PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Chances are, if you’re a horror fan, you’ve seen a movie that Charles Band had a hand in, whether it was producing, writing, or directing it himself. His company, Full Moon Features, is an independent company known for putting out low budget horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and more like the Puppet Master series, the Evil Bong series, Troll… With over 400 credits to his name, there are just too many to list.
Charles’ latest venture is the brand-new sub-label of Full Moon Features, Pulp Noir. According to the Full Moon website, Pulp Noir aims to “create an edgier, darker and scarier sort of genre entertainment.” The first feature film out of Pulp Noir is the Band directed horror sci-fi, Quadrant:
Quadrant helmet transports users’ minds into nightmarish AI worlds. A girl becomes Jack the Ripper, unleashing terror in virtual London and reality. A vicious killer enters the Quadrant-verse to stop her in a brutal battle across worlds.
To celebrate the release of the film, I chatted with Charles via Zoom about the new Pulp Noir, working with AI art in Quadrant, horror movies, and more!
PopHorror: I had a lot of fun with Quadrant (read our review HERE) so I’m excited to speak with you about it today. What intrigued you about the project and how did it come about?
Charles Band: It came about because I’d had this idea for a while of making a sub-label and creating a series of darker movies, movies like I made back in the 80s and 90s, From Beyond, Dolls, and Castle Freak. I wanted to go back to that sort of Lovecraftian vibe. I’m also a fan of film noir so I had this idea for a while of making a series of movies. I liked the idea of releasing them after their color release in black and white so every one of these movies are being shot and composed with an eye towards a black and white release. People who are into that may look at Quadrant, if they like it, come back and see it about a month from now in black and white. Kind of see why certain scenes were lit and composed the way they were. Conceptually, I wanted to tell some classic tales but make them somewhat contemporary in terms of… In the case of Quadrant obviously, it’s a virtual world of sorts and even though it’s designed as a medical device, the intention of the scientists is to help people cure fears and nightmares. Of course, the story’s about a gal who’s really in there for different reasons and channels Jack the Ripper and that’s not really good for things in the real world. But the second movie, which we’ll have out early October for Halloween, the second Pulp Noir movie is called Death Streamer and I’m really happy with that one as well. It is a classic sort of vampire tale with a few twists. This vampire lives in this opulent home and takes his victims down to a kill room. He not only kills them, but he livestreams their deaths. And there’s a real reason for that, which I don’t want to spoil the movies so I can’t say that. In the case of both of these first two Pulp Noir movies, I think we’ve got something special and different. I’m really passionate about the projects and the writers, and that’s why I’m going to direct all of them. I’ve directed on and off over my many years of making movies. Sometimes I just can’t afford to spend the time as I’m trying to keep the ship afloat but in the case of Pulp Noir, I have a real affinity to these stories and these projects so at least the plan is for me to direct these Pulp Noir movies. This doesn’t mean that Full Moon won’t be making some other movies that we’re more well known for. At some point next year, my goal is to make the 13th Puppet Master movie, called Puppet Master: Leech Woman, because everyone wants Leech Woman to be starring in one of these shows. We’ll do some Full Moon fare. Maybe another Evil Bong. You can’t make enough Evil Bong movies. But Pulp Noir is shaping up to be pretty cool.
PopHorror: Oh, that’s really awesome! You had me at the word vampire and kill room, so I’m intrigued with that. You said that’s coming out in October?
Charles Band: Yeah, people can go right now to our channel on YouTube and look at the trailer for Death Streamer. It’s really cool, really different and we’re using some technology that makes it all more effective.
PopHorror: I’m going to check that out! I want to circle back, because you mentioned the virtual world in Quadrant. What was it like working with AI art?
Charles Band: Well, I’m a big fan of anything that helps us make movies and helps visualize things that a few short years ago would have been impossible. I’ve been a flag waving proponent of stop-motion animation and raw puppetry. You’d be hard pressed to find any CGI in my movies. I really like creatures, inanimate objects coming to life that are real, that the actress can actually look and see, not dialed in later with a cartoon. I’m not a big fan of the big, bloated studio films, although on occasion someone does an amazing job. God forbid they’re more story/character driven, which I really love. And then you get pulled into a big studio movie. The first Iron Man was just terrific, but a lot of these you don’t care about the people, and you’re just being bombarded on the head with a lot of special effects and a lot of them, to me, appear sort of cartoony. I’ve been a sort of stop-motion, raw puppetry, forced perspective guy. The difference with Quadrant and the reason I thought it was appropriate to use some AI and CGI is, how else would you sell a virtual world? I didn’t create a character or creature that appears in the real world. I didn’t try to simulate a human like, “Is that real or is that some AI character in your movie?” Because that I think crosses the line and I’m not ready to do that, but I think the concept of Quadrant and the fact that they go into this virtual world, I think those effects work very well. Now once again, Quadrant is a totally character driven story. Ninety percent of the movie’s in the real world. We don’t have a lot of time in the Quadrant world but when we’re in there, I think we pulled off some really interesting visuals that look nightmarish. No one can say what someone’s nightmare looks like. It’s very subjective. But I think those few worlds, like the world that Erin goes to in the beginning, London, and encounters Jack the Ripper, are pretty effective and nightmarish.
PopHorror: Yes, I agree. One thing that I do appreciate about your movies is that you do normally go towards the practical effects. I think what makes Puppet Master terrifying is that they’re actual puppets.
Charles Band: I wouldn’t make a digitally created AI created puppet. I shouldn’t say that because who knows? One day technology may make it look amazing or you can supplement a raw puppet or stop-motion with some stuff. Never say never. I look at AI, at least as far as making my movies – my low budget movies – as another tool. It’s another tool that can be used but it’s got to be used properly. Once again, in the case of Quadrant, it’s relegated to this virtual world.
PopHorror: Was there anything that you were adamant about keeping in the film, no matter what?
Charles Band: Luckily, the people are me. I just try to do what I think is best to tell the story. We’re working with a very small budget, so I think that Quadrant looks pretty good for a very low budget film. A lot of that is the writing. Nothing gets well-made or turns out to be good unless you have a good script. You can’t doctor up a bad script. Courtney Joyner, who’s written for me over 30-odd years, Doctor Mordrid, and Puppet Master III, and Lurking Fear. He’s a wonderful writer, and he put together – based on these ideas we came up with – a terrific script. And then again, I was blessed with this amazing cast. Every one of them, I think, has the ring of truth and I think Shannon Barnes, who plays our serial killer, is very gifted. I think you watch these people and you believe them, and the story plays and it’s fast. And of course, I’m always hoping one of these takes off in ways that we can’t predict and becomes – God forbid – profitable, because the business is really difficult right now because of what most people know – too much content, a lot of it’s bad, there’s eight million different streaming sites. There are all sorts of reasons why the world has changed from when it was pretty good for low budget filmmakers. That’s when it was direct-to-video, and you went to your local video store. But if any of these shows take off and somehow have a life of their own, I’d love to make a series, or at least a sequel, to Quadrant, because those characters, I think, are so good.
PopHorror: It’s a movie that would make a great sequel.
Charles Band: Thank you.
PopHorror: You first created Empire Productions, and then Full Moon Features, so that you could bring more horror films to the fans. What is it that draws you to horror and why do you feel that people connect with the genre?
Charles Band: It’s fun escapism. We all lead our life and mine maybe a little more colorful and more like a roller coaster because I’ve had ups and really terrible downs. I’ve done this for a lot of years, but it’s fun to put yourself in a fantasy world. I think horror does that really well and especially if it’s different. There are so many copycat horror movies. I don’t know if I could ever sit through another haunted house movie, I’ve seen probably 300. But then again, never say never. I just want something clever. I don’t need a lot of blood and guts. That works if the story is different. It’s hard to retell the seven basic storylines and do something that’s clever, and that’s all I want to do. I want to do something that I, as a fan, would want to see. I’ve never gotten into some sort of like, hey it’s time to make a slasher movie! It’s time to do this, time to do that. I was asked that so many times in the 80s and 90s when Friday the 13th was so successful and there were so many similar movies being made, but it’s just not been my thing. I think I’ve made a lot of movies over the years that stand the test of time and definitely some unique ones. Not too many movies out there like Head of the Family, which is one of my favorites. Just try to be different and it’s not just horror. I’ve made a fair share of sci-fi and fantasy movies. Troll is more a fantasy sci-fi. Troll is actually a pretty cool movie. Then I’ve made movies like Trancers, and Crash and Burn, and Robot Jox, and those are fun. They’re more expensive to make, generally speaking, especially when things are tight so it’s a little more affordable to make a horror movie or a horror sci-fi movie. Then again, the third Pulp Noir movie I’m getting a little ambitious. We’re all going to Italy and I’m going to make a paranormal romance movie called The Lost Girl’s Private Diary. It’s going to be edgy and obviously it’ll have a sprinkling of horror. I made a movie years ago that I really love, and it did really well, with Sherilyn Fenn. It’s called Meridian, back in the early 90s. So we’re going to where we have catacombs, tunnels, and gothic locations. It’ll be cool to bring that kind of movie into the Pulp Noir vibe.
