This film is GOLD. The concept is deeply unsettling it's a superb piece of science fiction. Scared the crap out of the 6 year old version of myself

The "two dollars" reference, will never grow old.......ever. I still use it.

"I want my two dollars!" Nice Better Off Dead reference.

The paperboy chasing after the heroes wasn't an alien... he just wanted his two dollars! :-)

I love this movie. classic 90s sci-fi horror, right there with Deep Rising and Phantoms.

I saw this movie as a kid,and it drove me BONKERS. For about 2 years, i slept with my Pillow taped to my nape AND i checked my mother's back with a awkward "hug" every night. True story.

R.I.P. Donald Sutherland. I honestly didn’t expect to see him pass away this month, he will be missed by those who loved his work.

Great review, Cecil, loved this flick but I always hated how they didn't even attempt to help Keith David's character, they could've pulled then off or something but they didn't lol, glad you pointed that out lol

I can't believe you didn't recognize Keith David in this film.

Julie Warner! Underrated 90's actress.

It's funny they didn't use a variant of the garment the used in the novel. Not only did it expose the back, it also protected the wearer from being taken.

Wow, I had totally forgotten about this little gem. Hadn't heard about it in decades. And yes, it was great to see Donald Sutherland in a film similar to The Body Snatchers.:)

one of the only books I felt like getting a 1st edition of, not terribly rare or expensive or anything, I just wanted it out of love

This is not what I expected from the cover art! The space tornado threw me for a loop hahaha

Cool, another film I'll have to check out. Great cast too. I suspect the reason it may not have done as well as wanted was because the title reminds people of the horror film franchise about actual puppets from the 80s and 90s. That's why I clicked on this video because I was curious about how the series started and then low and behold here's a cool looking alien invasion movie. I hope these film studios are thankful for the attention you bring to their films because if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have ever heard of most of them. Keep up the good work!

4:44 NO MUNCH! I'll always remember you from Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: SVU.

There are so many recognizable stars in this movie

Your choices for movies and reviews are consistently great. I think you're one of The Best critics on KZfaq. Keep up the fantastic content, Sir.

The Paper Boy from Better Off Dead is the best running gag in a movie ever!

It has a lot of problems, but I appreciated the way this movie got rolling almost immediately. That car chase out of town was, what, ten minutes in? And I like the encephalitis idea, although that was basically Heinlein’s.

4:40-4:44 had me LMBAO!!!! You are hilarious!!!

Laughed really hard at the Law and Order noise hit!

It's funny you mentioned they should all be shirtless; in the book they make everyone go nude by executive order. It's like a long drawn out war with the slugs rather than fairly quick like in the movie. Really good.

"That was a long time ago, Bonzo! I've moved on!" 😂😂😂

"the xcom taskforce" ^_^ topical

I've seen this movie like 3 times it's really great!

I clicked on expecting yet another puppet master movie review. only 7 more of those to go.

"I want my $2.00" - You are a legend!

Your commentary throughout the whole vid was hilarious!

I remember this movie coming on TV all the time when I was a kid or teen! Loved it then! XD Haven't seen it in years! Reminds me of another movie that the title escapes me but it was about this guy making genetically regrown limbs that were like living parasites!

I was surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did. Classic 'bad things happen to lots of people' sci fi. The book was a different creature. And remember she didn't confirm they were taken over by aliens, just that their responses were 'off' and they were. Sure, one, maybe even two guys might not notice, but not a single man reacting sends up warning flares in an already strange situation. Body language isn't a guarentee in a one on one setting, but the generalities are indicative.

"They're using children?" "Do not think of them any longer as children." RIP Donald Sutherland

Oh man! I remember seeing this as a kid and I loved it. Hadn't really thought about since though.

Wow, on POINT with the humor in this one, Cecil. A reference to The Burning Zone? Wow. makes me wish I had Deadly Games on home video. Or that they would have even RELEASED it on home video.

2:52 Now I know what to make for dinner. Sorry I just love chicken and waffles.

happy to see this video...this has been a guilty pleasure of mine for a long time.

"Shouldn't they be going around shirtless at this point." YES! That was a major part of the book. Poor poor Heinlein. Could be worse. Could be Starship Troopers.

Watching your video, i remember watching "The Puppet Masters" as a kid. Back then, the creature effects really freaked me out. I may give it another try someday.

Bad Flick. GREAT cast.

You ever thought of doing one of these on Maximum Overdrive?

If there ever was an origin story for the X-files...this was it.

The puppet master - craftsman! Good one!

I just took the Puppet Master test to check whether I actually am a alien or not. On the plus side, I'm 100% human. On the minus, I'm being sued for sexual harassment.

the better off dead reference was the best joke youve done EVER!!! two dollars

Yeah, definitely was getting Heinlein's book vibes during this - scene with aliens communicating while attached to hosts was taken straight form the book.

What a cast!

Watched this movie when I was around 8 or 9 yo.. I F****** loved it! I thought it was one of the coolest movies I've ever seen!

Judo chop!!!! Hahahahaha I laugh every time. Also, Thank you for your service.

Your humor is so unique lol. "Anti-Masturbation Cross." I'm dead hahah.

I remember renting this flick several times on vhs back in the day.

I actually want so see this now.

Two dollars! XD Awesome tie-in!

That weird building that looks like a crashed spaceship in the last part is Fresno City Hall.

Another superb video, pretty good-bad movie too.

RIP Richard Belzer.

Love this flick!

i love youre reviews, any chance you can do the death wish movies. keep up the great work.

This was Before colur corrected eveything. When colours are natural its looks so...old and tv episode like.

