Puppet Masters / Castle Freaks

SUBSPECIES is back with a vengeance as the series finds it's footing, and a great new star! Michael Varrati of "The Boulet Brothers' Dragula" joins us to talk about what may be the crowning achievement in the SUBSPECIES franchise... and maybe all of Full Moon?  Also, be sure to tune in later this week for our FULL-LENGTH INTERVIEW with two of the stars of SUBSPECIES II: Kevin Spirtas (who plays Me...

It's supernatural horror, Cajun-style! Writer, producer, and horror aficionado joins us for a trip down to the bayou for NETHERWORLD, David Schmoeller's bird-heavy spin on voodoo horror!  Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli  Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck  Logo by Doug McCambridge  Email: puppetmasterscastlefreaks@gmail.com Instagram/Threads: @puppetmasters_castlefreaks  YouTube: @PuppetMaster...

It's alien monster vs. human lunkhead this week as we discuss the late-stage Empire Films features ARENA, one of the most expensive and ambitious projects of the era! Shea Mossefin from Arrow Video joins us to talk about this outer-space twist on ROCKY!  Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli  Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck  Logo by Doug McCambridge  Email: puppetmasterscastlefreaks@gmail.com Ins...

David DeCoteau is back, this time taking us to a haunted house in Massachusetts; a WITCHOUSE, you might even say! Does this 1999 Full Moon feature bring some spooky ambiance or is it better burned at the stake? We're joined by Rick Or Treat host Ricky J. Duarte to discuss it!  Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli  Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck  Logo by Doug McCambridge  Email: puppetmasterscas...

We were a little lukewarm on the classic-era Full Moon favorite DEMONIC TOYS, but does the second entry turn us around? Find out this week as we discuss the long-delayed sequel DEMONIC TOYS 2 with Joe and Sean from the amazing Movie Dumpster podcast!  Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli  Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck  Logo by Doug McCambridge  Email: puppetmasterscastlefreaks@gmail.com Instag...

A hulking ogre rises from its ancient tomb to wreak havoc on the Irish countryside in RAWHEAD REX, an early script from horror master Clive Barker! Podcaster, YouTuber, and all-around cool person Ivotres Littles joins us this week to talk through all the head-ripping, priest-peeing chaos. Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli  Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck  Logo by Doug McCambridge  Email: pupp...

BLOOD DOLLS has everything: an all-girl rock band trapped in a cage, murderous dolls, misshapen heads, killer chairs... and that's just in the opening five minutes! Charles Band's spiritual follow-up to HEAD OF THE FAMILY is an absolutely wild ride, and we're fortunate to be joined by Summer and Jamie from the Dolls of Horror podcast to work through it.  Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli ...

He's thirteen inches... with an attitude. He's DOLLMAN, Tim Thomerson's wacky return to the Full Moon universe, a badass space cop who travels to Earth, where he learns he's six times smaller than everything around him. This silly, gory action-comedy boasts some oddball laughs and a fun villain turn from future Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley, and we're excited to be joined by Eric Walkuski from...

Perhaps the gnarliest film in the entire catalog, Stuart Gordon's CASTLE FREAK was a notorious low-budget shocker that completed his Combs/Crampton/Lovecraft trilogy that began back with RE-ANIMATOR. Of course, when talking about CASTLE FREAK, there's only one guest we could have had, a man who's worked himself into the lore of the series and helped perpetuate it's reputation: Stuart Wellington! T...

Full Moon's most prominent killer clown makes his PM/CF debut this week. KILLJOY, the tiny-budgeted shocker from 2000, helped usher in a new era of Full Moon features, for better and for worse. We're excited to welcome the amazing Stevie Webb, host of BRAIN ROT, the UK's best horror podcast, to talk all about the cheap thrills of this ice cream-peddling demon clown! Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and S...

SHRUNKEN HEADS tells the classic tale of three murdered children who are decapitated, resurrected by voodoo, and become crime fighters who turn criminals into farting zombies. You know, that tired old trope.  Richard Elfman's gonzo dark comedy is one of the wildest discoveries we've had on this show so far; luckily we've got an amazing special guest on hand to help us make sense of it. Grady Hendr...

Stuart Gordon takes on Edgar Allen Poe this week, with a stacked cast of craggy character actors and a prominent role for Charles Band's castle! This week, we're talking THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM with the great film critic and podcaster Scott Weinberg!  Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli  Logo by Douglas McCambridge  Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck  Email: puppetmasterscastlefreaks@gmail.com  ...

The single most successful film in the entire Full Moon canon isn't PUPPET MASTER or DEMONIC TOYS or even FEMALIEN; it's a kid-friendly adventure that tried to cash in on the popularity of JURASSIC PARK. This week, we're watching PREHYSTERIA!, the first film from the wildly successful, family-friendly Moonbeam Entertainment sublabel. Join us as we meet Elvis, Madonna, and the rest of the tiny dino...

