Line #40 Creator/FullMoonFeatures


1	[[quoteright:232:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/FullMoonCreatures-232x300_2722.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:232:The Full Moon logo, and various monsters and puppets from several of their notable horror franchises.]]
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4	Full Moon Features is an independent film studio/distributor founded by Charles Band. Full Moon is mainly known for DirectToVideo BMovie horror films notable for using StopMotion puppet effects and featuring at least one scene of {{Fanservice}}. Band's overall approach to marketing and filmmaking gave Full Moon films a comic book feel, which attracted a Cult Following.
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6	You might remember some of the studio's catalog as including the ''Film/PuppetMaster'' and ''Film/{{Subspecies}}'' movies. Full Moon was especially known to renters with Blockbuster Video memberships, as their catalog was pretty much exclusively licensed to Blockbuster, a predominate promoter of Full Moon's catalog. Many of Full Moon's later titles are [[SlidingScaleOfComedyAndHorror Comedy/Horror]] fusions like ''Film/TheGingerdeadMan'' (featuring Gary Busey) and ''Film/EvilBong'' (which notably featured an extended cameo by Tommy Chong of Creator/CheechAndChong fame).
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8	Charles Band had previously founded the studio Empire International Pictures, which produced cult favorites like ''Film/RobotJox'', ''Film/ReAnimator'' and ''Film/{{Ghoulies}}''. Empire, in fact, produced the first ''Puppet Master'' movie, but after Empire went belly-up due to financial issues, the movie was released by the newly formed Full Moon Entertainment instead. Full Moon initially had distribution through Creator/{{Paramount}}, but now distributes its own content.
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10	Full Moon flicks are typically low budget, although the original goal of Full Moon was to make films for low costs that looked like big budget movies. As the studio fell on hard times, however, some of the films they made at their lowest point just looked cheap, and they had begun resorting to shooting on video during the late-90s and early 2000s. Thankfully for Full Moon fans, the quality of their movies improved, and the studio once again began producing movies on 35mm film.
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12	Full Moon has had several subsidiaries tackling different types of films beyond Full Moon's stated focus on horror, sci-fi and fantasy flicks. Most of these have since been abandoned, but they have included:
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14	* '''Torchlight Entertainment''', which specialized in [[FanService Softcore Porn]].
15	* '''Moonbeam Entertainment''', which specialized in family friendly sci-fi/fantasy movies, most notably the ''Film/{{Prehysteria}}!'' series, which, like Full Moon's horror movies, predominately featured stop motion puppetry.
16	* '''Shadow Films''', a shortlived horror subsidiary.
17	* '''Wizard Video''' was a UsefulNotes/{{home video distributor\|s}} founded by Band which released {{cult classic}}s [[invoked]] like ''Film/TheDrillerKiller'', ''[[Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre]]'' and ''Film/{{Halloween\|1978}}''. Band promoted these titles with compilation tapes showcasing violent or scary scenes. One of those compilations featured Creator/ElviraMistressOfTheDark. Wizard disbanded somewhere down the line and the distribution rights to these titles scattered to other studios (except for ''Driller'', which is now in the public domain). Eventually, Wizard reappeared as a subsidiary of Full Moon in 2002.
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19	Also notable about Full Moon's VHS releases were their [=VideoZone=] segments presented at the end of each video, which featured an introduction by Charles Band, behind-the-scenes footage and promotions of future Full Moon releases and TheMerch.
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21	It should be noted that with few exceptions (including the original ''Puppet Master'' pentalogy), films made during the Paramount era are owned by Paramount; Full Moon box sets have been known to be withdrawn whenever Paramount gets wind of one of their films appearing in the sets (this actually happened to ''Puppet Master'' before Band repurchased the rights to the original pentalogy; Band had always owned the rights to the other films in the franchise).
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23	----
24	!!!'''Notable productions include:'''
25	[[index]]
26	* ''Film/{{Castle Freak\|1995}}'': Creator/StuartGordon's retelling of the Creator/HPLovecraft short story, "Literature/{{The Outsider\|1926}}"; a dysfunctional family of three inherit a castle inhabited by a grotesque, murderous man.
27	[[/index]]
28	* ''Corona Zombies'': A GagDub of ''Film/HellOfTheLivingDead'', spoofing the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, with ten minutes of new footage and scenes from the below-mentioned ''Zombies vs. Strippers'' added. Made within a month of the beginning of lockdowns in the United States.
29	** ''Corona Zombies 2: Barbie & Kendra Save the Tiger King'': Another GagDub, this time mixing footage of ''Terror in the Jungle'' and ''Luana, the Girl Tarzan'', ostensibly portraying the younger years of ''Series/TigerKing'''s infamous Joe Exotic. A few scenes of new footage loosely tie it to the plotline of the first film; the film was released just a month after the first.
30	** ''Corona Zombies 3: Barbie & Kendra Storm Area 51'': Yet another GagDub, this time with ''Film/TheDayTimeEnded'' and ''Space Thing'' footage, ostensibly parodying the Area 51 craze of 2019. Released a few months after the second installment.
31	[[index]]
32	* ''Film/DarkAngelTheAscent'': A rogue demoness appears on Earth and kills sinners.
33	* ''Film/TheDeadHateTheLiving'': Full Moon's first zombie film; received notable coverage in various horror magazines.
34	* ''Film/DoctorMordrid'' - Originally an adaptation of Creator/MarvelComics' ComicBook/DoctorStrange but changed at the last minute due to copyright; one of Full Moon's "flashier" films.
35	* ''Film/{{Dragonworld}}'' - A Moonbeam Entertainment release about [[ABoyAndHisX a boy and his dragon]]. The sequel, entitled ''The Legend Continues'', was released by The Kushner-Locke Company in the United States under the title ''Shadow of the Knight''.
