Original subtitles

Yeah.

Of course I got it. What do you think?

Two shots, and two more to be sure.

I haven't had a chance to read it yet,

but whatever toulon's hiding,

this looks like a great place to find it.

I told you, satisfaction guaranteed.

I'll ring you back.

Ok, puppet master, tell me everything.

It all began, I suppose,

one day with old afzel... In Cairo...

Long ago.

The most sensational secret the sands have revealed

since the unholy desecration of ramses' tomb.

Look.

Already the electrical marvels of the present

cast a cruel light upon their deficiency.

Dead end.

The formula's not here.

No, no one's getting it. Toulon made sure of that.

Well, we'll just move to phase two.

Don't worry.

You won't be defenseless for long.

It looks like you two are not gonna give me any trouble.

What is this?

This is a robbery, Mr. hirst.

Then you'll be disappointed. I'm not a rich man.

But you can take anything you want.

I have a set of wine glasses in the dining room

that might fetch you a few dollars.

I don't give a damn about that shit,

and you know it.

The only thing I'm interested in

is the only thing of value you have,

and that's Andre toulon's formula

for bringing these creatures to life.

Again, you'll be disappointed.

Don't test me.

You're very good with a gun, I'm sure.

But you just want something I don't have.

This looks like the right place.

No. I knew toulon,

but he never confided in me.

You want the collector that bought his diary.

I have his address.

Yeah, I know that man.

I killed him 6 hours ago, and the diary is worthless.

You want to try again?

I've dealt with your type before.

Don't screw with me, old man.

I want that formula.

I can't give it to you.

It's not some instant recipe I can just hand over.

It's more complicated than that.

Really?

Aah! Ohh.

You don't know how high the stakes are

or how far I'll go.

I'll do what I can.

I'll give you whatever toulon left me.

Everything he wanted me to know,

in his own voice.

This better be something.

It will be.

Well, my friends, how are you?

Oh, don't answer that question. I can see.

Young and healthy, cool, calm, collected, and contented.

And sin should be contented.

Lonely, cosseted lives...

You're carried from adventure to adventure

in your warm, comfortable trunk,

and who carries you?

I do... a frail, fragile old man.

But I'm going to alter that.

Next time, we'll cut off your feet,

and I'll put you up on wheels,

and you can all pull me along in the trunk.

Well.

Cyclops.

Cyclops.

He was one of the first in the family.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to welcome you to the real world...

A world of magic, of gods, and of monsters.

Here, all familiar illusion will be swept away.

Here, all things become one.

Terror and wonder, heaven and hell,

fear and desire.

I give you the theatre majic, where all things are possible.

With this one eye of mine,

I can see better than any other two.

If one is better than two,

then perhaps none would be better than one.

What strange and frightening place is this?

Don't you know, my friend?

Smell the sulfur. Feel the heat of the flames.

We could be nowhere else but hell.

Everywhere is hell, for we are the damned.

There is no escape from fate.

We are all puppets dancing on a string.

Free will is an illusion.

We can only act at the whim of the puppeteer.

Then our path is clear...

In the defying of toulon, and with me as well.

And thus the comedy ends.

I saw you in the theatre.

And I saw you.

Um... That is, of course,

I saw you, ah... Uh...

Have you been doing this for long...

The puppets, I mean?

All my life.

Really?

Take it.

The tool of the art, I give it to you.

Careful.

The ring does not matter.

It has no special power. It is merely a tool.

The same is true with the fluid.

For our magic,

it serves merely as a bridge...

For the life force, for the soul.

Now...

Now the words.

With experience, as you grow stronger,

you will not have to say the words out loud.

To think them will be enough.

There. See?

See?

It cannot speak, of course, but it lives.

It lives.

The secret of reanimation wasn't safe.

My enemies wanted it and would do anything,

including kidnap my fiance, to get it.

But there was no way I was going to let her be hurt

because of me.

And, thank god... or the devil...

