A convicted killer on death row always maintained his innocence and that it was an evil force controlling his body as he slaughtered his victim. Now, the killer’s daughter suspects there is truth to her father’s claim, when her loved ones begin to die in brutal ways. A film by Brandon Christensen, starring Zachary Le Vey, Alyson Gorske, Angel Prater, Kio Cyr, Anna Telfer, Cameron Wong, Michael Paré, and Caryn Richman.

The film begins with a suspenseful and intriguing opening scene: David (Zachary Le Vey) enters the kitchen silently as his wife Patricia (Kathryn Schneider) prepares dinner. He seems unable to control himself, and his expression is distraught as he tries to warn her to run. Patricia is stunned to see a knife in his hand. Before she can react, he stabs her with the knife and strikes her with an iron pan. Patricia tries to crawl away, but David follows and stabs her again, killing her instantly. The police arrest David at the crime scene and rescue his only daughter Michala (Natalie Meetze), who has been locked in the closet. The media dubs him “The Puppetman Killer” due to his denial of the murder of his wife, claiming that someone else controlled his body to commit the crime.

Years later, Michal (Alyson Gorske), now a college student, and her roommate Charlie (Angel Prater), listen to a podcast discussing The Puppetman Killer, who has recently made headlines again after being sentenced to death by lethal injection. Charlie notices Michal’s bleeding arm, the result of her scratching. She becomes fixated on Michal and her harrowing past, suggesting that Michal consider visiting her father in prison for closure and offering to accompany her if she decides to go.

The next day, Charlie tells Michal that she has continued to research the case online, where satanic books were rumored to have been discovered in the house where the police arrested Michal’s father. Michal, however, remains uninterested and urges Charlie to stop looking into it. They encounter their friend Jo (Anna Telfer), Charlie’s boyfriend Glenn (Cameron Wong), and Michal’s boyfriend Danny (Kio Cyr). The group plans to purchase alcohol and celebrate on the rooftop, to which Charlie has obtained an access key.

Michal exhibits increasingly strange behavior, experiencing flashbacks of her childhood. One night, Charlie finds Michal sleepwalking outside of their room, standing in a corridor facing the wall. On the wall are three distinctive lines drawn in blood.

While Charlie attends an appointment, Michal hears multiple notification sounds emanating from Charlie’s laptop. Curious, Michal activates the laptop screen and discovers that Charlie has recorded multiple video clips of her sleepwalking. Agitated that Charlie has secretly recorded her without her knowledge, Michal confronts her. However, Charlie assures her that she acted with pure intentions, seeking to track Michal’s sleepwalking habits and ensure her well-being. Charlie also confirms that she has never shared the videos with anyone.

As the group gathers on the rooftop to celebrate, tensions escalate when Glenn begins babbling uncontrollably about Michal’s father’s crimes. Charlie signals to him several times to stop, but he ignores her. Michal, upset by her best friend’s betrayal, decides to leave. Suddenly, Charlie exhibits bizarre behavior, struggling to tell the others that she cannot move her body. They dismiss her concerns as a joke, but before they can react, Charlie walks backwards and falls to her death.

While The Puppetman features several memorable and inventive kills that evoke the atmosphere of FINAL DESTINATION, its storytelling fails to live up to its premise. The script could also benefit from further refinement, as some of the dialogue sounds cringeworthy and occasionally appears out of place solely to move the plot forward in an unnatural way.

The film does not provide adequate information about the evil entity attaching itself to Michal, preventing the audience from understanding its motives. Instead, the film suggests that the entity is built on Michal’s grief and childhood traumas, only to later reveal that it is something else entirely. If the supernatural elements were properly explained with mythology and rules, the film could achieve much more, even becoming an instant cult classic.

The Puppetman premiered on SHUDDER starting 13 October 2023.