''The Puppet Masters'' is a 1994 American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

, adapted by Ted Elliott,

Terry Rossio Terry Rossio (born July 2, 1960) is an American screenwriter. He co-wrote the films ''Aladdin'', ''Shrek'', and all five of the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' series. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for ''Shrek' ...

and

David S. Goyer David Samuel Goyer (born December 22, 1965) is an American filmmaker, novelist and comic book writer. He is best known for writing the screenplays for several superhero films, including '' Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (1998), the ''Blade'' ...

from

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

's 1951 novel of the same title, in which a trio of

American government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

agents attempts to thwart a covert invasion of Earth by mind-controlling alien parasites. The film was directed by Stuart Orme and stars

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films ''Citizen X'' (1995) an ...

Eric Thal Eric Thal (born August 10, 1965) is an American film and stage actor, perhaps best known as Ariel in Sidney Lumet's ''A Stranger Among Us''; Sam Nivens in ''The Puppet Masters''; Samson in ''Samson and Delilah''; Meade Howell in '' The Wedding''; ...

Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' T ...

Julie Warner Juliet Mia Warner (born ) is an American actress. She is best known as Danni on ''Family Law'' (1999–2001) and Megan on ''Nip/Tuck'' (2003-2006), Elaine in '' Mr. Saturday Night'' (1992), Michelle in ''Tommy Boy'' (1995), Micki in '' Wedding ...

and Andrew Robinson.

Plot

When a

flying saucer A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has g ...

reportedly lands in rural

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, Andrew Nivens (who runs a secret branch of the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

tasked with investigating extraterrestrial activity) sends two agents from their local

office An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...

to investigate the crash site. After the two agents disappear shortly after their arrival, Andrew now goes in person, accompanied by agents Sam Nivens (his son) and Jarvis, as well as Dr. Mary Sefton, a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

specialist. At the crash site, now staged as a phony tourist attraction, they encounter people who appear to display no emotions. To test this theory when meeting with a local

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...

manager, Mary partially opens her blouse but gets no reaction from the manager who ignores her attempts to seduce him. Suspecting that the man is not who he appears to be, Sam attempts to take him into custody however a brutal fight takes place in the man's office, killing the manager. The team then locates an alien, that looks like a

slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a smal ...

, attached to the man's back. The team manages to capture the alien and after a chase where multiple infected town citizens attempt to stop them, they successfully return to their plane. The slugs soon spread steadily from the infected town and during a staff meeting where the team discusses the situation, Sam notices that Jarvis has stopped chain-smoking. Suspecting that he may have been infected, Sam and the team attempt to restrain Jarvis and after a brief chase, they locate the unconscious Jarvis who no longer has an alien on his back. Andrew and the team conduct a search of their office building and after being unable to locate the alien, Andrew orders all of his staff (at gunpoint) including Sam to remove their shirts. At this time, Andrew's personal secretary refuses to remove her shirt and attempts to flee the building. Agents, including Sam, pursue her, and after a brutal one-on-one fight, Andrew and Alex Holland (Sam's best friend and leader of the agency

SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

team) locate Sam and the now-dead secretary in the office's

kitchen A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a ...

. Sam tells his father that the alien had gotten away but unbeknownst to them, the alien had infected Sam. Shortly after Sam is infected, Jarvis kills himself after being unable to cope with the withdrawal from being infected and the removal of the alien. The now infected Sam goes to Jarvis's

apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

and with the help of the unsuspecting apartment manager, Greenberg, opens crates of

parasites Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...

that Jarvis had shipped to himself. Sam infects Greenberg (who removes his glasses) and then it's learned that the parasites communicate with each other by touching each other with tentacles. Along with communicating

telepathically Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W ...