Excellent movie. Underrated.

The Bonzo-joke alone is worth a thumps-up.

The Burning Zone!?!? I must watch this now. Great review, now I know what book/movie the kids in The Faculty were referrng to. ^_^ BTW, are you ever going to link us to the podcast you were on awhile ago?

Took me a minute (almost literally) to remember this film.

My main problem with this movie was how they said right off that Donald Sutherland and Eric Thal’s characters are father and son. In the original novel, this wasn’t openly acknowledged until maybe more than halfway through the book! Until then, they behaved as professionals, the spymaster and agent, until finally having an emotional and familial conversation later on.

That was a really funny review btw!

When i first saw Avatar, that merging this instantly made me think of this movie.

The XCOM task force rolls in. lol

I formally request a future episode about the House movies (the one with William Katt and Grorge Wendt starring in the first one)

When I saw the kid on the bike riding directly toward the car, I thought of the "I want my two dollars . . ." kid too, lol.

Saw this in the theaters when it came out in 1994. I don't remember a lot about it, but I do remember Eric Thal kept doing that weird thing with his mouth. At the time, I thought it was supposed to be a sign that he was under the control of the aliens, but he did it after he was free of them. I guess he just has a weird tic. At least weird enough for me to remember 23 years later.

Oh man can you please do one for golden child XD

I remember renting this in the 90s at like 12 for a sleep over. We were idiot and we thought this was like the other puppet masters. We were not scared and very disappointed. BUT i watched this on Cinemax a few years ago and liked it a lot. AND TGAT FALLOUT 4 REFERENCE WAS EPIC. But you shoulda seen me after a 24 hour Fallout 3 session using pot and adderall I was worse then that guy in alien withdrawal. I wound up getting the "blinking light of death" on my old fat PS3 because I played so long without shutting it off. lol

i died at the stunt double part

"that was a long time ago bonzo I moved on!"

Awesome review I haven't this one in years would like to re-visit it again sometime?

The fact that the actors kept their clothes on was one thing about the movie I preferred over the book. The first act was the best part, but more than The X-Files, it reminded of The Brain Eaters with Ed Nelson. Like several movies of that era, the ads for the movie used James Horner's music from Aliens, so the actual music was kind of a letdown after that.

Glad you've covered this movie. I read the book a long time ago, something around 15 years, and wanted to see it ever since. Mostly to check if all of the actors walk naked through the whole second half. Never got to it, though. Now, finally, I have a sense of closure, but I feel a bit disappointed they wear clothes. It'd be funny to see Donald Sutherland trying to be serious and imposing with his bare butt shining on screen. I have to say, though, I prefer when you just talk about movies and show clips. Those fast cut photoshop bits felt disorienting and too much like youtube clips of younger reviewers, who try to cover their lack of writing skills with crap like that. You don't have to do that.

I find it weird how they establish getting rid of the alien gives you withdrawals and have Jarvis kill himself and then that is never a thing again. Another thing they weirdly set up and then quickly throw away is how the aliens make you stronger because after the woman who infects Sam, every time they're fought, they're dispatched pretty easily. Agree, you would think they would make everyone not wear shirts. I also dislike how the soldiers' heat vision is a box they have to hold up, which means they have to put it down in order to do anything else. Like, it's not just goggles that they wear over their eyes. And somehow, it doesn't detect the parasites when not on a host. They also briefly showed and forgot that they have satellites capable of detecting people on the ground and if they're infected, which could've been used to aid the soldiers on the ground. And why aren't the soldiers wearing some sort of armor that protects their neck? This threat should be pretty easy to deal with. I thought it was weird that they suspected Jarvis because literally all that happened was that they didn't see him smoke ONCE. As in, we see him smoke in a prior scene, and then we see him simply not smoking for a moment, and Sam's like "Why aren't you smoking, Jarvis?" Does Jarvis have to be smoking literally every second, or something's wrong?

Could you review the Mothman Prophecies please?

I remember this coming out shortly after I'd read this book (I'd just discovered Heinlein and was reading through his books). I remember being excited because it had Donald Sutherland in it.... Then I remember being soooo disappointed. I may actually read about the behind the scenes stuff that went wrong because that sounds pretty interesting.

4:30 thought the guy on the right was a cardboard cut out xD

That Jesse Ventura impression was fucking brilliant.

a documentary in the vein of "they live". What a coincidence Keith David is in both.

the script for the unmade Return of The Thing mini series has so many similarities to this and the book, there's a copy floating online

This is one my favorite B movies

This was actually one of HBO's first weekly "new movie" releases, ah yes, there was a time when HBO gave a Damn.

“More like the Puppet Mastercraftsman.” Strong joke!

1.58 maybe it's because they knew that there was really nothing substantial there worth looking at, and not because they had an alien on their back! A more buxom actress would have made the logic more convincing.

I actually really liked it

You should review the rest of the puppet master series!

Richard Belzer, fuck yeah.

So it's like that one Star Trek episode where an entire colony planet (and Spock) get taken over by puppetteer parasites, except with better creature effects.

Ahahahaha! I may be late to the party but I just noticed the title card looks like it says "Good Bad Fucks!"

Finkle and Einhorn, lol

It was a really good film. I liked it a lot.

I can never remember... At 3:48, is that David Keith or Keith David? =]

I liked this movie

He doesnt have his cane, dammit!!

Damn Keith David and Yaphet Kotto.

This movie is damn fine!

Donald Southerlands character in this film was not as goofy as the one he played in Invasion of Body Snatchers. Maybe because he was older.