PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I’ve had the privilege of interviewing a plethora of talented people over the last few years, and it’s been an honor. Each time an opportunity comes up, I’m taken back and honored. Recently, I was asked to interview the one and only Charles Band, something that I never dreamed of happening. He is such a delight!
As you probably know, Charles has been involved in hundreds of films over the years and is best known for his work with the Puppet Master franchise, which is currently back on the radar with a new film and now a new series. Learn more about his work in the industry, how he feels about Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich, his new Puppet Master series, Bunker of Blood, and more!
PopHorror – Thanks for taking the time to talk with me, Charles! You’ve been in the horror business for a long time. What’s your favorite part of doing what you do?
Charles Band – This is a tough business, but it’s what I’ve done my entire life, and it’s who I am. I live to make movies and weird stuff, and even on the bad days, I remind myself of what I’m doing, how lucky I am and how many adventures there are to come. In truth, when you spend every day making stuff and entertaining people all over the world, there ARE no bad days!
PopHorror – You’ve been attached to a plethora of horror films over the years, but you’re best known for your work with the Puppet Master franchise. I must ask, where did you get the inspiration for that?
Charles Band – Well, we had success with Empire Pictures – the studio I owned in the 80s – with films like Ghoulies and Dolls, and the idea of small creatures coming to life and wreaking havoc is a staple of fantasy cinema, dating back to films like Dead Of Night, The Twilight Zone, Dan Curtis’ Trilogy Of Terror, and so on.
Puppet Master was our first Full Moon movie, and we couldn’t have predicted how much of an impact it would have had, with David Allen’s amazing stop-motion effects and David Schmoeller’s great direction and ideas. The fans spoke! They wanted more, we gave them more, and we’ve been giving them more for almost three decades now! We created an iconic series and characters in some ways by a happy accident, in other ways by understanding the history of films like this and how people respond to them.
PopHorror – Both companies are amazing, and the success behind both must feel wonderful. Beyond that franchise, what has been your favorite horror film to work on?
Charles Band – There’s too many to mention. Each film is an adventure unto itself. But the days in the ’80s doing Empire Pictures in Rome with relatively big budgets and lavish production design and big crews of amazing artists. I mean… it was just incredible. And even though we’re modest now by those standards, the same rules apply, and we still have tons of fun navigating the market and making insane entertainment.
PopHorror – Sounds like a dream come true! I’m a huge fan of Gary Busey. What it was like to work with him on Gingerdead Man? Such a fun film!
Charles Band – Oh, man! When we were making the first film, we needed a voice and had budget for one day’s work… and someone mentioned Gary. I thought, “No way. He’d never do it.” But we made an offer for one day of $25,000, and the next day, his agent said, “Charlie, Gary loves your cookie movie, and he’s gonna do it!” So I thought, “Great!” Now, I knew the Gary Busey stories, that he walked off sets, that he was crazy… but I was like, “Fuck it!” I worked with Klaus Kinski, and he WAS crazy AND dangerous!
Anyway, Gary was a super womanizer. He gets to set, and all his requirements were was to be driven to and from set in a private motorhome and I was like, “That’s fine.” He also had this whole list of weird candies he wanted, so we gave it to him, no big deal. He was really nice, a really big guy… he was a trip. So it was lunchtime, and we had a 30 minute break. Someone came up to me and said, “Gary is gone. And two of our female assistants are gone.” No one can find them. They’re not in the motorhome. No Gary, but tons of candy wrappers everywhere. I go outside, and I’m leaning on the motorhome, and I hear something, somewhere… a low grunting sound and giggling girls. I wiggled around the alley where the motorhome was, and there’s Gary talking to the girls. “Where the fuck did the bush go!? When I was a kid, there was a bush! What happened to the bush?! Do you have a bush?!” It was surreal. Anyway, that’s just one of my Gary Busey stories….
PopHorror – (Laughs) Oh, my goodness! That’s the best story I’ve heard in a long time… Thanks for sharing it with us! You’ve also worked a lot with Stuart Gordon. Can you tell us about your relationship with him, and what it’s been like to create films with him throughout the years?
Charles Band – Stuart is a gentleman and fantastic, visionary director. He’s not just an amazing filmmaker with roots in theater, but he’s a dear friend as well. We’ve stayed friends all these years, and as anyone in this business knows, it’s not always easy to maintain these friendships. We actually have more things planned, if all goes right!
PopHorror – Fingers crossed! Let’s go back to the Puppet Master franchise. It was recently reinvigorated with Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich. It was a great film with a unique take on the universe we’ve grown to love. What was that experience like?
Charles Band – Well, to be clear, that’s not my film. That’s my friend Dallas Sonnier’s movie, and yes, I was on set and oversaw its creation. But our deal was Cinestate could create their own version of the Puppet Master myth, and we can maintain our own original series, and that’s really unique. I don’t think a deal like this has any sort of precedent. I’m happy with this new version. It gives the people the gore they want and is totally different than our Puppet Master movies. But for the record, our puppets KILL Nazis – because Nazi’s suck – and in the new version, they ARE Nazis!
PopHorror – (laughs) Nazis do suck! Now you’re working on the Puppet Master: Bunker of Blood series. Can you tell me more about this project?
Charles Band – Bunker of Blood originally stemmed from the Full Moon Comix world we’re creating, and writer Brockton McKinney and I came up with this motion comic story about a drifter in a weird future and a crazy gore collector who has to subject him to videotaped insanity to turn him into the NEW gore collector. And this sets up this ingeniously edited assault of the bloodiest moments from our 30 years of horror films. It’s a gory primer for new fans, a greatest hits for hardcore fans, and the ultimate gory B movie party series!
PopHorror – Sounds fabulous! What are your goals for the series?
Charles Band – It’s an 8-part series for streaming, Amazon and DVD, with a box set planned and more that we will reveal in time.
PopHorror – Hell, yes! This is a great treat for fans of the franchise. Do you plan on doing more with the series if it’s successful?
Charles Band – Absolutely! We have an unlimited well of movies to sift through, and the story of the The Gore Collector may warrant its own movie entirely. We will see!
PopHorror – Fingers crossed! Beyond that, do you foresee any more feature films for the franchise in the future?
Charles Band – YES! That’s what we do, and that’s always our goal… to make more features. We have an exciting project called The Deadly Ten then we will be talking about soon, and that will be a huge part of 2019. Again, can’t talk in depth about it, but there will be TEN feature films coming from us next year!
Ten new films?!? Awesome! Stay tuned to PopHorror for news on any and all of Charles Band’s upcoming projects.
