Inert first act, but decent start to the ongoing puppet-slasher series

RELEASED TO VIDEO IN 1989 and directed by David Schmoeller, "Puppet Master" (or “Puppetmaster”) takes place at a striking old hotel on the California coast where four psychics gather to meet a former colleague and his wife, the heir of the grand inn. However, their colleague has committed suicide and puppets animated by Egyptian sorcery are intent on killing them off one-by-one.

This was the first of a franchise that includes a dozen sequels (as of this writing), which is one more than the Friday the 13th franchise. Wh... read the rest.