# Looking for a film featuring life-sized puppets - and I am desperate



## amysmart (Jul 9, 2010)

[FONT=&quot]Dear board members,

I realize that I've just joined, and already I am asking for something - but I am truly desperate. I have been looking for a film for more than 20 years now - I've seen it on TV as a kid, and I only remember tiny bits about it. 

I would be sooooooooooo grateful if somebody could help!

Here's what I remember:
-it had life-sized puppets in it (maybe they were playing chess?)
-in the end, a man (or somebody) is tied up and gagged and left inside one and left to die, I think - he (or better, the puppet, is lying beneath a cactus or a tree, and I think it's in the desert

It's not Futureworld, but that's about all I know... 

Again, I'd be soooooo grateful, I'm close to offering a reward 

Thanks for even reading this,
amy[/FONT]


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## Dave (Jul 14, 2010)

It isn't something I recognise. Could you remember any more?

Are the puppets playing Chess in one scene, or are they the main characters?
Is it all set in a desert or just the ending?
Is it a Comedy? Is it Satire? Is it Science Fiction? Is it Fantasy?
Is it post-apocalyptic?
When you saw it in 1990, was it a new film, or was it already old then?


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## The Procrastinator (Jul 14, 2010)

The only thing I can think of with life-sized puppets is The Dark Crystal - but I don't think thats the droid you're looking for!


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## amysmart (Jul 14, 2010)

Hi, thanks for taking the time.

It must be an older film, from the 60ies or 70ies, definitely not 80ies or newer.

The puppets look like mannequins you'd see in a shopwindow, only they are hollow (might have some clockwork-stuff inside? a bit like the robot from Hellboy). The overall feel would point exactly to Westworld or Futureworld, only the desert scene with the guy inside the puppet/mannquin does not fit. 

Also, I remember it as quite scary, but I was about 8 at the time, so that might not be saying much  Don't recall post-apocalyptic things in there, if it was funny, I didn't get it at the time. So, scifi (Futureworld-style-scifi) would be it.

Chess is played in at least one scene, but unfortunately I'm not too sure about that.

Thanks a bunch anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

amy


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## iansales (Jul 14, 2010)

There was a Doctor Who series, Spearhead from Space, which featured shop window dummies coming to life in the high street. But then, there are no deserts in the UK... so it can't be that.


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## biodroid (Jul 14, 2010)

Do you know any of the actors names maybe? What year were you when you were 8? This can ease the search a bit more.


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## Foxbat (Jul 14, 2010)

Jan Svankmejer's *Faust* has scary life size puppets but probably not what you are looking for.

Here's a Wiki entry that might help  
Mannequin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## amysmart (Jul 14, 2010)

Hi everybody, thanks for the replies...

I watched this on TV rund 1980 (so that's 30 years ago, how time flies, argh, I knida wished it was only 20 )

Don't know any actors or anything else... it's driving me nuts as well. Wish I had a time machine... or the TV guide from back then...

amy


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## Dave (Jul 14, 2010)

I'm thinking that it may have just been a single episode of a TV series - something like _The Avengers_, or _The Prisoner_ - which had the occasional surreal episode. I did some searching on IMDb and came up with nothing. Sorry, but this one has stumped me.


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## Foxbat (Jul 15, 2010)

Dave said:


> I'm thinking that it may have just been a single episode of a TV series - something like _The Avengers_, or _The Prisoner_ - which had the occasional surreal episode. I did some searching on IMDb and came up with nothing. Sorry, but this one has stumped me.


 
I'm pretty sure it's not _The Prisoner_ but I'd agree it could be something like The Avengers (or _The New Avengers)_.

Here's a link for The New Avengers episode guide. The Episode _Target _mentions mannequins

http://www.scififreaksite.com/newavengers.html


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## Dave (Jul 15, 2010)

The _Department S_ episode (another Dennis Spooner series) _The Man Who Got a New Face_ also involves people dying in masks. 
Paul Franks' Home Pages - Department S - The Man Who Got a New Face

People in Masks and (old Nazis) were a bit of a cliché in those old ITC TV programmes.


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## TheDustyZebra (Jul 18, 2010)

I wonder if it might be an episode of Fantasy Island? It sounds like something that might fit, and I certainly had a couple of long-term nightmares fueled by that show!


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## TheDustyZebra (Jul 18, 2010)

Well, maybe not. I searched the whole IMDB list of Fantasy Island episodes, and the only one that actually mentioned a mannequin was House of Dolls, and it was only the one mannequin.


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## tinkerdan (Apr 25, 2017)

Tourist Trap has a desert like setting and manikins.


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## J Riff (Apr 25, 2017)

CHESS IN MOVIES - Chess Forums - Chess.com

there's a couple on this list...


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