Blade: The Iron Cross

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Lechago directs. Howard Wexler behind the camera. Richard Band scores. Juan Patricio cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Tight 70-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
• 2Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 3Released 6 years ago.
• 4Part of the "solo movie in the Puppet Master series" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 5Directed by John Lechago, shot by Howard Wexler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Richard Band. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Juan Patricio shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Tania Fox and Vincent Cusimano and Roy Abramsohn carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "Full Moon's most famous fiend in his first solo mission!".
• 10IMDB entry: tt10887344 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Only 48 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
• 12Classified under 12 themes, including "nazi", "magic", "world war ii", "killer doll".

The technical file

Cinematography

Howard Wexler

Original score

Richard Band

Editing

Juan Patricio

Production design

Billy Jett

Makeup / hair

Miranda Dudley

Runtime

70 min · 1h 10m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$90,000

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

G

IMDB

Blade: The Iron Cross (2020) ↗

Part of

solo movie in the Puppet Master series

Full Moon recently started taking a different approach to their long-running Puppet Master franchise. Rather than continue making Puppet Master movies that feature multiple puppets, they’re now focusing on solo puppet movies. These solo spin-offs got started with Blade: The Iron Cross in 2020 and continued with last year’s Puppet Master: Doktor Death. Now, in a new episode of his Full Moon Universe YouTube show, Full Moon founder Charles Band has announced that the next entry in the Puppet Master franchise is the solo puppet movie Puppet Master: Furnace Leech Woman

• 
  Puppet Master: Furnace Leech Woman
• 
  Blade: The Iron Cross

  2020 · this one
• 
  Puppet Master: Doktor Death

  2022

Also by

John Lechago

• 
  Killjoy Goes to Hell

  2012 · ★ 4.8
• 
  Killjoy 3

  2010 · ★ 4.5
• 
  Mortal Game

  2025 · ★ 4.4
• 
  Killjoy's Psycho Circus

  2016 · ★ 4.3
• 
  Bio Slime

  2010 · ★ 3.7
• 
  Blood Gnome

  2004 · ★ 3.3

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Blade: The Iron Cross Trailer {Official}

  Trailer · Official

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Full Moon Features

  US

Key crew

• Camera OperatorCynthia Webster
• Line ProducerNakai Nelson
• CastingJessica Hughes
• Makeup ArtistMiranda Dudley
• Production DesignBilly Jett
• Second Unit DirectorBrooks Davis
• Sound MixerAndy Theiss
• Creature DesignTom Devlin
• Visual EffectsJuan Patricio
• EditorJuan Patricio
• Special Effects Makeup ArtistTom Devlin
• GafferNiñaPapalote Barbosa
• Camera OperatorLindsey Schmitz
• First Assistant CameraLindsey Schmitz
• Camera OperatorHoward Wexler
• CostumerCourtney Potter
• EditorJohn Lechago
• Co-ProducerNakai Nelson
• ProducerCharles Band

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• nazi
• magic
• world war ii
• killer doll
• slasher
• spin off
• toy comes to life
• puppet film
• nazi occultism
• absurd
• ridiculous
• zombies

Release history · US

When it landed

• Digital2020-06-26· Full Moon Amazon Channel
• Digital2025-04-15G· YouTube

Also known as

International titles

• Puppet Master XIIUS
• Blade The Iron CrossUS