My little friends felt the same way.

Come forward.

That's it?

I don't give a damn about this drivel...

The puppet master lived happily ever after.

But he didn't. He became a fugitive.

Don't you know anything about Andre toulon?

I know he had a secret,

and I know that he passed it on to you

and that could be your death sentence.

The fluid is over there in that vial.

Take it and have it analyzed.

I won't object.

Dozens have tried, and dozens have died.

The missing element is in this room with you.

No, it's still with him.

Look, I know you can kill me at any moment,

but I really am trying to help.

If you knew Andre toulon, knew his history,

then you'd know the secret to sustaining eternal life.

I think he always regretted his discovery.

Why?

It could have made him the most powerful man in the world.

Instead, it made him a fugitive.

He spent his life running.

When I first met him, he was still happy,

doing what he loved to do...

Being puppet master to a theater full of children.

I never know what they're going to do or say.

They may hide in your pocket.

You have been stealing.

Father, I didn't steal it.

Peppermints.

Peppermints everywhere. Look.

It's a good job you put plenty of candy

into Peter's pocket,

or he might have been very angry with you,

mightn't we, Peter?

I would forgive him.

All right, children.

Now, the puppets are very tired.

They must go to bed now.

Sleep? Puppets need to sleep?

Puppets need sleep just as much as you do.

Good-bye.

Please come back and see us again. Soon.

Danke, herr toulon.

Come, Peter. Come children.

Come, come.

Peter.

You have a devoted audience, herr toulon.

And I am devoted to them.

They love your puppets.

The children enjoy the show,

and I am rewarded by their laughter,

which is honest.

It's not always prudent.

I wonder if they'd laugh so hard

if they truly understood what they were watching.

Oh, I'm sure they would.

Political satire is one of the marks of a healthy society.

I didn't get your name.

Lieutenant Eric Stein.

Fellow puppeteer.

I've been carving marionettes

since I was 10 years old,

and I must say your craftsmanship is superb.

You are very kind, lieutenant.

How do you manipulate them without string works?

Authorization. It is my own method.

The show itself is a disgusting burlesque of the fuhrer

and makes a mockery of the reich.

Yeah. Have the men ready to leave immediately.

Sir, there's something else.

Yeah?

Lieutenant... What is this?

I may be wrong,

but it seems as though these wooden figures are...

Walking about on their own.

You're not mistaken, sir.

Well.

explain this.

I really can't, sir.

Herr toulon has developed a method of animating his puppets without string.

He claimed they were motorized,

but it's much more than that.

I... I've seen them walk,

react to sound as if they could hear.

It's as if they were alive.

Stein...

Have you lost your senses?

It... it's the truth, sir.

Just like the real thing, huh?

Only more intelligent.

Ha ha ha!

This theater is closed,

by the authority of the German high command.

Your career as an entertainer is over, herr toulon.

This is one of the puppets I was telling you about.

Doctor.

Herr toulon,

I would like to talk to you later about your work.

Ah.

And here's... The miracle, yeah?

That... That's what I saw, yes.

Well, that shouldn't be difficult to analyze.

What we need is the process.

Herr toulon, would you work with me-

no!

Ohh!

Elsa!

Elsa. Elsa.

Take what you want, you bastards,

and get out of here.

That would be you, puppeteer.

Oh, my god, what have they done?

Andre.

Put him in the second car.

Take him to gestapo headquarters.

I'm not leaving my wife.

Elsa, my dear.

I'll call for an ambulance. Get him out of here!

You will be all right, I promise you.

It will be all right.

Leave me alone.

Don't... you filthy, murdering swine.

And put the toys in with the toymaker.

Closer.

I'll be one hour.

Take the car to be serviced,

then return here.

And, Eric...

Expect to be out all night.

Jawohl.

Have your car ready.

Have yourself ready.

Have your asshole ready.

Aah!

Unh!

Good night, fellow puppeteer.

