Tag: Charles Band

Full Moon Horror: Puppet Master Updates, Spin-Offs and What’s Next?

This Full Moon horror guide covers every Puppet Master film, spin-off, and crossover in chronological order. Since the recent Noir releases aren’t new, they fit in the same continuity. Discover the essential entries and the complete watching order to experience the franchise from start to finish.

full moon horror moviesFull Moon Features isn’t currently producing a new mainline entry in its iconic full moon horror doll franchise. Instead, the studio has shifted its attention to re-releasing some of their classics in a “silent film” format. Well, there’s sound, otherwise how else can one hear those screams? With the Noir format, four films are being revisited, and it works very well for the Axis storyline, just to give it some grit.

While other fans are waiting for a continuation of the solo spin-offs featuring fan-favorite puppets, thankfully this IP isn’t fully resting.  Furnace: Leech Woman (announced in March 2023) may  be stalled; although disappointing, hopefully all six of Toulan’s puppets will get their due. Currently, Blade: The Iron Cross and Doktor Death makes up the puppet brigade.

Until new films arrive, it’s the perfect time to explore the Puppet Master series in full. One of the franchise’s most interesting storylines is the Sutekh arc. First mentioned in Puppet Master 4: The Demon, Sutekh’s essence wreaks havoc in The Final Chapter via a mystical totem. These films also introduce the elixir of life, a mysterious substance stolen long ago by the Mad Arab from a temple dedicated to this chaos god, later sought by André Toulon.

Continue reading “Full Moon Horror: Puppet Master Updates, Spin-Offs and What’s Next?”

When Full Moon Feature’s Quadrant Shows the Dangers of Virtual Reality Becoming Too Real, You Better Watch Out!

Sometimes, what happens in virtual reality can escape and be your worse nightmare! In Quadrant, the complexities of interfacing the wrong person to a fake world gets deftly examined.

Quadrant Movie PosterComing to Amazon Prime, Full Moon Features, and Tubi.

I love the fact that Charles Band is tackling modern age concerns with movies like Aimee: The Visitor (movie review) and now Quadrant. The former concerned rogue artificial intelligence in search of romance and the latest, just whether virtual reality is a good place to go for therapy! But what if what one dreads, would they embrace their problem, so the issue becomes part of them? That’s where this story concept succeeds because the terror is presented in the best way this filmmaker can imagine. And as for Erin (Shannon Barnes), she better be careful in what she wants to reap after signing that waiver to be involved in this study.

Scientists Harry (Rickard Claeson) and Meg (Emma Reinagel) crafted a VR helmet with a few added interfaces so other bodily functions can be monitored and, if chemical stimulation is required, also pumped in too! It’s a type of neural study I am even game to try, but after seeing this film, I say not!

Quadrant Movie Still 02

Erin is their tool to study how how helpful this technolgoy can be. But little do they know her obsession with Jack the Ripper is more twisted than they realise. She can’t distinguish between the two realities. In order to save her, these scientists must enlist the assistance of Robert (Christian Carrigan). He’s another person they’re studying, and when he has feelings for Erin, they hope he can provide something more real to fixate on instead of the Reaper.

But pretty soon, as with any Full Moon film, everything has to burst at the seams, and chaos erupts. Shannon Barnes is great at being Jekyll and Hyde, and had this tale not affirm the killer is Jack, I’d swear this tale is designed to honour Robert Louis Stevenson‘s work! Although the scientists don’t have the same panache as this star, they have their place as Data (from Star Trek) in those holosuite episodes where he is Sherlock Holmes, and Moriarty is given life!

To note, Quadrant marks this studio’s 400th release and is the first under the Pulp Noir label. It’s better than the recently reviewed Private Eye movie starring comedian Matt Rife in the sense we have existential dread as a theme from start to end. With this film, it’s perfect in its execution where even I wonder if therapy in the virtual realm is needed. Some phobias are best left alone, and others, I’m sure other methods to get over trauma exist!

4 Stars out of 5

Quadrant Movie Trailer

Don’t Open That E-mail Attachment when AIMEE The Visitor is Her Name!

As an effective techno-thriller directed by Charles Band, the AI found in AIMEE The Visitor ranks right up there with the MCU from TRON as a force to contend with.

AIMEE The Visitor Movie PosterFull Moon Features

When considering nearly every facet of the online world is run by some artificial intelligence to help people deal with technical issues, if not life, the latest film directed by Charles Band is Aimee The Visitor really hits its mark. Unlike past works from this studio which are more like B movie schlock, this work functions very well as a very cautionary tale. It may be enough to get some people to stop using A.I.