36	* ''Film/EvilBong'': A StonerFlick franchise about a group of [[TheStoner stoners]] who face off against [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin an evil hookah]] who swallows the spirit of those who smoke from it into a fantasy world filled with killer strippers and characters from previous Full Moon features. The first one featured cameos by Phil Fondacaro, Creator/BillMoseley and [[Creator/CheechAndChong Tommy Chong]], and a [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Crowning Soundtrack Of Awesome]] which features songs by [[Music/CypressHill Sen Dog]], Music/{{Twiztid}}, Music/InsaneClownPosse and the Music/KottonmouthKings. Spawned seven sequels, including a crossover with "Gingerdead Man". as the films progressed they bent more into the comedy angle..
37	* ''Film/TheGingerdeadMan'': A comedy-horror {{slasher\|movie}} franchise, with the first installment starring Creator/GaryBusey, 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''.
38	* ''Film/TheGingerweedMan'': A {{Comedy}} film about a little green stoner who finds himself coming into possession of a cute little living bud of weed.
39	* ''Film/GroomLake'': Creator/WilliamShatner'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.
40	* ''Film/{{Horrific}}'': An {{anthology\|film}} featuring three stories edited down from three previous releases.
41	* ''Film/{{Killjoy}}'': A pentalagy focusing on the titular demonic clown. The first two were essentially SoBadItsGood[[invoked]], but by the third film, the quality of the series improved and it shifted into a more knowingly comedy/horror tone. By the fourth, it was more farcical than horror and the fifth was straight up gonzo-comedy.
42	* ''Film/{{Oblivion\|1994}}'': A SpaceWestern comedy about a man avenging the death of his father at the hands of a ruthless outlaw.
43	* ''Film/PetShop'': An adventure comedy film about a couple of aliens who come to earth to buy a pet shop in an attempt to try to get some of Earth's children back to their own planet to sell as pets.
44	* ''Film/PetticoatPlanet'': A soft core SpaceWestern shot using the same sets as ''Oblivion''.
45	* ''{{Film/The Pit and the Pendulum\|1991}}''- Directed by Stuart Gordon (of ''Film/ReAnimator'' fame), a retelling of the classic Creator/EdgarAllanPoe [[Literature/ThePitAndThePendulum story]].
46	* ''Film/{{Prehysteria}}!'': A trilogy of family-friendly sci-fi films about mini dinosaurs that come to life. The first was one of the earliest examples of a movie being released as an inexpensive sell-through VHS at that time in history when VHS tapes were mostly sold to rental chains at a retail price of around $100+. No longer in print, as Full Moon has not announced plans to release the series on DVD.
47	* ''Film/PuppetMaster'': Full Moon's first franchise, although the first installment was actually produced by Empire. The series involves a group of benevolent puppets who operate at the will of whoever controls them, designating them sporadically as good, like their original creator, Andre Toulon (as played by Creator/WilliamHickey in a DeathByCameo) or evil. Usually good. Sequels include ''Puppet Master II'', ''Toulon's Revenge'', ''Puppet Master 4'' and ''The Final Chapter'' during the Entertainment era, ''Curse of the Puppet Master'' and ''Retro Puppet Master''[[note]](starring Creator/GregSestero)[[/note]] during the Pictures era, ''The Legacy'', ''Axis of Evil'', ''Axis Rising'', ''Axis Termination''. Spin-offs include''The Littlest Reich'', notable for the Puppets finally being evil again, ''Blade: The Iron Cross'', A stand-alone film to feature the iconic Blade puppet - all during the current Features era.
48	** ''Film/DemonicToys'' was Full Moon's FollowTheLeader cash-in on its own ''Puppet Master'' series. It had one sequel ''Demonic Toys: Personal Demons''.
49	[[/index]]
50	** ''Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys'': {{Crossover}} produced by the [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci-Fi Channel]] in 2004. Band [[CanonDiscontinuity does not consider it to be an official entry in either franchise]].
51	[[index]]
52	* ''Film/ShandraTheJungleGirl'': A softcore JungleOpera about a NubileSavage who kills men by draining their LifeEnergy while [[OutWithABang having sex with them]].
53	[[/index]]
54	* ''Film/ShrunkenHeads'': A horror comedy written by Matthew Bright and directed by Richard Elfman (both known for ''Film/ForbiddenZone'', while Bright is also known for ''Film/{{Freeway}}''), and featured music by Creator/DannyElfman. ''Shrunken Heads'' is about a group of murdered teenagers that are resurrected as, well, {{shrunken head}}s.
55	[[index]]
56	* ''Film/{{Stitches\|2001}}'': A demon manipulates the guests at a bed and breakfast into giving up their souls and skins. Not to be confused with the [[Film/{{Stitches\|2012}} horror-comedy of the same name]].
57	* ''Film/{{Subspecies}}'': Full Moon's take on vampires. It consists of ''Subspecies'', ''Bloodstone'', ''Bloodlust'' and ''Bloodstorm'' (released during the Full Moon Pictures era). Fans of the series also consider ''Vampire Journals'' as an entry as well.
58	* ''Film/{{Trancers}}'': A carryover from Band's days at Empire, under the Full Moon name, he produced ''Trancers II'', ''Trancers III'', ''Trancers 4'' and ''Trancers 5''. ''Trancers 6'' was created by Johnnie J. Young and Jay Woelfel's Young Wolf Productions and was distributed by Band under the Full Moon Pictures label.
59	* ''Film/{{Witchouse}}'': A trilogy about a vengeful witch returning from the grave.
60	* ''Film/ZombiesVsStrippers'': A horror movie in where zombies attack an strip club, and as the title suggests, the strippers working there have to fight them in order to survive.
61	[[/index]]

Context Creator / FullMoonFeatures