Puppet Master II Recap

This recap was written by myself. Please use it for reference but don't steal it and repost it elsewhere without my permission. That's tacky. Email me with any corrections. Thanks. ~Sparky

Pinhead is digging up Toulon's casket in a cemetery at night as Blade, Tunneler, and Leech Woman watch. Once he has Toulon's casket open Pinhead climbs out of the grave and pours some fluid into it. Zombified hands reach for the sky.

Cut to the Bodega Bay Inn in the daytime. Carolyn Bramwell is trying to open the front door but the key doesn't work. She tells her brother Patrick, waiting in a truck marked "Paranormal Research" that they'll have to break in. Patrick jimmies the lock and he, Carolyn, Lance and Wanda go into the hotel. They discuss Alex Whittaker, who had gone mad after his stay at the hotel. The group is there to find out what he had seen.

Wanda is examining a stone raven statuette when Lance requests her help in another room. Joining them, Carolyn reads in a book that the hotel was built by an eccentric woman, who designed the place as a haven for wayfaring spirits. She had done this after meeting an Egyptian mystic. Right after Carolyn reads this there is a crash back in the first room, and they find that the raven had been thrown against a far wall from where it had stood. There is no explanation given for this.

Cut to a country road where a local man (Matthew) is repairing an electric fence. Along comes a car containing Camille, who has gotten lost looking for Scarab Hill (where the hotel stands), and she asks directions. The man's wife (Martha) comes along, demanding to know what Camille wants, and if Matthew is finished. He says he is and she flips on the fence. Ecstatic that it works, she exclaims "That's gonna stop 'em" - Camille asks what she means by that. Martha tells her that something's been getting in and mutilating the animals, apparently eating their brains. Camille suggests it may be a cult. Martha denies it, then gives Camille directions to the hotel - but warns against going, saying that Satan himself has a suite of rooms there.

Back at the hotel that night, Lance has gotten security cameras stationed in various locations, each hooked to a monitor in a sort of control room. Camille is already there, and she tells the others that the "spirits" in the hotel are not there to frighten them. She is scornful of the monitors and listening devices the group have set up.

Meanwhile behind a closed door elsewhere in the hotel comes flashes of light and mystic chanting.

The next morning Patrick sets out to take photographs of the outside of the hotel. He finds Toulon's open grave and takes a photo of the (now closed) casket left inside.

That night everyone is sitting down to a meal cooked by Camille. She inquires into the death of Megan Gallagher, and is told she was found dead with her brain removed, extracted through her nose. The death garnered the attention of Carolyn's organization, and they discovered the disappearance of the researchers. Alex Whittaker had been the only survivor, but he went mad and was put in an asylum. The conversation turns to Camille's psychic column which Patrick mocks and Camille leaves the table. Patrick admits he may have had too much wine and leaves for bed.

Off behind the closed door, Toulon works on Torch, his newest puppet.

The next morning Patrick goes to see Carolyn, and she tells him about the suicide of Toulon that she just read about. Patrick tells her he saw that name on an open grave out back, and she explains that Toulon was a puppet master who had escaped Nazi Germany during the war. Just then Camille screams and comes running down the stairs - she's just seen two little "demons" in her room. The others run up there with a camera but upon seeing two dolls in the room think she's imagining things. Camille tells them she's leaving, and that they should too.

Later, Camille is packing, and the lights in her room flicker out. Camille speaks to a stone bust, trying to communicate with the "spirits". But then Pinhead grabs her by the ankle and knocks her down; and Jester gags her with a cloth. Pinhead grabs her hand and drags her out of the room and down the hall.

Later, Carolyn is on the phone with Camille's son; they believe she has just run off, leaving her things behind. According to the son, that's not unusual behavior for her. Patrick tells Carolyn that Camille is just loony and not to worry about it.

Lance is in the control room, drinking and watching the monitors. Wanda brings him some coffee. Upstairs, Patrick has gone to bed with a bottle of wine, as Tunneler approaches his room. Back downstairs, Wanda and Lance are flirting; she invites her to his bed after he gets off duty. Suddenly Lance notices on a monitor that Patrick's door, which was closed a moment before, is now open. Lance rewinds the tape and he and Wanda seem footage of Tunneler entering Patrick's room. Lance and Wanda run out of the control room. Upstairs, Tunneler attacks Patrick, boring into his forehead, Patrick unable to react in time.

