Full Moon Features

American motion picture company

Full Moon Features is an American independent motion picture production and distribution company headed by B movie veteran Charles Band. It is known for the direct to video series Puppet Master, Trancers, and Subspecies, as well as the film Castle Freak and the VideoZone featurette through 1989 to 2013.

Blockbuster Entertainment, a longtime supporter of the Full Moon brand requested the company produce a slasher film, due to the late '90s resurgence of this subgenre, thanks to Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. With the help of an uncredited Tempe Entertainment, Band produced Bleed and acquired Keith Walley's Scared, renaming it Cut Throat. Band produced only two more films "officially" under the Shadow name: (Birthrite, Delta Delta Die!). Another Keith Walley film Speck was acquired. William Shatner's DV science fiction movie Groom Lake, produced by J. R. Bookwalter became notorious as one of the most expensive films of the modern era of Full Moon. Band also decided around this time to bring back an old label used in the Empire era named Wizard Video, which distributed cult like films. This modern rendition saw the release of Tempe's Skinned Alive and Ozone (renamed Street Zombies for the Wizard release). However, due to low sales, another Tempe film Bloodletting (which was also renamed: I've Killed Before) was dropped from the release schedule. In 2003, Charles Band entered into a deal with 20th Century Fox to produce a low budget horror movie. Fox would distribute the movie and Band would retain copyrights. The film was directed by J. R. Bookwalter and named Deadly Stingers. In the tradition of the giant killer bug movies, Deadly Stingers was about giant scorpions taking over a town. However, after the film was completed, it was shelved due to a decline in the industry and low sales of another similar project at Fox (excluding Full Moon) entitled Dark Wolf. The film was shown at the Frightvision Horror Festival in 2003, but while it has surfaced on Full Moon Streaming as of December 2013 under the name of Mega Scorpions, it has yet to see a release on DVD or Blu ray. A teaser trailer for the film does exist on J. R. Bookwalter's Tempe Entertainment website.

In late 2003, Band began work on his first 35 mm film in years, Dr. Moreau's House of Pain. The film released in January 2004 also marked the official return of the name Full Moon Pictures. However, while the film's video releases all contain the name of Shadow Entertainment, the film's trailer contains the Full Moon Pictures logo. Quickly before the release of Dr. Moreau's House of Pain, Full Moon released Puppet Master: The Legacy, a "greatest hits" film that contained the best scenes from all (hitherto) seven Puppet Master films with about 20 minutes of a wrap around story and very bad puppet effects (string rods can be seen in almost every scene featuring the puppets). Once again, all video releases said Shadow Entertainment, but the trailer featured the Full Moon Pictures logo. On the heels of Puppet Master: The Legacy, Band quickly cut together Tomb of Terror, Horrific, and Urban Evil. These three films edited by HorrorVision director, Danny Draven, were clip shows that showed off the best in Full Moon's library. After the release of those films, Band re christened the Full Moon name to Full Moon Features. Full Moon Features intends to take more time making films with considerably higher budgets and on 35 mm film and as of July 2006 has focused on that with the exceptions of When Puppets and Dolls Attack!, Monsters Gone Wild!, and Aliens Gone Wild! (all clip shows). In 2005, Charles Band embarked on the Full Moon Horror Roadshow, a traveling, live Full Moon inspired show featuring Band and actors/actresses from past Full Moon films. Some shows also featured his son, Alex Band. At all shows, Band offered a contest for a chance for a member of the audience to have a part in a future Full Moon feature. As of 2009, none of these winners had received their roles. However, on August 27, 2009, Band blogged that those who were chosen would have the opportunity to be cast in his next project. Band continued the roadshow in 2006, this time putting it in smaller venues. A similar contest offering a part in a movie was held at these events. In 2011, contest winners were contacted for the chance to be extras in the movie Gingerdead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver. Available winners who could make it to the set were featured as extras in the movie during a mass electrocution scene at a roller rink. Full Moon uploaded pictures of the contest winners onset on its official Facebook page. In 2009, Band hopes to expand Full Moon to a similar release schedule more like the mid 1990s with a new release every month. Additionally, the company plans to add sequels to many franchises, including Puppet Master, Demonic Toys, and Head of the Family. In 2012, the Videozone was brought back, making its return on the DVD release of Puppet Master X: Axis Rising. In addition, the Moonbeam Entertainment brand label was revived under the name Moonbeam Films. The studio's nearly thirty year history is covered in the book It Came From the Video Aisle written by Dave Jay, William S. Wilson, and Torsten Dewi and published by Schiffer Publishing in October 2017.

