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

11 hours ago

1 hr 5 min

Director, writer and horror bon vivant Avery Coffey is back to discuss THE HORRIBLE DR. BONES, the last of our movies from the Alchemy/Big City Pictures sublabel! We get into the history of voodoo as depicted in movies, talk about Full Moon's failed attempt to launch a hip-hop label, and the best depictions of zombies in recent years. 
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: @PuppetMastersCastleFreaks 
Next week's episode: From Beyond Revisited

11 hours ago

1 hr 5 min

4 days ago

52 min

This week we're excited to sit down with someone who is doing something genuinely unique in the world of indie horror. Toby Poser is a member of The Adams Family, a filmmaking collective... that also happens to be Toby's family! Together, Toby, her husband John Adams, and her daughters Zelda and Lulu Adams have directed several films, including recent festival hits like HELLBENDER, THE DEEPER YOU DIG, and MOTHER OF FLIES. We chat with Toby all about how this unique family project came to be, and to look ahead at what's next for the Adams Family.  
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: @PuppetMastersCastleFreaks 
Next week's episode: Decadent Evil 

4 days ago

52 min

Oct 16, 2026

1 hr 8 min

The freak is, once again, off the leash, this time for a 2020 remake of Stuart Gordon's famously nasty 1995 original! This time around, the castle is in Albania, the Freak is a lady, and the Elder Gods of Lovecraftian lore have a much bigger part to play. We're excited to be joined by Bloody Disgusting's Zena Dixon, aka the Real Queen of Horror, to share our thoughts on this interesting, and disgusting, bit of business. 
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: @PuppetMastersCastleFreaks 
Next week's episode: The Horrible Dr. Bones 

Oct 16, 2026

1 hr 8 min

Oct 9, 2026

1 hr 26 min

We're thrilled to be joined by multihyphenate force Gigi Saul Guerrero for an episode on Alejandro Jodorowski's masterwork SANTA SANGRE! This surrealist gem was too shocking for filmgoing audiences in 1989, but has developed a devoted cult of followers. We dig into the rich history of it's creator and the deeper themes underneath this challenging work.
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: @PuppetMastersCastleFreaks 
Next week's episode: Castle Freak (2020)

Oct 9, 2026

1 hr 26 min

Oct 2, 2026

1 hr 12 min

Filmmaker Jenn Wexler (LAST TEMPTATION OF BECKY, THE RANGER) joins us this week to check out an underground classic: the 1971 queer erotic arthouse vampire flick DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS! Starring French screen icon Delphine Seyrig as the immortal Elisabeth Bathory, this vibe-y, sapphic gem is light on plot but heavy on mood, and features some incredible lighting and camera work. 
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: @PuppetMastersCastleFreaks 
Next week's episode: Santa Sangre

Oct 2, 2026

1 hr 12 min

Sep 29, 2026

1 hr 10 min

Surprise! We're giving you a whole extra episode this week, because when you have the chance to record with the great Dan McCoy of The Flop House podcast, you take it! This week's episode is all about a teeny tiny regional horror film from the makers of JIGSAW: VENGEANCE OF THE DEAD, in which a disaffected teen starts receiving messages from ghosts to burn evildoers in a small Wisconsin town. 
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: @PuppetMastersCastleFreaks 
Next week's episode: Daughters of Darkness

Sep 29, 2026

1 hr 10 min

Sep 25, 2026

1 hr 20 min

We're closing the book on both the TRANCERS series and the golden age of Full Moon this week with a look at TRANCERS: THE WHOLE DETHLY AFFAIR, a conviently mashed-together new release combining TRANCERS 4: JACK OF SWORDS and TRANCERS 5: SUDDEN DETH. We're thrilled to be joined this week by Canadian filmmaker, special effects artist, and Full Moon obsessive Steven Kostanski (Psycho Goreman, Frankie Freako, Deathstalker), who shares his experience with the company and how it's influenced his films. 
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: @PuppetMastersCastleFreaks 
Next week's episode: Daughters of Darkness

Sep 25, 2026

1 hr 20 min

Sep 18, 2026

1 hr 21 min

Our new expanded format continues to reap rewards, as this week we're gifted the opportunity to talk about some horror heavy hitters. This week is all about TWO EVIL EYES, an anthology film that brings together the talents of American genre legend George A. Romero and Italian bad boy Dario Argento. These two adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe stories features performances from legends like Harvey Keitel, Adrienne Barbeau, and Tom Atkins, and some truly grisly effects from splatter god Tom Savini. We're joined by the great writer and bookstagrammer Kasey Baker of @the_evil_read for this grisly gem. 
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: @PuppetMastersCastleFreaks 
Next week's episode: Trancers: The Whole Dethly Affair 

Sep 18, 2026

1 hr 21 min

Sep 10, 2026

1 hr 5 min

This week we're covering our classiest picture to date: the austere and scary haunted house drama THE CHANGELING from 1980! And who better to talk about an iconic haunted house than our guest, two-time Bram Stoker-winning author Robert Ottone, whose new book, AMITYVILLE AWAKENS, releases this October! We chat about the career of Oscar-winning star George C. Scott, and about the enduring appeal of the haunted house genre. 
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: @PuppetMastersCastleFreaks 
Next week's episode: Two Evil Eyes

Sep 10, 2026

1 hr 5 min

Sep 4, 2026

1 hr 3 min

The Ghoulies are going to college, and I'm sorry to report: they're majoring in mischief. This week is all about the iconically-titled GHOULIES III: GHOULIES GO TO COLLEGE, the non-Empire third chapter of the foundational tiny terror series. We're joined this week once again by the amazing Stuart Wellington, part of the Flop House podcast crew, to keep a chronicle of all the pranks, yanks, and toilet tanks. 
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: @PuppetMastersCastleFreaks 
Next week's episode: The Changeling

Sep 4, 2026

1 hr 3 min

Copyright 2023 All rights reserved.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Version: 20241125