Puppet Masters / Castle Freaks
This is the definitive Full Moon Features podcast! Each week, we’re going to watch a different film from Charles Band’s madcap universe of low-budget horror thrillers, encompassing not only the Full Moon films but also the earlier stable of Empire International Pictures and sub-labels like Moonbeam and Torchlight!
Episodes
Memento mori! This week, we're talking about the film that may have the lowest budget of any in the Full Moon canon (and that's really saying something): DEMONICUS, a 2001 thriller about an ancient Roman gladiator who takes over the body of a hapless hiker and starts wreaking havoc through the "Alps." We're joined this week by Cam Sully of the Jacked Up Review Show podcast, who helps us make sense of this unfairly maligned entry fr...
We're firing up the Velvet Engine to talk about Charles Band's most recent film, 2025's PROMPT! Band is experimenting once again with AI filmmaking, although this one has a little bit more on its mind than some of our previous Gen AI features. We're going guestless to dive deep into this most recent Full Moon feature, so be prepared for spoilers!
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck
Logo by Doug...
As a special bonus, we're delighted to get the opportunity to speak with Linda Hassani and Michael C. Mahon, the director and co-star, respectively, of the 1994 Full Moon classic DARK ANGEL: THE ASCENT! The two give us the behind-the-scenes scoop on the making of the film, the experience of shooting in Bucharest, and the surprising legacy the film still has.
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck
...
Meisner technique. Hal Ashby movies. These are obviously the topics you expect to come up in relation to the 1996 softcore FEMALIEN, so of course we talk about those topics and more! We're joined this week by the lovely actress, writer, and producer Asta Paredes, who helps us dissect this good-hearted piece of seminal Skinemax sleaze with way more thought and attention than it probably needs.
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Gu...
Finally, the film series that recognizes ducks as the bloodthirsty monsters they really are! This week, Kelly from the great Taboo Terrors podcast is back to discuss MAGIC IN THE MIRROR and its simultaneously-shot sequel, FOWL PLAY, two Moonbeam movies that draw a lot of inspiration from WIZARD OF OZ... plus some other plot developments that are totally unique. A fun couple of kids films from the great Ted Nicolaou!
Hosted by Jarr...
This week, we're checking out the double feature of KILLER EYE and KILLER EYE: HALLOWEEN HAUNT, and for at least one of our intrepid hosts, we may have hit the bottom of the barrel. Luckily, we're joined by film critic extraordinaire Katie Rife, who helps us wade through the bizarrely indifferent muck of these two sexploitation films.
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck
Logo by Doug McCambridge...
We're back talking about latter-day Moonbeam movies, when Canadian/Romanian concern Canarom took over the brand, and this time we're focusing on some teens conducting some sorcery in, appropriately enough, TEEN SORCERY! Becky Darke is officially anointed a Freaky on her third appearance as we talk 90s fashions, CGI dragons and of course Ernest Borgnine.
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck
Logo b...
An ancient evil wreaks havoc on a smalltown amusement park in Danny Draven's 2003 indie DARK WALKER! Made for just about $15,000, the movie has the scrappy mentality of a fun side project with friends, but how does it hold up? We'll get into it with returning guest Brian W. Smith!
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck
Logo by Doug McCambridge
Email: puppetmasterscastlefreaks@gmail.com
Instagram/...
The boys at the Movie Dumpster podcast have very graciously agreed to let us run an episode from their show on which Jarrod and Steve guested to discuss RAGDOLL! This 1999 film kicked off the Alchemy/Big City Pictures sublabel, and before now we had only discussed it on the MD feed. Now, it's here for your listening enjoyment! Please be sure to check out the amazing Movie Dumpster podcast and their YouTube channel at @MovieDumpster...
David DeCoteau takes on SCREAM with the rare Full Moon slasher film FINAL STAB! Borrowing elements from pop slashers of the time, as well as older movies like APRIL FOOLS DAY, this flick pits a bunch of savvy twentysomethings against a masked killer. We're joined once again by the great Richard Newby, who helps us try to unravel and make sense of the film's many twists.