, the aliens have the ability to correct any ailment affecting the host (Jarvis's chain-smoking and Greenberg needing glasses.) Sam and Greenberg then go to a

convention center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

where the

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

is going to conduct a meeting. They then infect the Agent in Charge of the President's

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

Detail. The President arrives however he is saved from his now infected security detail by a tactical team of uninfected agents working for Andrew and Holland. After a brief chase, Sam is captured by his father however Greenberg leaves with all of the knowledge passed to him by all of the people (including Sam and the infected Secret Service agents) who had been infected. Back in the office, Andrew, Mary, Holland, and Dr. Graves (the lead medical researcher for the team) interrogate the infected Sam. At that time they learn that the aliens have complete control over their hosts, including killing them and bringing them back to life. Andrew threatens the alien by subjecting Sam to

electric shocks Electrical injury is a physiological reaction caused by electric current passing through the body. The injury depends on the density of the current, tissue resistance and duration of contact. Very small currents may be imperceptible or produce ...

where they then learn that electric shocks briefly break the alien's control, at the expense of injuring the host. The alien tells Andrew that it will kill Sam to prove its power and when it stops his heart, Mary conducts massive electrical shocks to Sam, causing the alien to leave his body, after believing that Sam is no longer a viable host. The team is able to resuscitate Sam however he begins to suffer the same withdrawal that affected Jarvis. After suffering significant withdrawal, Mary comforts Sam and they begin a personal relationship. Andrew recommends to the President that the

US military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six Military branch, service branches: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States N ...

be sent in to clear out the aliens however the aliens by now have infected the entire area, members of local

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...

and members of the

Iowa National Guard The Iowa National Guard of the United States, National Guard consists of the: *Iowa Army National Guard and the *Iowa Air National Guard The Iowa National Guard headquarters is at Camp Dodge in Johnston, Iowa, Johnston, several miles north of th ...

. The aliens are able to reproduce asexually by division and soon the army sent to eradicate the aliens are infected. At the same time, Sam and Mary are back at Sam's apartment discussing the events of the day and after Sam changes clothes after the events of the day, Mary attempts to seduce him. Sam then discovers that Mary had been infected by an alien, that had infected Sam's

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

, to gain entry into his apartment. After informing Sam that the aliens now know everything that they know, and any attempts to harm the alien would harm Mary, the now infected Mary makes a seemingly impossible jump from Sam's third-floor apartment and flees in a car driven by Greenberg. Back at the office, Sam, Alex, and Andrew watch as two

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

s that had been infected for research purposes infect another chimpanzee against its will. The third chimpanzee then types a message to Sam on a computer asking him if he remembers it, thus confirming that all of the aliens share the collective knowledge of the entire group. Sam and Alex theorize as to how the aliens are able to expand so quickly and realize that they are using a large river to move the hive. Sam and Alex then parachute into Des Moines, Iowa, which has now been fully infected. Once there Sam enters the hive using a

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

that Graves created, that mimics the communication frequency used by the aliens. Once inside, Sam realizes that he still receives telepathic messages from the alien that had infected him which nearly causes him to allow himself to be infected again however he breaks free from the message and opens fire on infected citizens, who have discovered that he is not infected. Sam manages to find Mary and after nearly killing her to remove the alien from her back, she informs him that they need to retrieve a child that had been kept in isolation from the infected townspeople. During this time, Alex entered the hive to help his partner escape. As Sam and Mary are retrieving the child, Alex comes under heavy fire from infected soldiers and townspeople, falling into the

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky po ...

where the aliens reproduce. After Sam and Mary retrieve the child and are retreating to the extraction point, the now infected Alex confronts them, after tracking his partner through location beacons that both were wearing. After a brutal fight, Alex (through sheer will) manages to briefly break the mental hold the alien has over him and tells Sam to leave him. Sam refuses to leave his friend and begs for him to fight the alien's control however the alien takes control of him once again and attempts to infect Sam again. At that point, Mary shoots and kills Alex when it appears he is defeating Sam. Sam, Mary, and the child make it to the extraction point where they are picked up and flown back to base. Back at base, the team learns that the child suffered from

encephalitis Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include seizures, hallucinations, ...

in the past, and that apparently was the reason a slug couldn't possess him.The team tests the theory by infecting an alien with the encephalitis virus, which causes the alien to explode and die.