His final vendetta had only begun.

He didn't care about his own life anymore...

Only revenge.

That was his life's force,

and soon, it would be theirs.

Nothing must stop me from seeking you out

and making each one of you to your knees

for what you have done.

And you will cry for mercy, and I will have none.

No mercy, my friends.

No mercy.

I wish I could handle goering as well as I can handle you.

Ha ha ha!

What is this joke?

Ha ha ha!

Aah!

My friend, we will make repairs on you very soon.

Herr toulon?

It's me, Peter hirst.

Your puppet said I stole the candy, remember?

How did you find me?

By accident, herr toulon.

Peter and I have been hiding in the cellar for two days.

The gestapo or the ss?

Gestapo.

I need a place to keep Peter

till I can get him to Switzerland.

We didn't know you were here, herr toulon.

I swear it.

You won't give us away, will you?

I would be a fool if I did.

Now we're all fugitives together.

I wanted to help, to be his assistant.

But I was discovered by the Germans,

and my father had made a deal with them

to hand toulon over to them in exchange for our freedom.

Get away from my son.

Peter is safe here.

This is doctor hess.

A friend!

I don't care who he is.

Stand away from my son.

Now... Peter, come to me.

But, father.

Peter!

Go with your father, Peter.

Come, Peter.

Who saw you come in here?

No one.

Father, no!

Be quiet, Peter.

It's the only way we can be a family.

Schnell.

What about toulon?

You don't understand.

We do what we must for mama.

Unh!

Come on!

Aah!

Come on.

I'd rather see krauss the butcher dead than you.

I cannot.

Through the door. Schnell.

Schnell!

Schnell, schnell.

Schnell! Schnell.

Come on, before they come around the back way.

They are coming.

Halt.

Around the block. They can't be far.

What did you say to him?

Nothing, major. I said nothing.

He was warned, yeah?

No.

He was warned, yeah?

I say nothing.

Father!

Go, Peter, go!

Run. Run!

Mein gott.

Ohh. Oh, oh, oh.

Aah!

Aah!

Like looking into a mirror, is it not?

Now you can see what a small man you really are,

major krauss.

Is this what your puppets are for?

For your temper tantrums?

You think I'm afraid of this?

You will be afraid.

Aah!

Aah!

Aah!

Aah! Aah!

No, toulon.

No!

No!

No!

No!

Aah!

Aah!

Look, mother... dolls!

Not dolls, puppets.

I never heard of a boy playing with dolls before.

Heh heh.

Where are you and your son traveling?

Switzerland.

And then maybe to America.

Have you enjoyed Berlin?

No, I have not.

I had a very unpleasant experience.

I am recuperating.

I hope you're well now.

Well, some people lost their heads,

but friends saw me through.

All aboard. The express to Geneva

is leaving from track number 7.

Toulon saw that I got safely way.

Some relatives took me in.

He wrote to me, but I never saw him again.

One of his last letters was written from here,

so I came looking for him.

The people here have no idea who he was.

So I suppose he's gone,

and all his secrets with him.

Aah!

Bullshit!

You know the Nazis tracked him here.

You know he blew his own brains out

to keep from being captured.

Do you know how many deaths he's caused?

Toulon and the puppets killed only those

who deserved to die!

Like who? Aah!

The parapsychologist who tried to contact his spirit right here?

They thought Andre toulon was a very special man.

They couldn't believe he had developed this kind of technology.

And they all died screaming.

You know that, don't you?

It's a part of the history of this house,

toulon's history.

Aah!

Lance?

Lance?

Aah! Aah! Aah!

Aah! Aah!

Oh, no! Aah! Aah!

Andre toulon was no Saint.

Those young people meddled.

The should never have interfered.

What about torch's victims?

Quit tossing.

I told you to go somewheres else if you're gonna do that.

Aah! Aah!

Ohh!

Aah!

Unh!

Aah!

Ohh. Aw.

