The Puppet Masters (1994)

The Earth is invaded by stingray-shaped 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 | ambulance | fire truck | sheriff | 

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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:

Los Angeles Convention Center - 1201 S. Figueroa Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$8,638,072

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

Will Patton and Keith David later appeared in Armageddon (1998).

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Goofs

At the end of the film, the large blood spot near Sam Nivens' right eye tends to appear and disappear on different shots.

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Quotes

[After Sam rescues Andrew by shooting him]
Andrew: [musingly] I can't believe you shot me.
Sam: Well, what would you have done?
Andrew: [nonchalant] Oh, I'd have shot you, of course.

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Connections

Referenced in Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008)

User Reviews

Maybe it's NOT for purists

However, being that Heinlein was one of the few sci-fi authors I +didn't+ read (I'm more of an Asimov and Bradbury fan myself) as a kid growing up, and I haven't seen the original film, I didn't have any problems with this movie when it came out in theaters. In fact, I found the premise genuinely creepy, the effects highly believable, and the presence of Donald Sutherland to be a masterful touch. It may not go down in the all-time pantheon of "greatest sci-horror films" ever, but if it was playing on HBO I wouldn't change the channel. Sometimes I think people get too caught up in whether a story is true to the original, and forget that it's JUST a movie and they should try to enjoy it on that basis.