Charles Band Interview

Luc: Being raised on movie sets must have been quite an experience. What kind of lessons did your learn about the business from your father?

Charles: Well, there are so many because I apprenticed and did just about anything. At the time so many of the jobs weren’t so (laughs) glamorous. In retrospect, I appreciate everything he put me through but probably the biggest lesson is not a movie lesson per say, it was just being patient and Low-key. There is so much drama in this business; you have a lot of talented people who are artists and from small movies to bigger budgets with highly paid actors, there is a lot of that going on. The best way to approach a problem, and there are many, is to keep a cool head. I observed my dad doing that and he got along well with everyone and that is probably the number one lesson I learned from him. This lesson may relate to other things as well but as a film lesson in was the “how to” of dealing with people.

Luc: With your Cinemaker kit, you share a lot of your vast experience in producing independent sci-fi and horror movies. What kind of knowledge do you hope to transcend to the new generation of independent horror producers and what challenges can they be looking forward too in 2005 compared to the 70’s?

Charles: It hopefully comes out as a collection of observation and interviews with other wonderful filmmakers that made many movies, like Roger Corman. You have people in there who came up through the ranks and the landscape was so totally different back then, it was all film. The digital world we live in did not exist and therefore, the whole approach was different. At the end of the day, someone with a lot of enthusiasm and a certain amount of conviction still needs to go out and find money, like borrow money form friends or raise the money themselves to go out and make that movie. The only difference is the price of entry today, it is so much less, back then there was only one medium, the theatrical release. There was no video, no internet. It was just the few dollars you could get out of a B-side of a double bill. As well, if the picture was not up to a certain level of quality, it would never see the day. But of course, through history, millions of people made movies that are not releasable and would be shelved. To make these movies in those days, you still had to buy the film, the gear; it was quite expensive. No matter how clever you were at saving money or getting people to give you that money, the process was still much more expensive back then. Today with all the available technology, anyone with a little bit of technical knowledge can go out and make something like a movie but it really comes down to talent. That talent would reside into the story you want to tell, how well written the script is and ultimately, how well you’ll work with the actors. What I tell people all the time is: It’s a very quick study to find out or replicate how a scene is covered. The technical side is what turns on a lot of kids, with all the technology the have now such as digital cameras and the ability to edit scenes on the computer, they think they can be film makers. What really counts is the selection of the actors, the story you are telling and how you direct the actors. That is always more important than the technical stuff since you can always find someone who knows those technical things and can help you along the way. Someone who is interested in this line of work should get together with a little troop of actors and direct a play. This way, they can get familiar with the dialogue of how to deal with actors and that is really what counts, the rest is very easily found today and absorbed.

Luc: Wizard, which was a label that you had back in 79-80 was dusted off and brought back to life as your fully devoted production company. Can you tell us what lead to Wizard Entertainment and this resurrection of sorts?

Charles: I know this might be confusing to some people. The company itself is called Wizard it’s a new corporation and it is fun to use a little logo that existed some 20 odd years ago but in fact, as the new pictures come out, you’ll still see the Full Moon Features logo because I don’t want people to forget about it. Technically we are operating as Wizard but there will be a point in 2 or 3 releases where I don’t know if people will care too much about Wizard, like no one pays to much attention to Viacom when they are looking at a Paramount film. Full Moon will still identify the movies and merchandise.

Luc: We have read that you have used some very light CGI on DECADENT EVIL concerning Marvin’s blinking eyes. What are your views on CGI when applied to horror films? DECADENT EVIL

Charles: I’m not a big fan of CGI, especially in horror films. I like an organic look. CGI is good when it is subtle and used intelligently, I don’t like CGI animals running around the screen and all that stuff looks phony. I love Gladiator, I think it’s a great picture and I think that Riddley Scott is a genius, but those few shots of that tiger in the arena are just cartoony. I understand the difficulties behind those scenes, using live animals and trainers would not have been easy but choices were made and those were the results. I think the CGI in Jurassic Park is great but that was a different situation and again it was not flawless. For horror films, the ones that freak me out the most are much more organic. Now as for Decadent Evil and Doll Graveyard, there are some little CGI tricks that we used with the eyes blinking which worked well since it was subtle and very minimal. A lot of the tools today are amazing if you have a huge budget and even then, sometimes, it just doesn’t come out looking very good. On big budgets it’s kind of hard since everyone wants to do CGI now. But you have to fight (laughs) to go back to a more organic look.