You may think you've got the powers of hell on your side,

but you don't know who you're dealing with!

Get up!

Innocents...

Who knew nothing about all of this.

You see, I know a thing or two.

But not enough.

True, but enough not to fool myself

that a mad scientist is a martyr.

He saved you from the Nazis, not me.

I am just a professional who followed

a trail of corpses that let me right here.

Oh, yes. You left quite a trail yourself.

You couldn't have got that book if you didn't.

No one has to die for an ancient secret.

Just give it to me, and I will disappear

like I never existed,

but your time is running out.

In that box.

You know, these creatures fought a war

that was a hell of a lot tougher

than anything you or I I've ever known.

They definitely served their purpose.

Of course. Otherwise, you wouldn't want the secret so badly.

They did something remarkable

because toulon commanded them.

He, Ricardo, was a bright young man,

a scientist, the only one who discovered my secret and wasn't twisted by it,

but there were other forces at work,

force we could never have imagined.

I had been a caretaker at the Bodega Bay Inn for the off-season,

just me and my experiments.

I was researching artificial intelligence,

trying to make my model robots function autonomously.

I was working for biotech, a major scientific industrial concern,

with Dr. Baker and Dr. Piper,

but some power was unleashed,

some awesome power that was beyond our control,

and after killing Baker and Piper...

Aah!

It came after me.

So you two know each other?

Well, you bet we do. We go all the way back to the institute.

A coworker of mine decided to visit,

interrupting a planned weekend with my girlfriend.

He brought along another girl., a psychic,

who right away suspected something was wrong.

Was she ever right.

Mind if I sprint through your program here, Ricardo?

I'd rather you didn't.

Come on. It's not like I'm gonna steal anything.

Through her channeling, I found a trunk in a room

I'd never gone in,

a trunk full of puppets,

lifelike puppets that had been built by Andre toulon.

He'd escaped Nazi Germany and come here,

and his spirit was very present.

He's been working on the very equations and theories

that I was working on.

He was afraid of what they'd do with that power.

We found vials of substance

that when injected into the puppets gave them life,

by all accounts, real life and independent thought.

This is so stimulating.

It was amazing.

Somebody pinch me.

Aah!

Get it off me, man!

Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha!

Oh, no!

But the evil that was trapped in Dr. Baker and Dr. Piper

caught up with us.

We unleashed creatures from the underworld

that were after the same secret we were.

It was a nightmare that I didn't believe at first,

but as the night wore on, I couldn't escape the truth.

We banded together and fought.

The puppets attacked the creatures instinctively,

and the spirit of toulon guided us through the battle,

giving us courage and showing us the way to defeat the beasts.

Get off her, you little bastard!

Aah!

Die! Unh!

Yes!

We animated toulon's unfinished puppet,

decapitron, to defeat the strongest creature.

Ohh! Ohh!

I think toulon and I knew the job wasn't finished.

I am with you.

The power of the magic has been set free.

Now it needs a wise master to channel and control it,

to keep it from evil.

I am with you, puppet master.

I know all about that kid.

Who do you think took 4 bullets

trying to keep that diary away from me?

My god!

I have to have that,

and you better pray that I am satisfied.

There was always someone waiting to discover my secret,

even after my supposed death,

always someone who didn't have the knowledge

to fully understand what a gift or a curse

the formula for the puppets really is.

Here. Let me introduce you to Robert.

Is that for real?

Yeah. We call this fellow pinhead.

I mean, upstairs, it's all just bunkum,

but these are the real models.

See that mean-looking fellow there, we call him blade.

Don't shake his hand.

Fellow next to him is called six-shooter,

and that's Jester,

and our lovely lady is leach woman.

Why leach woman?

Well, hope that you never find out.

And this is tunneler. Aptly named. Ha ha!

There are no strings.

That's right, Robert.

Not on these puppets.

How do you make them?

Well, I have a confession to make.

I didn't make them.

I bought them at an auction years ago.

