Plot
Welcome to the PUPHEDZ theatre of the macabre. This zany troupe of wooden puppet actors travel in their ramshackle theatre-on-wheels, bringing you outrageous versions of classic tales of terror. In their first outing, they perform a take on Edgar Allen Poe's, “The Tell-tale Heart,” an account of a young man driven to madness by an unnatural, torturous obsession with the deformed eye of the old man with whom he lives.

Analysis
Puphedz was a confusing concept at first. Marketed as a film, yet only a 27 minutes running time. More puzzlement lay ahead when I discovered that the main characters in the film were no more human than Mr Ed and had more wood than your average adult movie star. What I mean to say is that the actors on this film are puppets, were not talking strings and limp wrists but highly detailed works of art....made of wood. Now do you get it. Intrigued.......I bet you are........

The story begins with Woodrow Larchbottom, a man incarcerated for a crime of passion, the crime of murder (it don't get any more passionate than that). The plot unfolds from the crazed ramblings of Woodrow himself, strapped down within the confines of his prison cell. He tells the story of Peter Feidwood, an old man that he used to live with. Now from the rear or even from the side, you would have to say "look at that nice old man sitting with his back (or side) towards us". Yep pretty normal looking you think, until you look him in the eye. Oh the eye. God help us. After years of sharing a breakfast table with this mesmerising old coot, Woodrow mentally snaps, leading to........

The way that this DVD is presented and from what Jurgen Heimann, director of this piece says, you get the feeling that the team behind Puphedz are attempting to create a series of classic remakes to encompass their particular theatrical style. This particular edition is a reworking of the classic Edgar Allen Poe yarn 'The Tell-tale Heart'. The personality that Jurgen has given to his piece is full of dry humor which he pulls off in an outstanding way. Forced comedy, especially when being interpreted by things rather than people can lead to disaster, but the puppeteers give their creations charm and wit to the extreme until you no long think that you are watching puppets and just immerse yourself in the story. No wonder this won the best animation prize in the 2002 Los Angeles Screamfest Horror festival.

Speaking of horror, it takes a while until you realise this is a horror film. The only real evidence emerges in a rather nice climax scene between Woodrow and Peter. It's not scary and the thrills are low but with the story and plot are so strong and with a wonderfully original visual style, you cant help but be entertained.