Lance and Wanda run in, and Lance flings Tunneler against the wall and bashes him with a floor lamp. Carolyn comes in and they are all horrified at Patrick's death. Later Lance is examining Tunneler, who appears lifeless; he's opened the puppet up to expose his inner workings. Wanda is observing an x-ray of Tunneler on a nearby computer. They discuss what an important discovery this is. Then they are all in some kind of cold storage room where Patrick is being kept under a sheet. Carolyn lays a rose on his chest.

Back in the computer room, Toulon - wrapped and wearing dark glasses like the Invisible Man - suddenly walks in on the three investigators. He introduces himself as Erik Chanee and tells them he has lived there for decades, and that Megan Gallagher left the hotel to him. Carolyn challenges his claim to the hotel, demanding proof. Lance asks Toulon where he has been until now and Toulon says he has been in Bucharest, seeking medical help for whatever he has under his bandages. Lance shows him the still image of Tunneler entering Patrick's room on a monitor and asks him if he knows what it is - Toulon says he does not. Toulon welcomes the investigators, as long as they do not intrude into his personal quarters. Then he excuses himself. Carolyn says he will check up on his story in the morning. Wanda looks out the window as a motorcycle approaches.

The motorcyclist is Camille's son, Michael Kenney. Carolyn takes him to see Tunneler, explaining what happened to Patrick. Although he is sympathetic, Michael finds it hard to believe that this "toy" killed someone, and excuses himself to go search for Camille. Carolyn invites him to stay and start his search in the morning, which Michael accepts.

Late that night, Blade cuts through the electric fence seen earlier and a window of the house is pushed open. Leech Woman walks across the bedroom with a knife. In the bed, Martha complains to her husband that he's tossing, and we hear him snort and gurgle loudly. She turns over to scold him and sees Leech Woman pulling a piece of brain out of Matthew's head. Martha is horrified and then angry; she runs to the living room, lit only by the word-burning stove, for a rifle. She spots Leech Woman and shoots but misses. Blade darts out and slashes Martha's leg and she falls, the rifle sliding under the couch. Martha picks herself up, accidentally burning one hand on the stove when she touches it for support. She grabs a cast-iron skillet from over the stove and advances warily, looking for the puppets. Leech Woman climbs onto a shelf and shoves a baby doll off of it; it breaks, which upsets Martha. Suddenly Leech Woman jumps at her and Martha bats her out of the air with the skillet and stomps her with a socked foot. Before Leech Woman can get up Martha seizes her and throws her into the wood-burning stove, where she burns up. Martha retrieves her rifle and points it at Blade, who's been watching from a corner, when Torch walks up to her. Before Martha can shoot him he sets her on fire and she dies screaming. Blade approaches her charred corpse, hooks her in the throat, and plunges his knife into one of her eyeballs.

In his room at the hotel, Toulon is talking to Jester and Pinhead as he waits for the others to return with brains. He reassures Jester, who looks very sad, that soon they will regain their full strength. Blade and Torch arrive, Blade carrying a piece of brain on his hook. Toulon takes it and complains that it has been cooked and is useless, and that Torch needs to learn to use his abilities more wisely. He then inquires as to the whereabouts of Leech Woman, and Blade indicates that she has been destroyed by making a motion of slitting his throat. Toulon laments her loss but only briefly; he goes on to say they should continue to hunt outside to avoid suspicion from those in the hotel. They are running out of time to make the formula but once it's done, the puppets will have another 50 years of life ahead of them. He orders the puppets into the trunk then speaks to a portrait of his wife Elsa on the wall about how they have been brought together again. He then sits down to reminisce...

Toulon flashes back to 1912, in Cairo, when he performed "Faust" with the puppets he had then, which were stringless but not living. During the performance a strange man stares at the stage and it bursts into flames. Later young Toulon and Elsa go to see this same man, who had claimed he had something to show them. Indeed he does: the man unveils a living, green goblin-like puppet that is chained to a table. The man wants to share the mystical secret of how the puppet lives with Toulon, who is unsure, but Elsa urges him to do it...for the sake of entertaining the children.

