Puppet Masters / Castle Freaks

From Beyond (with Nathan Rabin)

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 theater producer to his era of making high-quality horror at budget prices. 
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli 
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck 
Logo by Douglas McCambridge 
Email: puppetmasterscastlefreaks@gmail.com 
Instagram/Threads: @puppetmasters_castlefreaks
YouTube: @PuppetMastersCastleFreaks
Next week's episode: Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death 

Tourist Trap (with Danny Torkel)

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 slasher! 
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli 
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck 
Logo by Douglas McCambridge 
Email: puppetmasterscastlefreaks@gmail.com 
Instagram/Threads: @puppetmasters_castlefreaks
YouTube: @PuppetMastersCastleFreaks
Next week's episode: From Beyond 

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (with JR Ralls)

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: puppetmasterscastlefreaks@gmail.com 
Instagram/Threads: @puppetmasters_castlefreaks
YouTube: @PuppetMastersCastleFreaks
Next week's episode: Tourist Trap 

Oblivion (with Dylan James Quarles)

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: puppetmasterscastlefreaks@gmail.com 
Next week's episode: Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama 

Piranha Women

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: puppetmasterscastlefreaks@gmail.com 
Next week's episode: Oblivion 

Test Tube Teens From the Year 2000

This week, we're looking at the seamy underbelly of the Full Moon Empire, the short-lived softcore porn label Torchlight! One of the first efforts (certainly one of the most provocatively named) was TEST TUBE TEENS FROM THE YEAR 2000, aka VIRGIN HUNTERS. Directed by David DeCoteau and starring Morgan Fairchild, this campy skin flick tries to add some sexiness to a goofy TERMINATOR parody. 
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli 
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck 
Logo by Douglas McCambridge 
Email: puppetmasterscastlefreaks@gmail.com 
Next week's episode: Piranha Women 

Subspecies

This week, Full Moon relocates to Romania for the first of their hugely popular vampire series, SUPSPECIES! We're going to meet the long-fingered villain Radu and his weird little blood goblin friends as we dig into Ted Nicolao's fun gothic horror flick. We're also going to dig in to the history behind Full Moon's move to it's new Eastern European headquarters, and look back on what would be one of the most taxing productions in the company's history! 
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli 
Logo by Doulas McCambridge 
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck 
Email: puppetmasterscastlefreaks@gmail.com 
Instagram: @puppetmasters_castlefreaks 
Next week's episode: Test Tube Teens From the Year 2000 

Robot Jox (with John Torrani)

This week, we're suiting up to pilot our first Stuart Gordon film, ROBOT JOX! Gordon is one of the most beloved directors in the Empire / Full Moon stable, and this underrated mech-fighting action/sci-fi romp puts his abilities on full display. Joining us for this episode is film industry expert John Torrani, who boasts not only an impressive knowledge of the genre but one of the preeminent collections of ROBOT JOX memorabilia in the world! 
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli 
Logo by Douglas McCambridge 
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck 
Email: puppetmasterscastlefreaks@gmail.com 
Instagram: @puppetmasters_castlefreaks
Next week's episode: Subspecies 

Evil Bong

This week we're looking at one of the most prominent of the latter-day Full Moon Features, the lowbrow stoner comedy EVIL BONG. This film sees four roommates battling the titular paraphernalia, who transports them to a sinister strip club populated by other Full Moon characters. Would you believe, though, that this movie is kinda dumb? 
Hosted by Jarrod Hornbeck and Steve Guntli 
Logo by Douglas McCambridge 
Theme song by Kyle Hornbeck
Email: puppetmasterscastlefreaks@gmail.com 
Instagram: @puppetmasters_castlefreaks
Next week's episode: Robot Jox  

Trancers

In this episode, we're looking back at the pre-Full Moon days, going back to Charles Band's earlier studio, Empire International Pictures! Empire produced some of the most beloved movies from the entire Band canon, and TRANCERS is definitely among the most loved. This wildly fun 1984 sci-fi thriller stars Tim Thomerson as future cop Jack Deth, who must travel back in time to stop a madman from turning low-intelligence people into killer zombies. Along the way, he teams up with future superstar and Oscar winner Helen Hunt as they tear around mid-90s Los Angeles.
Hosted by Steve Guntli and Jarrod Hornbeck 
Logo by Doug McCambridge 
Email: puppetmasterscastlefreaks@gmail.com 
Instagram: @puppetmasters_castlefreaks 
Next week's episode: Evil Bong