10 Horror Movie Monsters Who Encountered Something Way Worse

8. Neil Gallagher - Puppet Master (1989)

Despite boasting 14 sequels to date, David Schmoeller’s Puppet Master never really managed to find its way into mainstream horror in the way of contemporaries like Gremlins or Child’s Play. And, yes, perhaps it has something to do with it going straight-to-video and staying there, but it’s unlikely mainstream distributors would have known what to do with the strange tone or surprisingly gory and disturbing violence in this killer doll horror anyway.

Telepathic mystery man Neil Gallagher (Jimmie F. Skaggs) summons four of his old psychic acquaintances to the Bodega Bay Inn, where they find him dead. The otherwise empty building is full of strange phenomena, and as they settle in they each meet grisly ends at the hands of an eclectic band of murderous toy dolls.

As the blood flows, the ultimate plan for this meeting is revealed: creating bodies for the now-undead Neil to work on. Because it turns out Neil killed himself so he could rise again, undead, using the same hoodoo that animated the dolls. While he’s a serious piece of work, a madman and a monster all in one, he underestimates the will – and savagery – of the dolls, who, after being discarded by Neil, turn on him, drill him, stab him, pin him, fill his mouth with leeches and snap his neck. Oof.