Back in the present day, the next morning, Michael finds Carolyn gazing out a window at the sea. She tells him it's her habit to get up early because if she gets up after six she feels like the whole day has been wasted. He thanks her for letting him stay the night, and says he needs to go start looking for his mother. He invites Carolyn to come along; she refuses at first but upon spotting Toulon in a gazebo on the beach changes her mind. Carolyn and Michael go down to the beach. Toulon is pleased to see Carolyn up early, remarking that his wife used to say that if she rose after six she felt the entire day had been lost. Carolyn introduces "Mr. Chenee" to Michael, and Toulon warns Michael to be careful with his motorcycle, especially with Carolyn as his passenger. As Michael and Carolyn walk to the motorcycle Michael asks about Mr. Chenee; Carolyn explains that he showed up the previous day claiming he owned the place. Michael inquires into the bandages and Carolyn tells him Toulon hasn't explained his injuries.

Elsewhere in a wooded area, a little boy named Billy comes out of a trailer with a short whip as his mother calls to him to be back in time for dinner. He wanders off a ways then puts a soldier action figure on the ground and whips it, pretending it's a Nazi. He then picks it up, pulls off its shirt, and leans it up against a tree so he can whip it some more. On one flip he accidentally catches the toy with the whip and flings it over his head into some bushes - and something throws it back out. It's Torch, who steps out of the bushes. Confronted with this much cooler toy, Billy kicks aside the soldier figure and runs over to Torch who brandishes his flamethrower angrily. The boy backs off, but only for a moment - he claims to Torch that he's Indiana and this is "the set;" he then picks up Torch and examines him, which the puppet tolerates. Billy then sets Torch down and demands that he do something. When Torch just stands there Billy whips him, knocking him down. Torch's eyes burn red as Billy leans over him shouting he get back up, and we cut away as the boy's face is lit by the glow of fire.

Michael walks out of the Bodega Holistic Retreat and tells Carolyn that they haven't seen Camille. She tells him she could find no record of "Mr. Chenee" owning the Bodega Bay Inn. Michael decides to take them to a beach, where they sit and talk. He tells her that he writes Western novels. Carolyn reflects on her career and Patrick's death, and resolves to find out what really happened. She and Michael kiss and hug.

Toulon returns to his room to find Blade and Pinhead working on the formula on their own. He comforts Jester, who's still sad, while Blade taps the bowl impatiently. Toulon tells the puppets that soon Elsa will be returned to him and the puppets will be rewarded with another half century of life.

Carolyn is examining Tunneler's scans on the computer again. Wanda comes in and tells her that she and Michael think Carolyn needs to take a break - she can take over then she can wake Lance up later to take a shift. Carolyn tells her not to wake Lance, that she'll just come back herself in about an hour. Carolyn then goes to join Michael in a drink, and he revs up an old fashioned phonograph and invites her to dance. But then Toulon shows up and requests the first dance. Carolyn uncomfortably allows him to dance with her briefly before Michael cuts in, which irritates Toulon but relieves Carolyn. Toulon watches them for a moment then intentionally breaks a record on the floor; he pretends it was an accident, turns off the phonograph, and leaves. Carolyn announces that she intends to snoop around Toulon's room to get evidence for the police but Michael insists she stay away from him. Cue a scene of Carolyn and Michael making love in a bedroom.

Blade and Jester enter Toulon's room, Jester carrying a canister. Toulon takes it, looks inside, and announces there is almost enough, and that the formula must be completed tonight. Torch comes in as Toulon commends the puppets for always bringing him fresh human brains and not taking shortcuts with animals or corpses. Torch seems about to "speak up" as it were but Blade silences him with a motion, while Jester wrings his hands worriedly. Toulon goes on to say that no one in the hotel but Carolyn will escape death, and then tells Torch to deal with Michael.