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli
Theme song by Kyl...
NYC horror icon and FANGORIA cover model Xero Gravity is back to help us crack open THE VAULT, a 2001 haunted house thriller from Big City Pictures! We have a fascinating discussion about the overuse of slavery images in black-led horror films, and chart the rise and fall of Alchemy/Big City Pictures as the sublabel moves to shut down forever.
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck
Logo by Doug Mc...
Space vampires invade a small Romanian... sorry, Californian town, and Moonbeam struggles to find its footing in the Kushner-Locke era, in TEENAGE SPACE VAMPIRES from 1998! We're joined this week by New York horror icon Avery Coffey, who helps us break down the baffling production decisions and impossibly terrible sound editing of this odd little tween flick.
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck...
The PUPPET MASTER series hits an inflection point this week as we cover the 2003 compilation film PUPPET MASTER: THE LEGACY and the 2004 made-for-Sci Fi-channel crossover PUPPET MASTER VS. DEMONIC TOYS! PM expert and author Nat Brehmer returns once again to lend his expertise to two of the most anomalous entries in the series to date as the franchise tries to reclaim its identity. Plus, tons of talk about Corey Feldman!
Hosted by J...
Park it, mister! This week, Erin Dawn of the Manic Movie Monday podcast returns to help us tackle the sweetly sleazy, deeply 80's showbiz satire VALET GIRLS! By all appearances a dumb T&A comedy, this movie managed to surprise us by having a lot more going on under the hood than it's lowbrow premise suggests, and we had a ball digging into it.
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck
Logo by Dou...
For our 150th episode extravaganza, we're bringing together two of Full Moon's signature characters for the crossover event of our lifetime: GINGERDEAD MAN VS. EVIL BONG! Writer and filmmaker Mary Beth McAndrews joins us for this crusty and stoney horror comedy that dares you to ask the question: huh?
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck
Logo by Doug McCambridge
Email: puppetmasterscastlefreaks...
A 16th-century samurai is frozen and awakens in 1980s Los Angeles in GHOST WARRIOR (aka SWORDKILL), a fun and strangely beautiful Empire actioner! Alex Ayling of the Mates From Hell and Evolution of Horror is back to help us unpack this semi-lost treat, which features the sole American film performance from Japanese TV star Hiroshi Fujioka.
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck
Logo by Doug McCam...
Critic and podcaster Scott Weinberg joins the prestigious three-timers club as we roll the clock back to the early 1980s for THE ALCHEMIST! This long-shelved supernatural thriller had a troubled production and struggles from a decided lack of energy, but it gives us the opportunity to talk about a few weird pockets of early 80s B-cinema, including the late-career action turn of Robert Ginty and other deliriously weird rabbit holes....
Get ready for some good old-fashioned early-80s grime with the violent revenge thriller WALKING THE EDGE! The amazing Caroline Johnson from Terror Terroir joins us to wade through this gleefully sleazy Robert Forster/Nancy Kwan/Joe Spinell vehicle, and helps us find the perfect wine pairing for the occasion.
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck
Logo by Doug McCambridge
Email: puppetmasterscastl...
We're going on a bit of a side quest this week, because why not? For this special bonus episode, we sit down with Michael Felsher from Red Shirt Pictures, which produces documentaries and bonus features for DVDs! We nerd out with Michael about how he got into the industry, some of our favorite DVD extras, and some of his favorite Empire projects.
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck
Logo by Doug...
Saddle up, cowgirls, because we're heading off to the distant and sexy world of PETTICOAT PLANET, one of the last true Torchlight films. Kolleen Carney-Hoepfner is back to talk about this erotic journey into the old west of outer space (it's complicated), and why this might be one of the most fun movies in the Torchlight canon.
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck
Logo by Doug McCambridge
Email:...
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