Puppet Master – Full Moon's first franchise, inspired from an earlier Empire film, Dolls, and United Artists' success with Child's Play the year prior. Spawned seven sequels: Puppet Master II, Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge, Puppet Master 4 and Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter during the Full Moon Entertainment era, Curse of the Puppet Master and Retro Puppet Master during the Full Moon Pictures era, and Puppet Master: The Legacy during the Full Moon Features era. A made for TV crossover film titled Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys was on Sci Fi Channel in 2004, under Shadow Entertainment. A trilogy of standalone prequels were released in the 2010s: Axis of Evil (2010), Axis Rising (2012) and Axis Termination (2017). A reboot, The Littlest Reich, was released in 2018, with a spin off, Blade: The Iron Cross, focused on the puppet Blade, in 2020. A second spin off, Doktor Death, based on the eponymous character from Retro, was released in 2022. Subspecies – Full Moon's take on vampires. It currently consists of Subspecies, Bloodstone: Subspecies II, Bloodlust: Subspecies III and Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm (released during the Full Moon Pictures era). Fans of the series also consider the spin off Vampire Journals as an entry as well, despite being non canon. A fifth entry and prequel, Blood Rise: Subspecies V was released in 2023. Trancers – A carry over from Band's days at Empire, under the Full Moon name, he produced II, III, 4 and 5. A sixth installment was created by Johnnie J. Young and Jay Woelfel's Young Wolf Productions and was distributed by Band under the Full Moon Pictures label. Killjoy – Focuses on the titular Killjoy, a demonic clown who is summoned to assist revenge plots in all three films, only to prove too overwhelming for each character who calls him. Two follow ups, entitled Goes to Hell (2012) and Psycho Circus (2016), take the series in a whole new direction. Demonic Toys – A knock off of Puppet Master, created a cross sequel called Dollman vs. Demonic Toys featuring characters from Demonic Toys, Dollman and Bad Channels. Succeeded by Demonic Toys: Personal Demons (2010) and the character centered Baby Oopsie (2021) and Jack Attack (2023). Doctor Mordrid – Bears striking resemblance to Marvel Comics' Doctor Strange, though screenwriter C. Courtney Joyner denies any connection; one of Full Moon's "flashier" films. Dragonworld – Released by Moonbeam Entertainment, and directed by Ted Nicolaou (of Subspecies), a young child named John McGowan has moved to Scotland after losing his parents in a traffic accident. He befriends a dragon, who he names "Yowler". A sequel, The Legend Continues was released by Kushner Locke in the United States under the title Shadow of the Knight. The Pit and the Pendulum – Directed by Re Animators Stuart Gordon, a retelling of the classic Edgar Allan Poe story. Prehysteria! – A trilogy of kid oriented sci fi comedy films about mini dinosaurs that come to life. Produced under Moonbeam Entertainment. The Dead Hate the Living! – Full Moon's first zombie film, received notable coverage in various horror magazines. Groom Lake – William Shatner's show about a dying woman who receives a visit from aliens; only notable given the name and the stories behind it, as the film received mostly negative reviews. The Gingerdead Man – One of the latest Full Moon franchises, with the first installment starring Gary Busey, who plays a criminal who is sent to the electric chair, comes back to life as a Gingerbread Man, and goes out to kill the woman who sent him to jail. Followed by Passion of the Crust, and Saturday Night Cleaver, released in 2011. A crossover, Gingerdead Man vs. Evil Bong, was released in 2013. The series is very much played with a tongue in cheek mentality. Evil Bong The Newest Full Moon franchise, Evil Bong is a horror comedy film series focused on a group of stoners as they battle an evil Bong named Eebee. It was followed by the eponymous first film Evil Bong in 2006, two sequels Evil Bong 2: King Bong in 2009, and Evil Bong 3D: The Wrath of Bong released in 2011. A crossover with Gingerdead Man released in 2013 under the name Gingerdead Man vs. Evil Bong. Much like Gingerdead Man, It was followed by four more sequels, Evil Bong 420 in 2015, Evil Bong High 5! in 2016, Evil Bong 666 in 2017, and Evil Bong 777 in 2018, Including a spin off in 2021 titled The Gingerweed Man. The tenth and final film, Evil Bong 888: Infinity High was released on May 20, 2022. The series is played with a tongue in cheek mentality.