While Wanda waits in bed for Lance to get out of the shower she gets up and examines a photo on the dresser of a woman (which may be herself?) holding an infant. Behind her the door opens and closes, and she sits back on the bed to read a magazine. Lance comes out of the shower and tries to fool around with her but she gets up saying she needs to go back downstairs, as she had left before Carolyn had come back. This makes Lance angry, as that means no one's been watching the monitors, and that was what got Patrick killed before. Wanda agrees to go down, but stops at her own room next door first. Before she can unlock the door the light in Lance's room flickers out and he cries out abruptly then starts gurgling. Wanda goes back and finds Lance dead with Blade over him. She screams and stumbles backwards, and Blade rushes at her; he backs her against a wall and slashes at her face while she screams. Cut to more brain pieces being added to the bowl of fluid.

Leaving Michael sleeping, Carolyn gets out of bed and looks out the window to see Toulon by the gazebo on the beach. Seeing her chance, Carolyn heads to Toulon's room, wearing only a negligee and a gauzy coverup. She enters the room, not realizing that Toulon is already on his way back. Poking around, she opens a wardrobe and finds what appear to be two human-sized puppets, a man and a woman. Just then Toulon enters and approaches Carolyn, calling her Elsa. Carolyn screams.

Back in the bedroom, Michael awakens abruptly to spot Torch aiming his flamethrower at him. Michael jumps behind the bed just in time as it is engulfed in flames and, naked, tears down the drapery to try to smother the fire. Torch has disappeared. Michael scrambles into his jeans and runs out the door.

Toulon has tied Carolyn to a chair; next to her in two more chairs sit the lifesize puppets. She figures out that he is really Andre Toulon and when she shivers he thinks she is cold and drapes a shawl over her, a shawl that belonged to Elsa.

Michael runs down the hall and gets past Torch by blasting him with a fire extinguisher, and then throwing it at him. Michael runs up the stairs, and is attacked by Pinhead, who is swinging on a chandelier. The puppet jumps down and begins strangling Michael, but Michael is able to pry him off and slam him against the walls and floor, stunning him.

Meanwhile, Toulon unwraps his head for Carolyn to see his rotted face.

Blade is next to attack Michael, landing on his back and trying to slit his throat. Michael stumbles to the dumbwaiter and opens it to find his mother's dead body inside, as well as Jester. Michael throws Blade down the dumbwaiter shaft, and then runs to find Carolyn.

Toulon is explaining to Carolyn how the puppets brought him back to life, and she tries to tell him that she is not Elsa, which he dismisses. He tells her that they will use the fluid to move their souls into the lifesize puppets, and puts a funnel into the mouth of the male puppet. Toulon starts chanting as Blade, Pinhead, and Jester enter the room. Toulon drinks the fluid then slits his own throat, letting his blood fall into the funnel; he then falls down lifeless and his body disintegrates. At once the male puppet stands up and talks in Toulon's voice - it's worked! But suddenly he involuntarily makes barnyard noises and realizes that the puppets DID give him some animal brains. But there's nothing for it now. He then informs the puppets that all the fluid is for him and "Elsa," there will be none left for them, that his promise to Elsa is more important. Michael begins pounding on the door and Toulon pours some of the fluid into Carolyn's mouth; she spits it back out, spraying some on Blade. Michael breaks in and Toulon holds a knife to Carolyn - and suddenly spots Jester making off with the last goblet of the fluid. Pinhead then knocks Toulon down and drags him across the room while Michael unties Carolyn. Blade slashes Toulon with his hook and fluid gushes out; Pinhead smashes Toulon's hand with a crowbar and more fluid splashes out.

As Michael and Carolyn flee the hotel the puppets corner Toulon and Torch sets him on fire. He staggers through a window and falls to his doom. Jester approaches Camille's body with the appropriated goblet of fluid.

On a sunny day, Michael and Carolyn set flowers on Camille's grave and walk away, Michael questioning everything that's just happened to them - especially finding Camille's body in the attic with her throat slashed. Carolyn assures him that even if "somewhere there is something that walks" that it isn't really his mother.

A van driving down a dusty road pulls over. The driver, the female lifesize puppet speaking with Camille's voice, consults a map. They are on their way to an institute for troubled children and teens...where they intend to harvest plenty of more brains. As the van pulls away we see the logo "Miss Camille's Happily Ever After Puppet Shows" on the back.