They came in an old trunk,

and when I took them home, well,

they were the same then as they are now.

See, I've tried to duplicate their process,

but I've never been able to make a living puppet.

I've come close. Heaven knows I've come close.

Mm. Can't say I like the way they're staring at me.

Oh, don't be fooled by the way they look.

They're really gentle.

Hard, fine grain. No knots, no flaws. Perfect wood.

I've never seen wood like it.

Mm-hmm.

What is it?

Very exotic, very expensive.

And here, here are the tools you'll need.

Study them.

Learn what each one can do.

444 pieces.

Each piece must be cut precisely to scale

like the inner gears of a wooden clock.

There can be no flaws, no mistakes

in size, dimension, or shape.

Otherwise, the puppet cannot be properly assembled.

All this would be wasted.

What will it look like when it's finished?

You'll learn that in good time, son.

I don't understand.

I mean, what... What's the secret?

These are just pieces of wood.

No matter how perfect I carve them,

they'll still just be pieces of wood.

How can putting them together make them live?

You want to know the secret

of how to make a dead thing live?

You put your soul into it.

You put everything you have into this carving,

and you have my word, it will live.

Fate always steps in

in form of those who think brute strength

is a match for brains.

All my puppets, they will always avenge a wrong

against their protectors.

Hey. Get the hell out of here!

Keep it down, honey.

We don't want to wake the house, do we?

What the hell?

Aah!

Go, go, Robert.

Robert, get her in the house.

Go on. Get her in there now.

That's right. Do it, bitch.

I said, do it. Oh, yeah. That's right.

Oh, yeah. You like that, don't you?

Heh heh heh!

Aah!

I did it.

No.

No, please.

See, you don't understand.

Hee hee hee!

Please. Please. Don't you understand?

Hee hee hee!

It can't be stopped now. It's too late.

Unh!

I... please. You don't understand.

All I've done I've done for you.

Aah!

Please.

Don't make me hurt you, please.

Aah!

What are you doing?

I beg you.

All that I've done, all that I've created,

I've done it for you.

No! No! Aah! Aah! No, blade, no!

Oh, my god! Oh, my god!

What have you done?

You see?

I did it.

I did it.

Robert, no!

Greed, envy, and power killed my enemies,

not the puppets.

My experiments continue,

and so do my wooden creations,

but their secret is not for the timid.

They have the ability to live forever,

and you can live through them

if you have the desire, the will to do it.

If you let no one stand in your way

and devote your life to their existence,

you can be a puppet master.

The ultimate power is yours for the taking.

You'll never control those creatures!

They're mine!

You fool. That's not what I want.

Don't you understand?

Your little friends brought Andre toulon back to life.

He wasn't some benevolent soul.

He was a psychopath!

Don't you know how he spent

the last days of his life right here

in this very hotel?

Tonight, we take up residence

in our permanent new bodies.

To us.

You see how easy it can be?

Only a moment of pain,

and then immortality.

All will soon be glorious.

You filthy schwein!

You brought me animal brains!

Animal brains. Ohh.

I'll just have to make the best of it.

You see, I must keep my promise to Elsa.

Your hard work has not been in vain.

Of course, you may wither into dry wood,

but you've given me back my wife.

Coward!

Here, Michael! Here!

Hurry!

Are you still afraid?

But we must make you drink, sweet fräulein.

We cannot waste our fuel, mein frau.

Only a single goblet remains.

Stay back, you fool!

Come back with that!

Aah!

Michael!

Elsa, stop!

Come back to me!

Ugh!

Ohh, ohh.

He began his final experiment,

soul transference.

I'm not here for the secret

of bringing these puppets to life.

I want to know what makes them die for good.

Damn fool.

I was sent here for the secret

by the creatures toulon left behind,

immortals, souls trapped in wooden bodies,

living every day in agony.

All they want is revenge on their puppet master,

and now that's you.

Congratulations on your legacy.