Puphedz – The Tattle-Tale Heart

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C     Main Program: C

 

 

I still prefer stop motion and hand controlled puppets over digital in almost any case.  Puphedz is a throwback to the Thunderbirds-era with a touch of the Horror genre thrown in.  The Tattle-Tale Heart is here in a short and longer 40 minutes (!?!) version.  It is amusing and is filled with all the trappings of the Horror genre gone comic.  It is not bad, but its adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Telltale Heart has mixed results.  Fans will enjoy it, while only others who are very interested should take a look.

 

The crafting of the actual puppets is the real highlight, keeping an artform alive, in this sincere attempt to entertain.  This is a good start for the crew behind this program, so we will look forward to more titles from them whether they are part of a series or not.

 

The 1.33 X 1 image is shot on analog NTSC videotape and is softer than expected, though the puppets look good.  Some stylized manipulation of the frame is another reason for the picture degrading, which is sometimes annoying.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 is simple stereo and has no major surrounds.  Extras include stills, a teaser, two trailers, text cast bios and a documentary on the making of the program.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo