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82-591: After the collapse of Band's previous film studio Empire Pictures , he moved back to the United States from Rome and opened Full Moon Productions. Band's goal with Full Moon was to create low-budget horror , sci-fi , and fantasy films while retaining a somewhat "big-budget" look. In the United States, Canada, and several foreign territories, from the company's very humble beginnings, Full Moon teamed with Paramount Pictures and Pioneer Home Entertainment for direct-to-video releasing on VHS and LaserDisc and

164-495: A $ 1 million deal that included movies from Filmtrust, Intercontinental Releasing Corporation, and others as well. Also in 1987, Empire partnered with Cinema Home Video Productions to develop ten films. Most of the movies were planned to have a budget of $ 1 million each, but at least two would have $ 2–3 million in funding, and be shot at Empire's Italian studio. Distribution would be handled by Urban Classics domestically, and by Infinity overseas. On September 8, 1987, Empire reduced

246-541: A Flute, fleeing him. In the intervening centuries, Ash and Ariel come under the protection of Helena, having impaled Vladislas on the Sword of Laertes, and Stefan travelling the world. The three hunt out of a casino that has vast catacombs sprawling under it (which is implied to be the Club Muse nightclub from Vampire Journals ). Radu degenerates into the vampire appearance he was born with (thus finally looking how he does in

328-521: A consort. Radu helps the two flee, and takes the Bloodstone with them, and Marius, afraid of Helena and Stefan being vampires, leaves. After finding out that Helena was in fact turned into a vampire, she and Radu drink from the Bloodstone, and Helena tries to turn him into a vampire to keep him from ever leaving her. In that moment, Vladislas then returns and abducts Helena and Stefan, as well as taking Radu's enchanted vampire slaying sword given to him by

410-399: 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

492-715: A filming location. Around the same time, Band also bought Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica , which was founded by Dino De Laurentiis in 1946. The purchase price of De Laurentiis's studio was reportedly $ 20 million. Empire also teamed up with Vestron Video subsidiary Lightning Video to create the Force Video banner, under which six action-adventure videocassettes were released in the summer of 1985. 1986 saw Empire's biggest output of theatrical releases, including Eliminators , From Beyond , TerrorVision , and Troll . The last of these proved to be Empire's biggest success that year, grossing $ 5,450,815 when released in nearly

574-478: A former operative of the CIA for help. While trying to rescue Michelle, Radu's mother quickly kills Mel's CIA friend, and knocks Mel unconscious. In an effort to get Michelle to stay with him forever, Radu kills his mother when she attacks Michelle. Becky arrives to save Michelle, but before everyone leaves, Michelle takes a gun from Becky, which contains silver bullets, and shoots Radu. The rising sun slows Michelle, so she

656-469: A hotel room in Ohio. Over the next several years, Full Moon continued its releases and even introduced more labels: Bookwalter would eventually get the chance to direct a Full Moon film with the sequel to Witchouse , Witchouse 2: Blood Coven . It was Bookwalter's first film on 35 mm and with it opened a new door for Bookwalter's Tempe Entertainment . Starting with Horror Vision , Tempe Entertainment

738-429: 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

820-413: A nearby crypt where they believe Michelle might be. Popescu is murdered by Mummy, while Becky is also captured and given to Michelle to feed from, as a way for Michelle to shed her mortal ties. Instead of killing her sister, Michelle stabs Radu in the face with an enchanted dagger , and sets fire to Radu's mother, who flees the room in flames. Becky and Michelle attempt to escape the catacomb, but Michelle

902-570: A new apprentice. He also makes a deal with Zachary: he will give Zachary a consort, protection from the Sun, and allow Zachary to see Sophia if he leaves the city the following night. While Ash is preparing to sire Sofia, he gives his daytime consult Iris the key to Zachary's room, so that she may dispose of his sleeping body in the sunlight. Seeing that his obsession with Sofia will ruin both their lives, Iris releases Zachary instead. Zachary arrives too late; Sophia has already accepted Ash's blood. Fighting off

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984-463: A number of low-budget horror and fantasy feature films, including Re-Animator , Troll , Ghoulies , Trancers , and From Beyond . Sensing the emerging theatrical market for independently produced horror and science-fiction films, producer Charles Band decided to create a small production company to compete with the major Hollywood studios. The name Empire Pictures first surfaced in May 1983 at

1066-513: A portion of Bloodstone . The limited budget that Toth and Cabrera had to work forced them to use any location they could find in order to apply the make-up to the actors, as they did not have a separate workstation. Make-up trailers would be created in local resident's homes, cave openings, inside of cars, or just sitting on the side of the road. To create Radu's face, Toth and Cabrera applied four separate prosthetic pieces to Anders Hove's forehead, left and right cheek, and his chin. A cosmetic make-up

1148-565: A result, the releases of the titles that were in production, such as Stuart Gordon 's Robot Jox , Peter Manoogian's Arena , and David Schmoeller 's Catacombs , were delayed by several years. Band would form a new company, Full Moon Entertainment , in the autumn of 1988. Like Empire, Full Moon specializes in horror and fantasy films. As of 2017, MGM is the owner of most of Empire's library, by way of Polygram Entertainment . These films are being released on DVD and Blu-ray by Full Moon, under license from MGM. The rise and fall of Empire

1230-426: A separate face prosthetic. The facial appliance gave Gordon near zero visibility, having only a single eye slit for her left eye. The crew had to escort her around sets so that she would not injure herself. Gordon was given a pair of dentures to wear, as well as some prosthetic gloves similar to what Hove wore. The rest of Gordon's body was draped in clothing to conceal it. Culture Cartel critic Mike Bracken believed

1312-641: 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

1394-430: A sword, killing Radu. Unfortunately for Stefan, Radu bites Michelle before his brother can kill him and mingles his blood with hers, which forces Stefan to turn Michelle with his own blood in order to keep her from becoming like Radu. As Stefan and Michelle sleep, Radu's minions set about resurrecting their master. Bloodstone: Subspecies II (1993) picks up directly after the events of the first film, with Radu's minions,

1476-458: A thousand theaters. The company decided to expand. Albert Band was named production head, a position he held until the company was sold off. Empire's agreement with Vestron Video continued; Vestron bought the worldwide video rights to one of Empire's future releases for $ 35–$ 40 million. With a studio in Italy secured, 1987 saw Empire significantly increase its production. The company arrived at

1558-899: A vampire queen that resembled Michelle, respectively. Kevin Spirtas portrayed Radu's father, Prince Vladislas, while Marko Filipovic took over for the role of the Vampire Ash from Vampire Journals and Bloodstorm , where he had been played by Jonathon Morris . Filming was to begin in July 2020 in Croatia but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Filming was rescheduled for spring 2022 in Serbia . Principal photography eventually took place in September 2022. The film had its world premiere at

1640-424: A weakened Ash, Zachary and Sofia escape from the nightclub. Ash follows them, but the rising sun becomes a problem. Zachary manages to get back the sword and kill Ash, whose body falls into the Sun's rays. Zachary and Sofia then find refuge in a nearby closet. Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm (1998) begins with a badly burnt Radu able to find refuge in his crypt. A car accident takes the lives of everyone but Michelle, who

1722-495: A weekly television series on the Sci Fi Channel called William Shatner's Full Moon Fright Night . Veteran actor, William Shatner , hosted Full Moon films with wraparounds, as well as interviews with many of sci-fi's most notable personalities, including Stan Lee and Jeffrey Combs . Tempe also received exposure here as HorrorVision was included in this short-lived series. With the release of 2000's The Dead Hate

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1804-400: Is applied over his entire face to help conceal those four prosthetics. This was the same process used in the original Subspecies film, although Toth and Cabrera admit to tweaking the coloring of Radu's skin. One major change to the make-up process was to Radu's hands. In the original film, Hove had to wear individual appliances on each of his fingers, but to cut back on the time needed to apply

1886-443: Is discovered by a stranger named Ana. Upon seeing Michelle's reaction to the sunlight, Ana takes her body to her former professor, Dr. Nicolescu, who quickly determines that Michelle is a vampire. When Michelle wakes, Dr. Nicolescu promises to cure her of her vampirism. Dr. Nicolescu is a vampire himself, but uses science to allow him to be immune to vampire weaknesses, with the exception of needing blood, and hopes to use Michelle to get

1968-579: Is halted by the coming sunrise. Becky promises to return that evening, but as Michelle descends back into the tomb she is grabbed by a revived Mummy and carried off. Bloodlust: Subspecies III (1994) finds Michelle deep in the catacombs with Radu's mother, who brings her son back from the dead with Michelle's blood and the enchanted dagger that killed him; Radu, his mother, and Michelle return to Castle Vladislas. Michelle promises to obey Radu if he teaches her everything that he knows. Radu takes Michelle out hunting so she can enhance her powers, while Mel contacts

2050-409: Is placed inside a body bag that was brought along; the delay allows Radu time to catch up to the group. Wanting the Bloodstone, which was taken by Michelle, Radu attempts to barter the group's lives in exchange for it. Becky throws it over the roof's edge, and when Radu attempts to follow it he is engulfed in the rays of the Sun. Radu's body bursts into flames and falls from the castle wall. Becky and

2132-540: Is raised by and initiated into the Knights of the Dragon. However, when he and a monk named Marius are sent to Prince Vladislas' castle to kill the vampires there and recover the Bloodstone, Radu learns he was a stolen child and Vladislas was his father. After Vladislas and Circe flee, Radu and Marius find a seemingly human woman named Helena, and her son Stefan. Stefan was born when Vladislas raped Helena after claiming her as

2214-505: Is the subject of the book Empire of the 'B's: The Mad Movie World of Charles Band by Dave Jay, Torsten Dewi, and Nathan Shumate, and the upcoming documentary Celluloid Wizards in the Video Wasteland by Daniel Griffith. Subspecies (film series) Subspecies is an American direct-to-video horror film series produced by Full Moon Studios and Castel Film Studios . The series ran from 1991 to 2023, and followed

2296-675: The American Film Market in February touting 36 new releases. Titles produced in this period included Dolls , Ghoulies II , Prison , and Robot Jox . Empire also switched video distributors, from Vestron to New World Video , which would release titles under the Empire Video label. Two new divisions of Empire were launched in 1987. The first was Urban Classics, which produced films such as Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity , Galactic Gigolo , and Space Sluts in

2378-597: The Cannes Film Festival , where Band sought funding for Parasite II , a proposed sequel to his successful movie Parasite (1982). Initial Empire productions included Swordkill (aka Ghost Warrior ) and The Dungeonmaster , each of which received limited theatrical releases in 1984. Also that year, Empire signed an agreement with Vestron Video that granted Vestron worldwide video rights to five of Empire's films. Empire's first hit came in early 1985, with Ghoulies . Released in several major markets,

2460-662: The " comic book feel" that Band insisted with the Full Moon product. In 1992, Full Moon decided to expand into theatrical film production, with a distribution agreement at Paramount Pictures , to release two films, but it was never materialized. Full Moon continued producing its releases throughout the early '90s (sometimes as many as twelve releases a year) and in 1993 founded two more labels: Torchlight Entertainment , specializing in softcore pornographic sci-fi comedies and Moonbeam Entertainment , specializing in family orientated sci-fi and fantasy films. Torchlight's first release

2542-459: The "authenticity" created from the Romanian landscaping and actors that gave "the feel of verisimilitude ", but criticized the stop-motion subspecies as being "irrelevant to the main action", and the story as a "general lack of urgency". Richard Scheib, a critic for science fiction, horror, and fantasy review website Moria , felt the original film "showed promise" when it attempted to go "back to

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2624-494: The Beast , and Crash and Burn (changing to Full Moon Entertainment with the release of the latter)—all featured a making-of presentation after the film. Paramount, however, didn't believe in the making-of concept and forced Band to pay for all of the additional tape needed. At the same time, Band also reissued two catalog titles, Tourist Trap and Parasite through Paramount. Some controversy arose, however, many years after

2706-527: The Bloodstone and therefore a cure for his condition. With his strength restored, Radu travels to Bucharest to claim the financial wealth one of his previous "fledglings", Ash, who has acquired in the Vladislas. Radu enlists Ash's help to track down Michelle, while Ash's own fledgling, Serena, attempts to play Radu and Ash against each other. Radu discovers Michelle's location, and Dr. Nicolescu agrees to give her to Radu in exchange for three drops of blood from

2788-490: The Bloodstone. Ash and Serena are waiting at the opening of the crypt, but a caretaker, hearing Ana's screams, opens the crypt and spills sunlight inside. Michelle is hidden in a coffin and transported out of the cemetery, while Radu's head sits on a pike burning in the sun. Subspecies V: Blood Rise (2023) was announced in April 2019, as part of Full Moon's "Deadly Ten" initiative with Hove and Duff as Radu Vladislas and Helena,

2870-520: The Bloodstone. Radu agrees, but it was only a trick to allow Dr. Nicolescu the opportunity to capture and stake Radu. Michelle arrives releases Radu, and the two flee to safety. Serena arrives immediately after and gives Ana a key to the Vladislas crypt, where Radu is, with instructions to kill Radu. Ana and Dr. Nicolescu arrive at the tomb, but Radu awakens and kills Nicolescu. Radu turns his attention to Ana, but Michelle slices his throat, allowing Ana enough time to decapitate Radu. They burn his body and take

2952-643: 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

3034-668: The HorrorHound Convention in Cincinnati , Ohio on March 25, 2023. It received a limited theatrical release via the Alamo Drafthouse on May 15, 2023. Blood Rise begins with the birth of Radu. Moments after, his mother Circe is impaled by crusaders from the vampire slaying order of the Knights of the Dragon. They steal her vampire slayer knife and Radu. His ears and fingers are clipped and holy potions used to hide his vampiric deformities. As an adult, Radu

3116-743: The Knights of the Dragon, the Sword of Laertes. Radu, believing Helena made him a vampire, is then told by Circe he was one at birth. He returns with her and over the next century, learns sorcery, demon summoning, and how to use his vampiric powers to hunt. After he attempts to steal from Circe, he is banished by her. Grieving the loss of Helena and Stefan, he seeks out new companions to turn and finds two aspiring musicians, Ash and his sister, Ariel. Radu turns both of them into vampires and attempts to coerce them to accept him as their master while also wanting them to comfort him with music. During an attempt to play, Ariel learns that vampires are susceptible to shrill dissonant notes. Despite this, Radu "initiates them into

3198-651: The Living! , Band dropped the VideoZone name and produced behind-the-scenes featurettes without a masthead. 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

3280-555: 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

3362-589: The Slammer . Urban Classics released movies both theatrically, and subsequently on home video, marking the first time that Empire had produced its own home video releases, rather than partnering with another company. The second subsidiary was Infinity Film Sales, headed by Maura Hoy. Its purpose was to distribute to the foreign market a set of low-budget films that had been offered to Wizard Video , yet another Empire division. Later that year, Australian home video veteran Walter Lehne would purchase Infinity's 14 titles in

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3444-462: The Subspecies, reattaching Radu's head and removing the stake from his heart. Radu finds Stefan and Michelle sleeping, and immediately kills Stefan. The rising sun forces Radu to seek refuge; Michelle wakes at sunset and finds Stefan dead in his coffin, with the Bloodstone still in his hands. Michelle flees to Bucharest with the Bloodstone, hoping to contact her sister, Becky, for help. Radu, with

3526-592: The ancient ruins and woodland area. Other Transylvanian areas would be used for all Subspecies films, with specific location shootings at Hunedoara , Brașov , and Sinaia . Although, the remnants of communism left in the country, along with cultural differences and the general problems that accompany film productions lent to a difficult experience for the crew while shooting the first Subspecies film. The subspecies creatures, which were created from Radu's blood, originally began as local Romanian men in rubber suits. The men were filmed on over-scaled sets to simulate

3608-476: The company's own properties. In 1995, due to the direct-to-video market losing interest and financial ground with the rental market in addition to internal issues, Full Moon Entertainment separated from distributor Paramount. Full Moon's Halloween 1995 production Castle Freak was released on video unrated. Castle Freak was eventually released in November 1995 in both R-rated and unrated versions. After

3690-509: The creation of Full Moon's biggest and most successful franchise." With the fifth Full Moon release Puppet Master II in 1991, Full Moon introduced VideoZone, a behind-the-scenes video magazine. The average VideoZone featured an introduction by Charles Band, the making-of the "movie you just watched," an interview with someone involved in a future Full Moon release, merchandise (such as Full Moon T-shirts, posters and other assorted goods), trailers, and contact information. VideoZone tied together

3772-527: The exploits of the undead Radu Vladislas, portrayed by Anders Hove , and his efforts to turn Michelle Morgan ( Denice Duff ) into his fledgling. A spin-off film, Vampire Journals , was released in 1997, which featured characters that would go on to appear in the fourth installment. Ted Nicolaou wrote and directed all six films, including the spin-off. The series was shot on location in Romania , utilizing stop-motion and rod puppet techniques to achieve

3854-524: The film had grossed $ 3,455,018 by February; it made over $ 1 million in its first weekend in New York City alone. This success paved the way for the company to showcase future cult hits Trancers and Re-Animator in theaters. Flush with cash, Band purchased Castello di Giove, a 12th-century castle located in Giove, Italy . His intention was to use the edifice as a European base of operations and

3936-511: The film series "manage to give an edge of bad-assitude to its vampires", and that "each entertains in its own right and furthers the Subspecies tale one more step beyond the last one... until finally being beaten over the head by a shovel with the stinky Vampire Journals ". In a review by LaserDisc, it was felt that one consistency through the series was Radu, whose villainy is "effectively embodied" by Anders Hove. LaserDisc also believed that

4018-541: The first release was the feature film directed by David Schmoeller , Puppet Master in 1989, and designed to create the company under the umbrella of Bandcompany, Inc. Puppet Master turned out to be a huge hit for Full Moon. Following the film on VHS and LaserDisc was a featurette entitled No Strings Attached , which documents the making of Puppet Master . It then featured interviews with cast and crew members, including actor Paul Le Mat and Charles Band himself. The next three releases— Shadowzone , Meridian: Kiss of

4100-472: The folklore roots of vampirism"; he also liked the authentic feeling from shooting in Romania, but felt the limited budget restricted the film from being convincing, with David Allen's stop-motion subspecies creatures being a disappointment. When he had a chance to review Bloodstone , Scheib felt the sequel delivered "vampire clichés", but again "showed promise" with its imaginative make-up effects—specifically

4182-542: The genre. To conserve costs (as most Full Moon features were being made for much less than the Paramount-distributed films), the film was put together using footage from the first five Puppet Master files, as well as some new footage. However, Bookwalter's work got Full Moon noticed on Apple.com where a story was published about Bookwalter's editing of Curse of the Puppet Master on his iBook in

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4264-406: The group make it to their car and drive off. Radu's burning corpse is left smoldering and impaled on tree branches, with his burning blood dropping to the ground; the flames soon go out and the blood morphs into new subspecies. Vampire Journals (1997) is a spin-off of the Subspecies film series, featuring the vampire Ash. Vampire Journals follows Zachary, a vampire with a conscience, who hunts

4346-420: The help of his mother, "Mummy", sets out to find Michelle and the Bloodstone. Becky arrives in Romania and with the help of Lieutenant Marin, Professor Popescu, and US Embassy Agent Mel Thompson, attempts to find her sister. Radu eventually captures Michelle, who has been fighting her craving for blood since Radu took the Bloodstone. Mel and Lieutenant Marin do not believe Popescu and Becky, so the two of them go to

4428-408: The look the director wanted for the eponymous creatures. The films have received generally mixed reviews, with critics citing vampire clichés as a downfall, but generally commending the director's choice in filming in Romania, as well as the special effects. Subspecies (1991) follows three college students, Mara, Michelle, and Lillian, as they begin a study on Romanian culture and superstition in

4510-402: The make-up, Toth and Cabrera created a pair of prosthetic gloves that Hove could slip on his hands. For "Mummy", Radu's sorceress mother, a headpiece was cast from Pamela Gordon, which included her shoulders as well. After the make-up was applied to give the cast a "dry" and "mummified" appearance, it was slipped over Gordon's head leaving only her face showing. From there, Toth and Cabrera applied

4592-414: The men enter the scene. Allen would use the isolated footage to develop a new background for the animated creatures he would later create. Allen created two puppet types, displayed in front of a bluescreen : a stop-motion puppet and a rod puppet. Each of the puppet types was composed of foam rubber , and held similar skeletal systems. Some differences between the two types include tension-filled joints for

4674-460: The miniature size of the creatures. The performances of the Romanian men, along with the design of the rubber suits, caused director Ted Nicolaou to rethink his approach. Nicolaou brought in animator David W. Allen to assist him in creating "more magical" looking subspecies creatures. Allen went through all of the film footage that contained the Romanian extras in their rubber suits with the film's editor in order to find usable footage before and after

4756-478: The mysteries" and allows them their first kill outside of the castle. That night, their castle is infiltrated by Diana, another monster slayer from the Knights of the Dragon. Diana comes armed with Circe's Knife. Radu recognizes her as a stolen child descended from Callisto , like himself, but she persists in trying to slay him, and he bites her and turns her into a vampire. Ash and Ariel take the demon slaying weapons Diana brought, and attack Radu with shrill notes from

4838-749: 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. Empire International Pictures Empire International Pictures (also known as Empire Entertainment ) was an American independent small-scale theatrical distribution company. Charles Band formed Empire in 1983, prompted by his dissatisfaction with distributors' handling of films made by his previous business, Charles Band International Productions. Empire produced and distributed

4920-488: The name of Mega Scorpions , it has yet to see a release on DVD or Blu-ray . [1] 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

5002-502: 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

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5084-461: The open for attack. Ash sets his sights on pianist Sofia, but is thwarted by Zachary during his first attempt to take Sofia. It is revealed through a conversation between Ash and a seer that Zachary's coming was expected and that the two are destined to fight; however, Ash is to be the victor. Ash does not give up on acquiring Sofia, and hires her for his nightclub, Club Muse. Over the next few nights he drains her of blood, so that he may turn her into

5166-408: The open, and loathes his vampire heritage. To gain control over the Bloodstone, a relic that is said to drip the blood of the saints, Radu kills his father. In an effort to hurt his brother, Radu turns Mara and Lillian into vampires. Stefan, having fallen in love with Michelle, helps her try and free Mara and Lillian from Radu's control. Stefan drives a stake through Radu's heart and severs his head with

5248-514: The other four films). 300 years later, He finds Ash and Ariel, who take him to Helena. The two reconnect and negotiate with each other. Radu gives Helena mastery of Ash and Ariel, but Ash and Ariel spurn Helena and the mood sours. Helena attempts to bribe Ash to accept her with a piano and a drink from the Bloodstone, while Radu takes Ariel to the catacombs under the casino to find Vladislas, where he impales him repeatedly with Laertes. Helena and Radu then encounter each other and each confesses hatred for

5330-480: The other. After being rejected by Helena, Radu attacks and breaks her neck. Helena curses Radu that she will be reborn and haunt him. Ash steals the Bloodstone and tries to convince Ariel to leave, but she stays with Radu, now wanting to be his consort. After the pair escape the catacombs, Diana appears and kills Ariel but leaves Radu alive, wanting Radu to suffer immortality and loneliness. In the closing narration, Radu reflects on Helena's dying curse on him, and how that

5412-510: 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

5494-406: The release of Shrieker in 1998, Band enlisted the help of Ohio -based filmmaker and Tempe Entertainment founder, J. R. Bookwalter , who had recently relocated to California . Bookwalter was commissioned by Band to begin editing features, including Curse of the Puppet Master . Curse of the Puppet Master was created primarily out of market demand and isn't held in high regard with fans of

5576-463: The release of Puppet Master . In an interview on the website The Terror Trap, Puppet Master director, David Schmoeller, says that Charles Band owes him residuals, as well as stating that Charles Band doesn't give credit to directors. Schmoeller continues, saying that Band didn't want him on the director's commentary on the DVD release of Puppet Master , because "it would reveal that someone else shared in

5658-489: 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

5740-533: The releases of Castle Freak and Oblivion 2: Backlash , Band renamed Full Moon Entertainment, Full Moon Studios for the feature Vampire Journals and used the name Full Moon Pictures for the following film Hideous! . Band continued to distribute all films on his own under then name of Amazing Fantasy Entertainment until around 1999 when some of the films were distributed by The Kushner-Locke Company . In 1997, Bobby Young, who had joined Full Moon two years earlier, has left to start Dominion Entertainment. With

5822-406: The sequels sustained the entertainment value through their intelligent use of eroticism, gore and on-location setting. In 1991, Full Moon teamed with Eternity Comics to produce comic books series for a handful of Full Moon's titles. Among these comics was a Subspecies series that served as a prequel to the first film. The title ran as a four-issue mini-series. In 2021, the character Radu became

5904-436: The small town Prejmer. They are befriended by Stefan, a student studying nocturnal animals . It is revealed that the nearby Castle Vladislas has been caught in a power struggle between vampire brothers Stefan and Radu. Centuries prior, King Vladislas was seduced and cursed by a sorceress who eventually gave birth to Radu. After banishing Radu's mother, the king met a mortal woman. She gave birth to Stefan, who prefers to live in

5986-429: The staff of its publicity department from three people to one. The studio planned to outsource the marketing of special projects. Empire began to collapse in mid-1988, due to financial problems, including long-term debt obligations to Crédit Lyonnais . Once it became clear that the studio could not weather these difficulties, it was seized by the bank, and absorbed into Eduard Sarlui's Epic Productions in May 1988. As

6068-511: The staking of Stefan, the reattachment of Radu's head by the subspecies creatures, the look of Mummy—as well as the visual effects of Radu's shadow stalking Michelle through town, which gave Scheib a sense of Nosferatu . Another criticism from Scheib was with the replacement of Laura Tate with Denice Duff; Scheib characterizes Duff as "internalized and afraid", as opposed to the addition of Melanie Shatner's character, Rebecca Morgan, who he classifies as "alert and intelligent". DVDschlock wrote that

6150-409: The stop-motion puppet, while the rod puppet was looser. The flexibility of the rod-puppet allowed for faster movements, which were needed occasionally for real-time filming. For Bloodstone and Bloodlust , Wayne Toth and Norman Cabrera came on board to create the special make-up effects for the films; they also pulled double duty composing and performing the music, alongside Romanian musicians, for

6232-503: The story was "largely clichéd", coupled with "bad acting" on the part of Watson and the female cast, but commended the realism Nicolaou created by shooting on location in Romania—using Romanian residents for smaller roles in the film—as well as the fact that the film does not "take itself too seriously", making it "more fun" than Francis Ford Coppola 's Dracula . Cold Fusion Video's Nathan Shumate echoed Bracken's opinion on

6314-435: The vampire bloodline that sired him. After witnessing the love of his life get turned into a vampire, Zachary destroys both her, and his master, and former protégé of Ash, Serena. Zachary, armed with the enchanted sword of a great vampire slayer called Laertes, seeks out the rest of Serena's bloodline to eradicate them. Zachary travels to Bucharest to find Ash. Zachary uses Ash's penchant for music and women to bait him out into

6396-478: Was Beach Babes From Beyond ; Moonbeam's was Prehysteria! , which actually became a high seller for distributor Paramount and was one of the first Full Moon films to be sold as an inexpensive sell-through product (as most Full Moon features were sold on VHS as rental items with prices upwards of $ 100 for each tape). Full Moon has also set up the Moonstone Records, and film and trading cards based on

6478-476: Was accustomed to producing films on shoestring budgets. On January 16, 2001, Full Moon decided to launch a TV show with William Shatner attached as host, presenting various Full Moon pictures. Once again, the industry changed and Band decided to end the Full Moon label with the 2002 release of Jigsaw . In 2001, Full Moon decided to bow out of theatrical distribution, and decided to focus back to straight-to-video films. During this era of Full Moon, Band secured

6560-575: 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

6642-465: Was eventually fulfilled and drove him to madness, while thinking of Michelle, who resembled Helena. List indicator(s) In 1991, Subspecies became the first American film to be filmed in Bucharest , Romania . Director Ted Nicolaou was initially apprehensive about shooting on location in Romania, but during a four-day location scout he came to love the location thanks to the free rein he had over

6724-432: Was hired to produce several Full Moon films for Band. All of these films were shot on DV , a first for Full Moon and were primarily made for under $ 60,000 (with Witchouse 3: Demon Fire completed for $ 26,000). The films were produced under very tight schedules, some being shot in as little as nine days. While the production drawbacks were high in each situation, this opportunity gave new exposure to Bookwalter and Tempe who

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