EP#115 Charles Band

Kevin Lane's Spill Your Guts

The Man, The Myth, The Legend: Charles Band Is The Celebrated King of B Horror Movies

In the world of horror, there are a handful of great showmen whose influence has had such an impact on the world of genre film that they changed the way horror films were made. These are people whose innovation, creativity, business acumen and courage have given of us some of the most influential and iconic genre movies of all time. People who see every obstacle as just another opportunity to show that they will not take “no” for an answer when it comes to getting their vision out in the world. I’m talking about people like Roger Corman, Robert Shaye and Lloyd Kaufman.

For us at SYG, and many other fans of the weird and fantastic, there is really only one man who reigns supreme. The King of gonzo filmmaking. The legendary Charles Band.

And when we say legendary, it’s not an exaggeration. Charles Band’s insanely prolific output of horror and sci-fi films is beyond comprehension. Many of them made on a shoestring budget. Many of them great. Most of them weird. All of them, and we’re talking nearly 400 films, willed into existence by a man whose infectious positivity and otherworldly talent for creating something that most would think couldn’t be done.

Whether through his company Empire Pictures, who made classics like Ghoulies, Robot Jox and Trancers, or Full Moon Entertainment - who in the 90’s gave us genre classics like the Puppet Master series, Subspecies, Pit and the Pendulum and Demonic Toys - Charles Band continues to be the ultimate showman to this day.

Charles and host Kevin Lane talk about his early days on set with his father, Albert Band, how the world of independent genre filmmaking has changed since he began, his love of bringing to life inanimate objects, and what the future holds in store for Full Moon.

Kevin adores Charles Band. When he first discovered Full Moon in the early 90’s, it was a game changer for him. At the end of every Full Moon movie there was a "making of" segment where Charlie would tell you what was going on with Full Moon and then we’d get to see interviews with the filmmakers and on-set footage of the movies being made. This is WAY before DVD and the idea of special features being a part of your home video experience. Videozone became Kevin's film school and he's sometimes wonder if he would have pursued a career in film if it wasn’t for Charles Band giving him that window into the process.

This episode is especially exciting as we have permission from the great Richard Band for the special music cues we've used. You'll notice that we've used a modernized version of the classic Puppet Master theme that Richard did for the film “Puppet Master: Axis Termination over Kevin's intro to the episode.

We've used the Full Moon’s Video Zone theme to transition from Kevin's intro into into the conversation. Videozone was a “making of“ featurette included at the end of all Full Moon movies released during the Paramount eta (early 90’s)

We've also added the “Full Moon vs Full Moon” main theme from Charles Band‘s hit 1985 film “Ghoulies” which was a surprise success at the box office and has an incredibly famous poster. The film was made under Charles' company Empire Pictures which was a precursor to Full Moon.

As always, Charles Band was way ahead of his time. Okay dudes, it is with great pleasure that we present to you the man himself, Charles Band.

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★