Biological warfare Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Bio ...

is adopted and seemingly all parasites die, freeing their victims. During a later inspection of a hive, debris falls on Andrew, which allows a previously undiscovered last alien to infect him. Sam realizes that his father was infected when Andrew was able to walk normally when he had previously needed to use a cane due to a significant leg injury. Sam pursues his infected father, who had now commandeered a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

. After a brutal fight on a helicopter, Sam shoots his father, causing the alien to leave the now useless Andrew. The alien then attempts to leave the helicopter however it gets chopped up in the helicopter's tail rotor, thus getting killed. Now back on the ground, Andrew confirms that that was the last alien and that he is aware of how much Sam loves him and how Sam and Mary feel about each other. As Andrew is being treated for his injuries, Sam remarks to Mary that now she knows everything about him but he now has to learn about her. Mary tells him that he has a lifetime to get to know her.

Cast

as Andrew Nivens *

as Sam Nivens *

as Mary Sefton *

as Alex Holland *

Will Patton William Rankin Patton (born June 14, 1954) is an American actor and audiobook narrator. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series '' Falling Skies''. He also appeared in the films ''Remember the Titans'', ''Armageddon'' ...

as Dr. Graves *

Richard Belzer Richard Jay Belzer (born August 4, 1944) is a retired American actor, stand-up comedian, and author. He is best known for his role as BPD Detective, NYPD Detective/Sergeant, and DA Investigator John Munch, whom he has portrayed as a regular cast ...

as Jarvis * Tom Mason as President Douglas *

Gerry Bamman Gerald G. Bamman (born September 18, 1941) is an American actor and playwright. He is best known for playing Uncle Frank in the films ''Home Alone'' (1990) and '' Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'' (1992), and has also guest starred in several te ...

as Viscott *

Yaphet Kotto Yaphet Frederick Kotto (born Frederick Samuel Kotto; November 15, 1939 – March 15, 2021) was an American actor known for numerous film roles, as well as starring in the NBC television series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–1999) as ...

as Ressler *

Sam Anderson Sam Anderson (born April 2, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his character roles such as Sam Gorpley on '' Perfect Strangers'', Holland Manners on ''Angel'', dentist Bernard Nadler on ''Lost'' and in film, as the principal in ''F ...

as Culbertson *

Marshall Bell Archibald Marshall Bell (born September 28, 1942) is an American character actor. He has appeared in many character roles in movies and television. He is known for roles in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'' (1985), '' Stand by M ...

as General Morgan *

Bruce Jarchow Bruce Jarchow (born May 19, 1948) is an American film, television and stage actor. He began his career in Chicago as a member of The Second City Mainstage. He received the 1981 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a Revue for "Well, I'm Off to the ...

as Barnes

Screenplay

The screenplay went through a number of rewrites due to differences between the writers,

and Ted Elliott, who wanted to remain faithful to Heinlein's story, and executives at Disney who wanted an adaptation that they could sell. As a result, the final script leaves out some elements of the novel, while portions of the movie follow the basic plot.Building The Bomb
Screenwriter

's essay about the film's tortuous creation process, 1995.

Reception

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Puppet Masters, The 1994 films 1990s science fiction films 1994 horror films 1990s monster movies 1990s thriller films 1990s science fiction horror films American science fiction horror films American monster movies American thriller films American science fiction war films American supernatural horror films Alien invasions in films Films about the Central Intelligence Agency Films based on American novels Films based on works by Robert A. Heinlein Films produced by Ralph Winter Films set in Iowa Films scored by Colin Towns Hollywood Pictures films Films with screenplays by David S. Goyer Films with screenplays by Ted Elliott Films with screenplays by Terry Rossio 1990s English-language films 1990s American films