Luc: Having dealt with the technical issues of bringing dolls to life in previous Full Moon movies such as the Puppet Master series, what were the technical differences in working with dolls again on Decadent Evil and Doll Graveyard? |PUPPET MASTER| |DECADENT EVIL| |DOLL GRAVEYARD|

Charles: The way I approached it concerning small budget movies in the past and even now, will stand the test of time I think and there is not that much difference between what we did 15 years ago for Puppet Master 1 and what we do now with Doll Graveyard. There are probably only 2 differences that come to mind. They are both CGI, one is the blinks (of the eyes) which we did not do back in the day since they used to be mechanical blinks; which were not organic looking. The new CGI technique used in Doll Graveyard is very good (laughs), you’ll see a lot of it in that movie. The second thing is that in the past it was very hard for us to hide the material used to move the puppets such as the rods. Back in the day, we used to hide these rods, sometimes 4-5 rods, behind furniture or within the floor to try and make it look as real as possible. Today, the rods can essentially be erased using CGI which is relatively affordable by now. As you’ll see in Doll Graveyard, the removal of the rods makes for a much more effective shot that if we would have done it a few years back. These are the two main things that make the process easier and also give you some cool results.

Luc: Speaking of dolls, you will be producing a lot of figures in the near future with Wizard Toys. What do you think about the recent wave of horror oriented toys targeted towards adult consumers?

Charles: It as become more and more of a collector’s market out there and I believe that the people who make these collectibles are aware that guys in there 40’s and 50’s want to place something well sculpted on there desk. It’s not a kid habit, it’s simply the maturing of the business like anything else and it’s also a small part of the business. Back when I did Full Moon Toys, we were producing relatively inexpensive toys (14.95$, 19.95$) and we were doing anywhere between forty thousand to eighty thousand units. Now, the new, more high-end polyresine sculpts that we are doing are going to be retailed at 39.95$ but we are just making less that two thousand (laughs). The small amount makes these more collectible and god be willing that some kids will want to place these on their desk but the aim is an older collector’s market. I think that this market is great since so many of the characters we grew up with are so cool and today, almost every one of these characters and creatures are available at a price. When I was a kid, I would of loved to have some of these things on my shelf and non of those were available. I seriously cannot think of something today that doesn’t already exist as a collector’s piece and that you can’t purchase somewhere. The market may be smaller for these kinds of things but the buyers must first love movies and know where these figures come from.

Luc: We have seen Phil Fondacaro in DECADENT EVIL and we’ll be hearing Gary Busey’s voice in GINGERDEAD MAN, what other famous faces or voices will we be seeing in the future? Could we possibly see Jeffrey Combs in an upcoming production? GINGERDEAD MAN

Charles: I’ve always done this and it will always stay the same, I never tried to populate these movies with know actors. If it makes sense with the story, then it’s great. Otherwise, I’m more into the concept of the dolls, creatures and into finding another actor who may want to be into one of these movies. There isn’t really anyone right now but if it happens, great, maybe for a more character driven story even. Right now, I did a movie that is in post production called The Cutter’s Club starring Tony Todd. I love Tony; he’s a fantastic actor (I agree). In that movie, he plays a split personality and since he’s the focal point of the film, even though there is a very nasty creature in it, it just made sense to have him there and he was very into it. But, I did not conceive the project around the idea that I needed someone with name value like Tony Todd, so it’s hard to predict who will ever be involved in the future, but I’m sure there will be more stars. I’m very proud of The Cutter’s Club that will be coming out early next year. Tony plays this fantastic character with two distinct personalities and he was great to work with. As for Jeffrey, he’s a great guy and we have a great relationship and there might be something along the way that I feel is perfect for Jeffrey, so you never know what might happen. There are a lot of other people I’d love to work with as well, like Demi Moore, Helen Hunt, Kelly Preston and Viggo Mortensen but I don’t think I can afford them anymore (laughs).

Luc: Your fans are very eager to meet you in person and our very excited about your upcoming US tour. We heard about the killer contest, what else can they be looking forward too?

Charles: There are going to be things that are somewhat of a surprise, like something that involves Harry Potter, believe it or not. There are a number of things that I will be doing on stage, a couple of fun bits that will involve some members of the audience. There will be a lot of fan participation and hopefully, at every stop, there would be a guess celebrity and then again, I can’t really talk about who they are yet, but they are people that I worked with and that are willing to hook-up with me on the road and that should be great fun for the fans. Also, I think that the Killer Contest is a great idea for the fans. It should be something between 15 to 20 cities. I don’t think anyone’s done a show like this and whoever is in the area should make the effort to come by and see us. It’s not an expensive outing at 27$ and it’s all about the joy and madness of making low budget movies.

Luc: Are there any Plans to come and visit your Canadian fans in the near future?

Charles: I’d love too. It’s funny though, the glass is either half-full or half-empty. I get calls from everywhere in North America asking me to come and visit. I guess if this show goes well I’ll definitely be scheduling myself for two more tours next year. It’s just like a Rock N’ Roll band going on the road and meeting there fans, so I’ll, be there for sure.