installment though Torch is nowhere to be found. You also have to wonder how it is that Tunneler was able to return as he was dissected in the second film, but then again these movies were never big on continuity in the slightest. At one point after all is said and done, Toulon tells Rick, who was played by Gordon Currie, that he will be back to help him out again, so there is the chance that we will see Ghost Toulon in a future film.

Even if you remove the entire demons-from-Hell storyline, the movie was ultimately not that good. None of the characters were particularly gripping; the script was not as good as previous entries though none of them were Oscar-calibre in the first place and yet, in the end it did turn out to be an entertaining picture no matter how silly or ridiculous it was.

2.5 out of 5