Written by: David Owain Hughes
Director: Dave Parker
Stars: Jenny Boswell, Chad Patterson, Emily Sue Bengtson
Run Time: 59 minutes
The good Doktor’s bedside manner is something to be desired…
In this unconnected by-product of Retro Puppet Master, a beautiful young med student, April (Jenny Boswell), is trapped in an erotic nightmare and will soon do battle with the demon that inhibits the mini marionette cast of death and destruction.
When April joins the nursing team at Shady Oaks: Senior Living (got to love the ironic name), she is thrilled, but her excitement is soon dampened when Max, one of the elderly gents who had been residing at Shady Oaks, is wheeled out of Oaks on a stretcher in front of April, having suffered a heart attack in his sleep.
After her unpleasantness, April is put to work, her first task is to aid Ryan (Chad Patterson), another carer, to clean out Max’s room of belongings. On discovering a chest at the bottom of Max’s wardrobe, April draws it out, the lock smashed off the box and opened by the obnoxious, and somewhat pervy Flynn (Zach Zebrowski), a third care worker. Inside the decrepit antique of a trunk lies Doktor Death, his sleep disturbed, the bloodshed now imminent.
With her first job completed, April is then escorted around the institute by the blonde bombshell Jennifer (Emily Sue Bengtson), the fourth and final nurse at Shady Oaks. Once the greetings are done, the elderly, sick, and infirm are presented to the audience, along with the hierarchy of the hospital, Doktor Death unleashes, and sates his appetite for blood…
This is a punchy, fun, and straightforward flick with a paper-thin plot that will appease Puppet Master and slasher fans alike, with its buckets of blood and a flash of bare breasts and sexy bodies. The acting and cast are solid, and the characters portrayed are well-liked, with the odd douche thrown into the mix.
Like Blade: Iron Cross, the budget for Doktor Death was clearly threadbare, but that takes nothing away from this quirky production. The handling and design of the killer puppet are also nothing short of awesome, and, Doktor Death may not be as renowned as say Blade or Pinhead, or some of his other counterparts, but the good Doktor certainly carves out a name for himself here, earning himself five decapitated bodies out of five.
Doktor Death is currently streaming on a variety of platforms, or, if you are a completist, then you can purchase a copy of the DVD/Blu-Ray from off multiple online vendors, including Amazon UK/US.