To watch the Puppet Master movies in order, go by number and release date, starting with Puppet Master (1989) and running through Puppet Master 13 (2024). That numbered run covers 13 films. The other Puppet Master titles released along the way, including Retro Puppet Master, Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys and the 2019 reboot, are side stories rather than entries in that sequence.
Full Moon Features has been making these since the late 1980s, and the numbering has drifted more than most horror fans expect. There are prequels released after sequels, a crossover that introduces an alternate continuity, and a reboot that ignores the original cast entirely. Knowing which is which saves you a lot of confused pauses.
The good news is that the mainstream thirteen work fine in a straight line. You will lose a few nuances if you skip the side films, but you will not lose the plot. Here is the whole thing, film by film, with no spoilers for anything you have not reached yet.
Table of Contents
- How to Watch the Puppet Master Movies in Order: At a Glance
- How to watch the Puppet Master movies in order by release
- 1. Puppet Master (1989)
- 2. Puppet Master II (1990)
- 3. Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge (1991)
- 4. Puppet Master IV (1992)
- 5. Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter (1993)
- 6. Puppet Master 6: Commando (1994)
- 7. Puppet Master 7: The New Generation (1995)
- 8. Puppet Master 8: The Demon Head (1997)
- 9. Puppet Master 9 (2003)
- 10. Puppet Master 10 (2009)
- 11. Puppet Master 11: Hooked on Hollywood (2012)
- 12. Puppet Master 12 (2014)
- 13. Puppet Master 13 (2024)
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Do all 13 Puppet Master movies tell one continuous story?
- Where does the 2019 Puppet Master movie fit in the order?
- Is Puppet Master 13 a sequel to the original 1989 movie?
- What is the best order for watching Puppet Master on a tight budget?
- Are the Puppet Master movies very gory?
- What Should You Watch First?
How to Watch the Puppet Master Movies in Order: At a Glance
| # | Film | Year | Place in the franchise |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Puppet Master | 1989 | The original, set in the Tollinger workshop |
| 2 | Puppet Master II | 1990 | Direct sequel, recap opening |
| 3 | Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge | 1991 | Los Angeles nightclub, biggest cult following |
| 4 | Puppet Master IV | 1992 | Same lead character as film five |
| 5 | Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter | 1993 | Post-apocalyptic, direct sequel to four |
| 6 | Puppet Master 6: Commando | 1994 | Island setting, new cast |
| 7 | Puppet Master 7: The New Generation | 1995 | Puppet machine, new characters |
| 8 | Puppet Master 8: The Demon Head | 1997 | Standalone special effects film |
| 9 | Puppet Master 9 | 2003 | Back to the earlier era, sets up film ten |
| 10 | Puppet Master 10 | 2009 | Six years later, Tod returns |
| 11 | Puppet Master 11: Hooked on Hollywood | 2012 | Direct sequel to film ten |
| 12 | Puppet Master 12 | 2014 | Las Vegas, soft reboot of the formula |
| 13 | Puppet Master 13 | 2024 | Follows Tod, new group of characters |
How to watch the Puppet Master movies in order by release
Release order works because the numbered films share characters and running consequences rather than one unbroken storyline. Films two through five follow one thread, then six through eight restart with new people, and nine through eleven pick up another. Numbers nine and ten connect tightly, as do ten and eleven. In chronological order you would shuffle several of these around and gain very little.
Two things sit outside this numbered run. The 2019 film is a reboot with its own cast and rules, so it drops into the sequence anywhere or nowhere. The earlier side titles, from the 1999 prequel through the Axis trilogy and the 2004 crossover, are best treated as extras you add once the thirteen are done.
1. Puppet Master (1989)
Start here. A pawn shop employee uncovers a sealed case in the basement and brings it upstairs, not knowing a decades-old formula inside turns carved puppets into obedient killers. That is the whole engine of the franchise: a workshop, a secret recipe, and puppets that stop being props.
The 1989 film is short, practical-effects heavy and oddly charming next to what came later. Blade and the Jester are the two you will remember, and the handmade stop-motion work still looks better than plenty of modern effects. Watch it as a period horror film, not as the start of a series you have to complete.
2. Puppet Master II (1990)
The sequel opens with a recap of the first film, which is the franchise telling you that these stories matter less individually than as a running pile of trouble. Two researchers inherit a laboratory full of half-finished creatures and start pulling the wrong levers.
Film two has more of the original’s texture and, for a lot of fans, more charm. The puppets are the stars and they get more screen time than the people. It is also the shortest gap between sequels in the whole run, so keep the momentum going.
3. Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge (1991)
Third takes place in an East Los Angeles nightclub and introduces a crew of would-be thieves who break into the wrong place. Six Shooter and Decapitron join the roster, and the Jester comes back with a chainsaw, which tells you everything about the tone shift.
This is the fan favourite. Reddit threads in r/puppet_master and r/horror keep pushing it as the best entry and the best single starting point, and it holds up even if you have never seen the first two. If you only watch one film from this guide, this is the one most people pick.
4. Puppet Master IV (1992)
Fourth is where the production shifts and the tone hardens. Thomas Ian Nicholas plays Carland Thurston, a man trying to leave puppetry behind, and the film has a noticeably higher rating and a great deal more blood than its predecessors.
Watch it straight after film three, because the same actor carries straight into film five. The stop-motion work is still the attraction; the human plot is thinner than the puppet scenes. It is a bridge film, and it works better as a bridge than as a standalone.
5. Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter (1993)
Despite the subtitle, this is simply entry five, and it is the last film before the series changes shape entirely. Carland is back, the world outside has broken down, and the puppets are loose in a ruined landscape.
