The Puppet Masters (1994)

The Earth is invaded by alien "slugs" that ride on people's backs and control their minds.

Director:

Stuart Orme

Writers:

Robert A. Heinlein (novel), Ted Elliott (screenplay),

Stars:

Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Julie Warner

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Donald Sutherland	...	Andrew Nivens
Eric Thal	...	Sam Nivens
Julie Warner	...	Mary Sefton
Keith David	...	Alex Holland
Will Patton	...	Dr. Graves
Richard Belzer	...	Jarvis
Tom Mason	...	President Douglas
Yaphet Kotto	...	Ressler
Gerry Bamman	...	Viscott
Sam Anderson	...	Culbertson
J. Patrick McCormack	...	Gidding
Marshall Bell	...	General Morgan
Nicholas Cascone	...	Greenberg
Bruce Jarchow	...	Barnes
Benjamin Mouton	...	Higgins

Storyline

Strange aliens land in the Midwest, taking over people's minds in order to spread their dominion. Sam Nivens and Andrew Nivens, aided by Mary Sefton, are part of a government agency who must stop the the aliens before the aliens get to them...

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Plot Keywords:

alien | iowa | suicide | president | des moines iowa | 

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Taglines:

Trust No-one.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, sci-fi gore and brief language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 October 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Robert A. Heinlein's The Puppet Masters

Filming Locations:

City Hall - 2600 Fresno Street, Fresno, California, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$8,638,072 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the start of the film when the boys are trying to convince Mary to go inside the fake spaceship, Andrew Nivens says, "She balked at Pirates of the Caribbean." Both Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, two of the films credited screenwriters, went on to write all three of the, "Pirates of the Caribbean," movies.

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Goofs

When Sam is being interviewed in the hospital by his father, one shot shows another patient in the bed behind his father, but at the end of the scene a wide shot from above shows the bed is empty.

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Quotes

Niven: It's the kid from the spaceship. Get him off the car.

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Connections

Spoofed in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Bad Eggs (1998)

User Reviews

forget the movie, READ THE BOOK!!!

As movies based on books go, it was decent, but as with any other movie that is based on a book, it's hardly worth wasting your time on if you've read the book because you will only be disappointed. On the other hand, if you've never read the book, the movie may interest you enough to read it. I PROMISE YOU, you WON'T regret it. On it's own, the movie does a commendable job of presenting itself (although I wouldn't recommend buying the DVD for anything more than pocket-change as there are NO extras) and is rather suspenseful, but again, the book is FAR superior. For starters, the book goes much more into detail, and as a result, the movie comes off as being a watered-down version that leaves alot out and changes much of what is left to avoid explanation. So, if you are the reading type, I STRONGLY urge you to read one of the greatest works of the premier Sci-fi author in history and leave this movie on the shelf.