I can almost see the scene in my head: upon hearing the news that Jack Arnold's The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) had been a hit, the higher-ups over at American International Pictures immediately reached for their phones, called their secretaries, and barked, "Get me Bert I. Gordon!" And so, a year after The Incredible Shrinking Man was released we have Bert I. Gordon's Attack of the Puppet People, a straight-forward sci-fi flick about an insane doll-maker who shrinks people down to the size of dolls. His mania is fueled by a fear of being alone and abandoned, a phobia sparked when his wife left him. John Hoyt's performance as the doll-maker is one of the film's highlights. He manages to hit that perfect combination of innocence and malevolence, of being a victim himself even while he victimizes others. There's a great subtle scene where he angrily twists a plastic doll head in his hands while discussing his ex-wife. This scene drives home the extent of his suffering more successfully than any overblown villain monologue could. Much like in Gordon's other films, the effects in Attack of the Puppet People are the main attractions. Some of them rank among the best he ever created. His use of miniaturized sets and props is fantastic. But the film also contains some of the worst effects he ever worked on. One particular shot where a "shrunken" kitten is projected onto the doll-maker's hands is particularly awful. But the film is competent and, for the most part, well-acted. In short: it's exactly what theater-goers in 1958 paid for.
5/10
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