Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge is a surprisingly strong entry in the series, providing us with the gripping backstory that lies behind everything we have seen so far. It also gives us the first opportunity to openly root for the puppets as they go about their killing business. This time around, the victims aren't greedy psychics or innocent paranormal investigators -- they're bloody Nazis. We also learn the origins of the puppets Blade and Leech Woman -- and, indirectly, all of his other puppets.

The story makes for quite a transition from the previous film, as here there is nothing evil about Anton Toulon or his puppets. Yes, the puppets do become vicious killers, but there is nothing innocent about their victims -- and I daresay no one could possibly blame Toulon for taking such strong measures in the wake of what happens to him here.

The original movie opens with Toulon killing himself just before two Nazis arrive to take care of him and his puppets in 1939, but the date of his death changed to 1941 in Puppet Master 2. This third film takes us back to that momentous year in order to fill in the story of how Toulon escaped from Nazi Germany and managed to make his way to California. He had procured the secret of animating his puppets in Cairo way back in 1912, and 1941 finds him continuing to put on puppet shows featuring his amazing string-free marionettes.

Rather foolishly, these shows feature a Hitler puppet and a story mocking the German Fuhrer. That's a really dumb thing to do in the heart of Berlin, especially if your wife is Jewish.

Fellow puppeteer and Gestapo driver Lt. Erich Stein attends one of these shows -- and sneakily discovers the fact that Toulon has found a way to animate the puppets. This brings him to the attention of Major Kraus, who has been overseeing the efforts of a Dr. Hess to come up with a way to reanimate the corpses of dead soldiers on the Eastern Front. During a raid of his home, Toulon's wife Elsa is killed, while Toulon (and a test tube full of his animation formula) are captured. With a little help from his friends, Toulon manages to escape. Wife his wife murdered, the only thing Toulon cares about is exacting revenge on Major Kraus and his men, and so begins his and his puppets' merciless campaign for justice.

Puppet Master III isn't just some cheap horror movie featuring killer puppets. There is a great deal of true drama to this story, and it even has something of a historical value, as well, in terms of its portrayal of the Nazi reign of terror. The acting is quite good indeed, and Guy Rolfe makes for a most sympathetic Toulon. The film as a whole adds a whole new dimension to the entire Puppet Master series. I should also add that, once again, the puppet movements are very well done.