PopHorror: That sounds like fun! What a fun location. I like that you said you make movies that you, as a fan, would like to see. I like that because why make something if you wouldn’t watch it yourself?
Charles Band: That’s absolutely the point. I’m into that. I’m a little spoiled. Look, there’ve been lean years, for sure, but it just seems like there’d be no point… All the time, you’ll meet with people that are the people running the big outlets and today, it’s the streaming sites. Back in the day, it was the people who were pretty much running Blockbuster and Hollywood Video, and they would all have their recipe of what kind of movie we should make to be most successful. Make this one, and then do that, and have this person, and then blah blah. It’s like, I don’t want to make that kind of movie.
PopHorror: Those are the people that are wanting blockbusters and more mainstream, what everyone wants to see. Well, what they think everyone wants to see. Then there’s us that’s like, give us the indie and the weird, the Evil Bongs and Puppet Masters. Give us those
Charles Band: Right, right. I just want to do things that are sort of out of the box. You made these many movies… It was weird as we headed into Quadrant, which was the first of the Pulp Noir movies, it just so happened it was my 400th movie, which sounds definitely science fiction. I don’t even know how that happened but somehow, I guess I made 400 movies. It’s kind of cool that Quadrant is number 400, and we already shot Death Streamer and that’s 401. So, I would say if anyone tries to look at this body of work, they’ll find a lot of stuff that’s pretty weird and different, and nothing very repetitive. If you saw one of my movies a day, it would take about a year and a half, or something? I’m trying to figure it out. A little more than a year. I’m off on my math, but everyday you’d have to watch one.
PopHorror: That’s an impressive list of credits!
Charles Band: It’s a lot of movies!
PopHorror: Yes, it is! Just one last question for you today, Charles. What’s your favorite scary movie?
Charles Band: Oh, my goodness. Well, I like to be fooled, as I said earlier. Yes, there are movies that make you jump, but if there’s no underpinning that is creepy and kind of scary aside from the jump, it’s not what I would recommend as the kind of movie I like to see and watch. Obviously, everyone says The Exorcist because it is an amazing movie, and I saw it when it first premiered. I came to the movie theater in Westwood and there were ambulances outside waiting to take away the faint of heart. Even though it was sort of a gimmick, people did faint. It’s such a great, timeless, scary movie. Not just because of the scary stuff, but because of what the subtext was. Movies like The Sixth Sense… Luckily no one blew the gimmick, so I had no idea what I was watching, I just loved it. It’s clever as hell. And probably my favorite horror movie in recent years is Get Out. Just mind blowing, creepy, and beautifully made. I want to be fooled. I want to look at a movie and basically say, “Oh, fuck. What? How did that happen?” Then you’re off on a good ride. One of the things I’m doing with the Pulp Noir movies – bad segue – is I am… The way that movies get released today, and I do miss the direct-to-video days for sure, but the way movies get released today is they come out first on streaming – other than big theatrical films – and you can subscribe to a streaming site or can rent it or download to own. That’s the first window. Then a few months later, it comes out on the free sites like Pluto or Tubi, and you can watch it for free, you’ve just got to sit through a bunch of commercials. Then a few months later, it usually comes out on physical media like Blu-ray and DVD. What I decided to do with Pulp Noir, because I really think there are different audiences for those different venues, that instead of stretching this out over six months, I figured, fuck it. Let’s just all release across every platform on day one. So, when Quadrant releases, and I hope a lot of people see it because I think it turned out really well, it’ll be out on Amazon for rental, on our streaming site, it’ll be out on Tubi for free, it’ll be out on Blu-ray and DVD, and you can even get it on VHS, which is pretty funny. We haven’t made a regular VHS in slipcover in over 20 years. So, it’s kind of fun. Anyone that buys the VHS for the nostalgia, the fun, or maybe they still have a VHS machine, I’m signing all the VHS for free. I just want people to have a little memento of what we all did years ago.
Thank you so much to Charles for taking the time to speak with us. Quadrant is now available across streaming platforms and the Full Moon Website!
