PRETTY BOY Trailer: "The genre specialized company Black Mandala presents the horror movie Pretty Boy, directed by Marcel Walz (Blood Feast, Blind). According to its director: “Is heavily ‘80s-inspired and a love letter to all our favorite slasher franchises we all grew up with!”. The film had its world premiere on Friday, August 13 at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival in South Florida; and the same month it had its European premiere at the prestigious FrightFest (UK).
A notable killer is born into the world of horror: Pretty Boy, first appearing in the critically acclaimed thriller Blind. Now the murderess in the mask returns for Valentine’s Day in a heartbreaking sequel, where he spills gallons of blood among roses and glitter. The feature stars Sarah French, Heather Grace Hancock, Devanny Pinn, Robert Rusler, Maria Olsen, Jake Red, Andrew Rohrbach, and also Jed Rowen (returning as “Pretty Boy”).
Synopsis: A masked killer named Pretty Boy takes a blind woman from her home in the Hollywood hills and crashes a Valentine’s Day party where the bloodshed continues."
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Support BABY FEVER: "Baby Fever is a horror short set during the golden era of 1972. It unapologetically tackles the issues of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy through a warped teenage lens. While it takes place 50 years ago, it still speaks to the current generation’s struggle for safe and accessible abortions."
Learn more at: https://seedandspark.com/fund/babyfever#story
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CONFESSIONS OF A PUPPETMASTER: A Hollywood Memoir of Ghouls, Guts, and Gonzo Filmmaking: "Zombies, aliens, a little skin, lots of gore—and even more laughs—the cinematic universe of Charles Band is legendary. From the toilet-invading creatures of Ghoulies to the time-travelling bounty hunter in Trancers to the pandemic-crashed Corona Zombies, Band has spent four decades giving B-movie lovers exactly what they love. It’s been a wild ride as Band has surfed the ebbs and swells of the industry, his own life often as outrageous as the movies he produces. In CONFESSIONS OF A PUPPETMASTER: A Hollywood Memoir of Ghouls, Guts, and Gonzo Filmmaking (William Morrow; November 16, 2021; $27.99), this congenial master of Grindhouse cinema shares the incredible story of an ordinary movie-loving guy who lived his passion, constantly reinventing genres—and himself.
Born into a family of creative artists, Band spent much of his childhood in Rome where his father worked in the film industry. Early visits to movie sets sealed young Charlie’s fate. By his twenties he had plunged into moviemaking himself and found his calling in exploitation movies—quick, low-budget efforts that exploit the zeitgeist and feed people’s desire for clever, low-brow entertainment. Soon, Band was turning out dozens of movies, establishing himself as a major player. His movies crossed genres, from vampire flix to sci fi, from Lovecraft adaptations to erotic musical adaptations of fairy tales. He cast his movies with Hollywood icons like Roddy McDowell and Christopher Lee and future stars like Helen Hunt and Demi Moore.
Beyond the set, Band’s life was often like an epic adventure tale even his own vivid imagination could not have dreamed up. Returning to his beloved Italy he bought both Dino De Laurentiis’s movie studio and a medieval castle. After Romania’s oppressive communist regime fell, he circumvented the rules and built a studio outside Bucharest. He bought and sold real estate in Los Angeles and Europe; and made and lost moviemaking fortunes with remarkable equanimity. A visionary, Band was early to recognize the future of home video and created his iconic film company Full Moon, making and distributing direct-to-video movies long before the major studios caught on. On the popular AVOD streaming platforms Tubi and Pluto, Full Moon Features generates millions of views per month.
A natural raconteur, Band shares astonishing stories of his misadventures, his personal life, and his encounters with both the great and the notorious:
His first babysitter was Marilyn Monroe
At 15, Band opened nightclubs in Rome
His crew illegally built and then abandoned a giant “old woman who lived in a shoe” set in Los Angeles’s Griffith Park
A disgruntled creditor (read: loan shark) firebombed his Hollywood Hills home
He bought Liberace’s house, but only stayed in it one night
An eye for talent: In addition to Demi Moore (Parasite) and Helen Hunt (Trancers), other Hollywood newbies Band gave early breaks are Kelly Preston and Richard Moll (Metalstorm), Mariska Hargitay (Ghoulies), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Troll), Viggo Mortensen (Prison) and Bill Maher (Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death)
A seventy-something Stan Lee jumped on Band’s young son’s bed to endear himself to the shy boy
He shares behind-the-scenes secrets from some of his biggest hits, including Head of the Family with its 3-foot long, slimy latex tongue performing unspeakable acts, Re-Animator whose unwatchable dailies were edited into a film even Pauline Kael loved, how Ghoulies was saved by a toilet, and Troll, with its magical child character presciently named … Harry Potter, Jr.
He had a memorable, if nebulous, business meeting with Michael Jackson at the height of the superstar’s fame
Gary Busey (The Gingerdead Man) and Klaus Kinski (Crawlspace)—infamous for their “difficult” personalities—wreaked havoc on his sets
He was arrested at a Florida fan convention and spent a scary weekend in jail
Still going strong and ever adapting with his usual savvy to the world of streaming, Charles Band continues to splatter blood, reanimate corpses, and titillate the teenager in all of us. A candid and engaging glimpse into the Hollywood’s zany underbelly, CONFESSIONS OF A PUPPETMASTER is as entertaining as the movies that made this consummate “schlockmeister” famous.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Charles Band is a renowned producer, director, mogul, and “B movie” showman. Over his 40-year career, he has directed or produced more than 360 films, including cult classics like Ghoulies and Tourist Trap (one of Stephen King’s favorite horror movies). Band lives in Los Angeles.
Adam Felber is an Emmy-nominated and WGA Award-winning writer and performer whose credits include Real Time with Bill Maher, and the children’s programs Wishbone and Arthur. He is a frequent panelist on the NPR show, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me! Felber lives in Los Angeles.
ABOUT THE MEMOIR
CONFESSIONS OF A PUPPETMASTER: A Hollywood Memoir of Ghouls, Guts, and Gonzo Filmmaking
By Charles Band, with Adam Felber
4-color photo insert
William Morrow
November 16, 2021
$27.99, Hardcover; ISBN: 9780063087347
EBook: 9780063087361
Audio: 9780063087378"
To pre-order, visit: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/confessions-of-a-puppetmaster-charles-bandadam-felber?variant=39379925893154
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Talk SILENCE OF THE LAMBS with Jeffrey Cooper this Friday, October 29: "This Friday October 29 join Cut Entertainment Group founder/president Jeffrey Cooper for a virtual chat to discuss the masterful horror film “The Silence of the Lambs”.
What are the psychological components of the Jonathan Demme classic and why does it mesmerize audiences? What themes and components did the filmmakers craft that contributed to its success? What are the common denominators in films like “The Omen”, “The Exorcist”, and “Rosemary’s Baby?” Why is it that what is not seen on the screen and left to the imagination can reveal an innate fear far more powerful and effective than buckets of blood?
The live zoom event runs from 6:00 PM to 8:00 EST PM and is free. Horror fans only need click their mouse pointers to the Charleston Public Library website to register : https://www.ccpl.org/events/thriller-versus-horror-films-and-why-we-can%E2%80%99t-get-enough-featuring-silence-lambs"
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