Charles Band Archives | Otaku No Culture

Calling Puppet Master: It’s Axis Termination, Full Streams Ahead!

Puppet Master: Axis Termination, the 11th film in the series, is coming! It will premiere on Full Moon’s Amazon channel (U.S., U.K and Germany) first as a three part series, and be offered next month as a full length film.

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Puppet Master: Axis Termination, the 11th film in the series, is coming! It will premiere on Full Moon’s Amazon channel (U.S., U.K and Germany) first as a three part series, and be offered next month as a full length film. No date has been set for video release, but anyone with a subscription to either streaming networks will get to see “War Toys” on September 15th, with the as yet titled episodes on the 22nd and 29th within the same month.

Although many years have passed since the last film, hopefully Full Moon will offer a trilogy set filled with extra goodies when the this latest movie hits shelves. I will be one willing to buy these movies again if this is producer Charles Band’s plan. If I can be patient this long (five years), I can keep on going for an ultimate video release package. But before this can happen, the feature-length cut will appear on the El Rey Network in October, in time for Halloween, and see the allied forces do justice.

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The Empire Pictures Collection Pre-Sale is LIVE and I’m in Love

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

If you are a Full Moon Pictures addict like me, I am seriously considering pre-ordering Charles Band’s The Empire Pictures Blu-ray Collection. Pre-sales have begun (it started yesterday) and although I’m hard pressed for money, I’m seriously considering hitting a casino to break the bank so I can buy it! I have been waiting for certain films like Ghost Town to get a release for a long time and while others like From Beyond and Robot Jox are available as singles, to see it all put together in a comprehensive package, which includes a 24-page book with notes from the producer and Empire of the B’s author Dave Jay is very enticing.

This company is working with Shout! Factory to release this box set and only 600 editions will be made. A bit of stock will be held back for sales at conventions Full Moon will be at, but if you do not have any of the titles in your video collection yet, then this set is worth obtaining! Especially if you do the math:
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Charles Band on the Remastering of The Lurking Fear & Upcoming Full Moon Titles

charlesband Filmmaker Charles Band listenins to his fans, and in response, he is re-releasing his catalogue of old classics from his Empire/Full Moon days onto Blu-ray. The trend has been going on for a while now, starting with Doctor Mordrid, and this producer will keep it going. C. Courtney Joyner’s The Lurking Fear, inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, is now available (released Jun 15, 2016).

Band kept the original 35mm prints of many of the films he’s either produced or directed. In what he gets done, there’s hardly ever any pixelation. Of course, there will be the usual dust and scratches, and to get all that fixed takes time. No Photoshop plug-in can do the job. Like a film projectionist, each frame has to be analysed and colour corrected for the best image possible. He notes that it’s really expensive to go back to the original negative in order to make an high-definition (HD) master, but unless you have fantastic technical talent who truly appreciates the work — to bring the product back to its original lustre — the thought of putting it out to HD for those collectors is a gamble.

“The key ingredient to any of these transfers is to have an excellent colorist,” noted Band. “We have a guy who has been doing most of our work for the last 4-5 years. When he’s busy, I wait because he’s the only guy I trust.”

Continue reading “Charles Band on the Remastering of The Lurking Fear & Upcoming Full Moon Titles”