All May I Will Celebrate Full Moon Features and the Wild & Crazy Films They Make!
Lord have mercy… what on earth have I committed myself to? An entire month of blog posts from yours truly about Full Moon Features and the films that they produce and distribute. To grasp the full scope of the films and products that they produce, check out their official website: Full Moon Direct. You can also watch a wide variety of their films through their streaming service: Full Moon Streaming. This is certainly not the first time I have mentioned Full Moon on this blog, in fact, the first film I ever reviewed here was Trancers, a b-movie sci-fi masterpiece distributed by Full Moon and directed by Charles Band starring Tim Thomerson and Helen Hunt. Fun fact, a whole lot of people got some of their earliest acting gigs through Full Moon Features, including: Helen Hunt, Seth Green, Sherilyn Fenn, Megan Ward, Andrea Roth, Peter Billingsley, and Amy Acker. Other notable actors who have appeared in Full Moon movies include: Tim Thomerson, Tracy Scoggins, Jackie Earl Haley, Jeffrey Combs, John De Lancie, Anders Hove, George Takei, Julie Newmar, Meg Foster, Isaac Hayes, William Shatner, Gary Busey, Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, Lance Henriksen, Frank Welker, and Tommy Chong.
A Brief History of Full Moon Features: Founded in 1988 by film producer/director, and former head of Empire Pictures (Trancers, Re-Animator, Ghoulies, and more), Charles Band – the mission statement for Full Moon Features was simple: to make smaller budget films that felt like big budget movies and were distributed through alternative methods to the standard Hollywood distribution models. Full Moon had immediate success with a direct-to-video movie titled Puppet Master in 1989, a film about devious puppets that are animated by an ancient Egyptian spell.
To date, there have been nine sequels to the Puppet Master franchise, and it still proves to be quite popular. From there, Full Moon saw a boom in business from the video rental market, successfully making multiple sequels to their hit franchises Trancers and Subspecies. In their 28 year history, Full Moon Features has been responsible for the creation of well over a hundred films ranging from horror, science fiction, fantasy, supernatural, erotic, comedy, and even family films. They continue to make new independent film projects each year and promote new product ideas and product lines to delight their fans. Whereas the VHS video rental market that they made their profit from back in the day has collapsed, Full Moon has kept their audience satisfied through DVD and Blu-Ray releases, as well as distribution through their own dedicated subscription based Streaming service, which they have lovingly labeled as Netflix for lunatics!
Check out Charles Band’s latest couple Vidcast updates to see what Full Moon is currently up to:
What do I have in store for Full Moon month? I will be reviewing as many of their films as I have time to watch, including films from the Puppet Master series, Subspecies series, Trancers series, along with other notable classics like Dollman, Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death, Demonic Toys, Bad Channels, Doctor Mordrid, The Pit and the Pendulum, Oblivion, and Castle Freak. Also, I will give my take on some of their more recent offerings such as the Evil Bong series, Killjoy, Gingerdead Man and Trophy Heads. I may, time permitting, even venture into their family friendly movies like Medieval Park, Goobers, and TimeSlingers. On top of that, I’ll also be sharing some stories of my experiences with Full Moon films, the VHS video rental days, as well as my adventure to meet Tim Thomerson way back in 1999 at a film and anime convention.
Make sure and come back tomorrow for my review of Arcade – the 1993 film starring Megan Ward (featured in Encino Man, PCU, and Joe’s Apartment, as well as the Full Moon films: Trancers II & III, and Crash and Burn), Peter Billingsley (Ralphie from A Christmas Story!), Seth Green (Oz from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Co-Creator of Robot Chicken), and John De Lancie (Q from Star Trek: The Next Generation). It’s about a virtual reality game that was designed to claim teenagers’ souls, a timely topic given the rise of the Oculus Rift and Playstation VR. Don’t miss it!
The following reviews/articles are already up for your enjoyment! This list will be updated as I add content, be sure to check all month long for new Full Moon Features posts!
The review for Trancers is up! Read it here!
The review for Arcade is up! Read it here!
The review for Bad Channels is up! Read it here!
The review for Unlucky Charms is up! Read it here!
The review for Dollman is up! Read it here!
The review for Meridian is up! Read it here!
The review for Demonic Toys is up! Read it here!
The review for Trancers II is up! Read it here!
The review for Trancers – City Of Lost Angels is up Read it here!
The review for The Dead Want Women is up! Read it here!
The review for Head of the Family is up! Read it here!
The review for Evil Bong is up! Read it here!
The review for Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death is up! Read it here!
The review for Trophy Heads: Episode One is up! Read it here!
The review for Subspecies is up! Read it here!
The review for Doctor Mordrid is up! Read it here!
The review for Killjoy is up! Read it here!
The review for Dollman Vs Demonic Toys is up! Read it here!
My commentary on the VHS Rental Days, and how I miss them is up! Read it here!
My pitch for Trancers VII is up! Read it here!
