Puphedz "The Tattle-Tale Heart"
Review written by Peter West "Danger Seeker"
DVD released by Elite Entertainment

Directed by Jurgen Heimann

Writing credits: Jurgen Heimann & Jim Kundig

Credited cast:
Connie Angland .... Puppeteer
Mike Elizalde .... Puppeteer
Nicholas J. Esposto .... Puppeteer
Jorge Falconi .... Puppeteer
Jurgen Heimann .... Peter Feidwood and Douglas Fir
David Howe .... Puppeteer
Jim Kundig .... Puppeteer
Frank Langley .... Puppeteer
Irit Lockspeiser .... Puppeteer
Janet MacGregor .... Puppeteer
Clayton Martinez .... Pjörn - the cart puller
Scott Millenbaugh .... Puppeteer
Andrew Rubio .... Puppeteer
Georgina Santelises .... Puppeteer
Valek Sykes .... Puppeteer
Ryan Vaniski .... Woodrow Larchbottom III and Leif Applebaum
Anthony Van Winkle .... Puppeteer
Derik Wingo .... Puppeteer

The Story:

What are the Pupheadz? They're a wooden puppet theatre of the macabre on wheels pulled by the outrageous Pjörn - the cart puller. For their initail offering to us the Puphedz bring us "The Tattle-Tale Heart", not so loosely based on Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart".

Woodrow Larchbottom III lives with a very old man named Douglas Fir, their relationship is fine with the exception of the fact that the old man has a dreadful looking eye that drives young Woodrow crazy! The story starts with Woodrow talking to us from prision as he describes how "the eye" drove him crazy and made him commit the unspeakable deed. We watch as Woodrow desends into madness until he he becomes totally consumed with ridding himself of the eye and it's owner! An aborted murder attempt is followed by even more madness and a sucessfull demise of the old man.

No sooner than the deed is done however, the police are at the door and manage to sucessfully clean out Woodrow's kitchen. The inept search continues and Woodrow looks to be in the clear, until visions of the old man's loudly beating heart haunt Woodrow even worse than the eye!

There are two versions of the story told, a 27 minute version sanitized of gratuitous violence and a 34 minute version in all it's gory splendor with Woodrow doing his best to be a comedian between the recollections.

Picture Quality:

The picture is crisp and sharp throughout. Being this is a new feature there was really no restoration needed. The puppets are animated marvelously, all traces of wires etc, brilliantly cleaned up! My screenshots may lead you to believe the film is in 1.85:1 widescreen, however that is just my dvdrom adjusting it anamorphically. Pupheadz is presented in a 1.33:1 full frame.

My rating 5/5

Audio quality:

Crisp and clear, I suspect the audio is a dolby digital mono soundtrack. There really was not any specific information concerning it.

My rating: 4/5

Extras:

Besides having two versions of the feature there are plenty of extras in this package! There are domestic and international trailers, cast bios, and a photo gallery. A very informative feature documentary is included. Technical as well as story details are discussed, this feature is nearly as long as the short version of the feature itself. Another great job by Elite Entertainment!

My rating 5/5

Peter West's Danger Seeking Summary:

With a pricetag of $9.95 list Puphedz is a great value! One of the few titles from Elite that you can show to the kiddies (at least the short version). Puphedz was the winner of the "Best Animation" catagory at the 2002 Los Angeles Screamfest Horror Film Festival. Future Puphedz titles are in the works and will feature tales from the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson, Mary Shelly, Charles Dickens and the Brothers Grimm. Writer, producer, director Jurgen Heiman credits include "Gremlins 2", "Mighty Joe Young", "Men in Black" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". I really enjoyed "Puphedz" and considered it great lighthearted fun!

My overall rating 5/5

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Two Versions
Short Version – 27 min.
Longer Version – 34 min.
• Trailers
• Cast Bios
• Photo Gallery
• Feature Documentary

Retail: $9.95
UPC: 790594787721
Item Number: EE7877