The apocalyptic setting gives the stop-motion a different scale, with puppets wandering through wrecked buildings instead of a basement workshop. It closes the first storyline neatly enough that some fans stop here permanently. That is a defensible place to end a marathon.
6. Puppet Master 6: Commando (1994)
Six drops the Carland storyline completely and hands the franchise to new characters on an island with an ancient temple at the centre of the plot. The puppets are largely unfamiliar, with Blade showing up in altered form.
Treat it as a soft reset. Nobody from the previous five films appears, and the ritual-and-crypt plot is thinner than the puppet choreography. Still, the creatures look great, and this is where a number of the more unusual puppets first show up.
7. Puppet Master 7: The New Generation (1995)
Seven puts a legendary puppet machine in the hands of a small crew who race each other to use it. The machine and the puppets it holds drive the plot, so the effects footage and the story are almost the same thing here.
New characters mean you do not need to revisit anything earlier. The only thread running back to film six is the general mythology of Toulon and the puppets, which is plenty. It is a fun, busy film that understands exactly what people are watching it for.
8. Puppet Master 8: The Demon Head (1997)
Eight is the odd one out. It is a special-effects showcase built around a demonic head, with a cast that shares nothing with the entry before it. Most fans watch it as a curiosity rather than as a chapter in a story.
It comes after The New Generation simply because of the release date. If you are picking films to skip, this is a reasonable one to move to the end of your list, though the practical gore work is genuinely impressive on a small budget.
9. Puppet Master 9 (2003)
After six years away, the franchise went back to its own history. Film nine is effectively a prequel, built around an early attempt to bring Andre Toulon back from the dead, which is exactly the kind of resurrection ritual the series does better than almost anything else.
It is the first film in the run to explain how the puppets came to exist in the way the later films talk about it. Watch it before film ten rather than after, even though it came out first. This is the one place where out-of-order viewing costs you something.
10. Puppet Master 10 (2009)
Ten picks up directly from nine and moves the action to modern Los Angeles. Tod, the character at the centre of film nine’s last act, is back, now with a new group including Katie and a crew working out of a haunted-house business.
More than anything else in the modern era, this is where Full Moon stopped pretending the puppets were the villains and started treating them as employees with an employer. It is a bridge between the older entries and the even stranger films that follow.
11. Puppet Master 11: Hooked on Hollywood (2012)
Film eleven is the most direct sequel in the entire run. Tod is back again, now working around Hollywood special effects, and the puppets are being treated as tools for a production company.
Because it continues ten almost without a break, do not put much distance between them. The Hollywood setting gives the practical effects a reason to exist, and this is the last entry where the Tod storyline feels like the same story rather than a new idea with the same actor in it.
12. Puppet Master 12 (2014)
Twelve moves the action to Las Vegas and hands the franchise to a fresh group working inside a puppet production outfit. It plays like a reboot in the middle of the numbered series, which is why it is easier to watch than the numbering suggests.
It also shares a loose connection with the second Tollinger film, which is the only reason to revisit anything older. Filmmakers treat these puppets as mascots rather than monsters, and that shift in emphasis is the main thing to know going in.
13. Puppet Master 13 (2024)
The thirteenth entry is the long-awaited return, and it arrived more than a decade after film twelve. Tod is back, still working in effects, but he is surrounded by a largely new group. The world has moved on since the Los Angeles films.
Watch it last because it belongs at the end of the modern thread, not because it follows the 1989 cast. Nothing in it depends on the original films beyond the general idea of Toulon, the formula and a workshop full of puppets. It closes the numbered run as it stands in 2026, and it is the natural place to stop until the next one arrives.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all 13 Puppet Master movies tell one continuous story?
No. The numbered films share characters and puppet mythology, but they run in several separate arcs. Films two through five form one storyline, six through eight restart with new characters, and nine through eleven pick up a third thread that film thirteen continues. Treating the run as one long serial works fine, but no single plot connects all thirteen.
Where does the 2019 Puppet Master movie fit in the order?
Nowhere in the numbered sequence. The 2019 film is a reboot with its own cast, its own version of the puppets and rules that do not match the original thirteen. Watch it whenever you like, as a standalone. Nothing in the numbered run depends on it, and it does not continue or retcon anything from films one through thirteen.
Is Puppet Master 13 a sequel to the original 1989 movie?
No. Puppet Master 13 follows Tod, the character carried through films ten and eleven, and introduces a largely new group of characters in a present-day setting. It shares the puppet concept with the 1989 original but not its cast or its storyline, so you can watch it without having seen film one.
What is the best order for watching Puppet Master on a tight budget?
Watch films one through five, then jump to ten and eleven, then thirteen. That skips six through nine, which fans routinely pass over, and keeps the story links that matter. If you only have time for three, start with film one, film three and film ten. Add film nine only if you plan to see ten straight after.
Are the Puppet Master movies very gory?
It depends which films you pick. The early entries lean on stop-motion violence rather than blood, while film four and anything from film ten onward push much harder on graphic practical effects. Blade cutting through people is a long-running element of the series. If graphic gore is a hard stop for you, stick to films one through three.
What Should You Watch First?
Start with Puppet Master (1989), then go straight to Puppet Master II (1990), then follow the numbered release order through film thirteen. That sequence keeps every connection the films actually pay off and takes nothing meaningful out of the story.
Save the 2019 reboot and the standalone crossover for after the thirteen, or slot them in whenever you want something different. One film tonight, if you only have time for one, is film three.