Despite including the usual T&A which defines most of this studio’s content, it’s not all that gratuitous to distract from the real plot at hand. Here, Scott Keyes (Dallas Schaefer) is an isolationist who doesn’t know how to deal with the outside world. As for how talented he is as a cybercriminal, I feel this new IP needs a prequel to understand why he is who he is. This underdeveloped aspect of this character deserves to be expanded upon. And as for the actor himself, I couldn’t help but think he’s the next Michael Paré!

Continue reading “Don’t Open That E-mail Attachment when AIMEE The Visitor is Her Name!”

Fantasia’s All Abuzz with David Allen’s The Primevals, A Love Letter to More Than The Land of the Lost

The love for all those classic adventure films and the passion put behind bringing The Primevals to life is the only reason why you should go see this film!

3 THE PRIMEVALS Movie PosterThe Primevals is more than a love letter to the pulps of yesteryears. Here, the long production history must be noted before I can go into the review. Back in the late 60s, David Allen (who did the animation in Young Sherlock Holmes and Ghostbusters II) came up with the idea, and this stop-motion animator turned filmmaker had a lot of wonderful ideas which were ahead of its time. It’s tough to say if he knew of Erich von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods and the theories he posed as it was published in 68, with translations not necessarily emerging until a year or two later.

It probably doesn’t matter. Sadly, to get this movie made back then was tough. That was partially due to how the studio system worked and other politics that held this project back.

While much of this story was filmed back in the late 80s, the project was shelved and this individual’s untimely passing meant it’d never get finished. Thankfully, his work with Chris Endicott, Charles Band and Full Moon Studios meant that everything that was done got carefully warehoused. It wasn’t until 2018 that the team sought crowdfunding in order to finish this project. Other talents volunteered their time as this idea shouldn’t be lost to history too.

Continue reading “Fantasia’s All Abuzz with David Allen’s The Primevals, A Love Letter to More Than The Land of the Lost”

Ready for Fantasia Film Festival 2023? We got our Top 20 Epic Picks!

There’s lots to see and thrill to at Fantasia Film Festival 2023, and we got our choice picks on what fans of animation, horror and fantasy to see!

Fantasia Film Festival 2023 DatesThe best genre movie gala in Canada is almost here, and Fantasia Film Festival 2023  has a lot to offer! Over the three weeks, fans of horror, sci-fi, fantasy, drama and animation have a lot to pick from, and we got our list. Just how much one can take in per day depends on how much sleep and culture from this city one wants to take in (and how deep our pockets are to partake in everything). Montreal, Quebec is a mecca for all things classical and noveau.

As this celebration is back to being an in-person festival, so must the digital side disappear. That’s alright, since watching a film must also include the experience of sharing your joy with fellow movie-goers. This year’s spotlight includes a focus on Korean cinema, honouring Nicholas Cage with a career achievement award. (Update: Due to the writer’s strike, all celebrity guests cannot attend). He stars in SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL (playing July 22nd at the Auditorium des diplômés de la SGWU). Just when fans thought he was over the top in Renfield, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

Continue reading “Ready for Fantasia Film Festival 2023? We got our Top 20 Epic Picks!”

Full Moon Musings on Puppet Master: Axis Termination, Legacy & Laserblast

puppetcrop

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Hardcore fans are most likely hoping Charles Band’s latest film, Puppet Master: Axis Termination is not spelling out the end of his franchise. This subset of movies brings the pulp-era adventures to completion, perhaps leading into the first movie of the series. There can be more made, as there’s an approximate gap of 40 something years before Puppet Master (it takes place 1989 while the Axis films are during WWII), as the little ones need to find their way home to Bodega Bay Inn. Only time will tell if this producer/director will feel inclined to make more, or is cutting them loose for other filmmakers tell their tale.

With this film, Blade and gang are trading masters yet again. Danny and his girlfriend are not at the helm. Instead, the nefarious Dr. Ivan (George Appleby) gets to be in charge. He needs the boys to help thwart the plans of Gerde Ernst (Tonya Kay) and Krabke (Kevin Scott Allen). These Nazi antagonists have a foothold in Southern California and the war this group of Allies and Nazis are waging is an occult one. Their mission is to discover the key to reanimation. To create a new tiny sized army is the goal, but can either do it?

Continue reading “Full Moon Musings on Puppet Master: Axis Termination, Legacy & Laserblast”