Just when you thought it was safe to go to the bathroom... it's a double dose of the GHOULIES! More than just a GREMLINS knock-off, the original GHOULIES was the breakout hit that allowed Empire Films to thrive, and the sequel let Charlie's father Albert Band jump behind the camera once again for a fun monster movie romp. Horror podcaster Kevin Lane (from the Spill Your Guts podcast) joins us to t...

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST meets DEAD RINGERS this week for the sexy-yet-problematic gothic romance MERIDIAN: KISS OF THE BEAST! Starring a young Sherilyn Fenn and Full Moon favorite Charlie Spradling, the movie delivers on lascivious thrills. but does it hold up to modern scrutiny? Special guest Charles Williamson is on-hand to help us sort it out.  Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli  Theme son...

It's time for a Jack-Attack! This week, we're watching another seminal entry in Charlie Band's Tiny Terrors with DEMONIC TOYS! Special guest Dan Bookbinder locks himself in an abandoned toy factory with us to discuss Baby Oopsie-Daisy, Mr. Static, Grizzly Teddy, and Jack Attack as they wreak their special brand of havoc.  Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli  Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck  Log...

We're very excited to be joined this week by director/writer/producer/actor Sam Irvin! Sam has directed three movies for Full Moon, including the two OBLIVION films and MAGIC ISLAND for Moonbeam, and he shares his memories from the set while also walking us through his incredibly varied and prestigious career! From turning a Romanian film studio into an Old West town to getting the giggles with Ch...

Another of Full Moon's HP Lovecraft adaptations, LURKING FEAR tends to get forgotten in the shadow of the Stuart Gordon trilogy, but this fun genre mash-up has a lot to like. With plenty of genre stars (including Vincent Schiavelli, Jon Finch, Ashley Laurence, and Jeffrey Combs), the story melds a hostage flick with supernatural horror as a skeleton crew of survivors hole up in a cemetery to fight...

The first two PUPPET MASTER sequels are both major fan-favorites, so we knew we had to bring in an expert to weigh in! This week, we're joined by Nat Brehmer, the author of PUPPET MASTER COMPLETE: A FRANCHISE HISTORY, to talk through two early Full Moon classics. Firstly, PUPPET MASTER II, which follows up on the original with more puppets and more gore while letting SFX master Dave Allen take a t...

One of the only true comedies we're going to cover on this show, CANNIBAL WOMEN IN THE AVOCADO OF DEATH is a feminist parody of APOCALYPSE NOW, featuring direct-to-video bombshell Shannon Tweed and a pre-talk show Bill Maher, with a screenplay by the writer of PRETTY WOMAN! It's an interesting mixed bag of a production, but it is a beloved favorite of our guest, Ailish Collins, who joins us to exp...

The second in Stuart Gordon's trilogy of HP Lovecraft adaptations, FROM BEYOND is a wild, kinky, gleefully disturbing thrill ride of a movie. We're joined this week by none other than Nathan Rabin, author, culture writer, former editor of the Onion AV Club, and the man who coined the term "Manic Pixie Dream Girl!" Nathan helps us dive deep into Gordon's oeuvre, from his early days as a renegade th...

A group of teens stumbles upon a roadside attraction full of sentient mannequins in the slow-brewing cult favorite TOURIST TRAP! The earliest film we've discussed so far, TOURIST TRAP was an instrumental early hit for young Charles Band and his future PUPPET MASTER director, David Schmoeller. We're joined this week by podcaster and writer Danny Torkel to talk through this scrappy low-budget slashe...

It's Linnea Quigley vs. an evil wish-granting imp in David DeCoteau's goofy 1988 schlockfest SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-O-RAMA! JR Ralls from "Thirty-Twenty-Ten" joins us as we talk bowling in the 80s, USA's "Up All Night," and the long-delayed sequel you never knew you wanted!  Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli  Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck  Logo by Douglas McCambridge  Email: p...

Howdy, y'all! This week, we're joined by author and podcaster Dylan James Quarles to watch OBLIVION, a wild blend of sci-fi and western tropes that features one of Full Moon's most star-studded casts to date (George Takei! Julie Newmar!). It's a rootin-tooting, space-shootin' good time.  Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli  Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck  Logo by Douglas McCambridge  Email:  p...

This week, we're looking at our most recent Full Moon release to date, the 2022 serial PIRANHA WOMEN! Directed by legendary schlockmeister Fred Olen Ray, this film features genetically-modified bombshells with some killer fish DNA that manifests in some... unorthodox body mutations.  Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli  Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck  Logo by Douglas McCambridge  Email:  puppe...