Puppet Master and More: The Best Full Moon Gifts to Buy This Halloween Season
From Puppet Master to Subspecies, here are the can't-miss items to snag from Full Moon this spooky season.
This article is sponsored by Hachette Partworks.
There were always certain things horror fans looked for when aimlessly strolling the aisles of their local video store late at night. A catchy title. Some cool artwork (the more lurid, the better). Over time, they may have even grown to recognize a studio logo or two. And if they saw Full Moon on the box, they knew they were probably in for a particularly good time.
Full Moon is best known for being the purveyors of long-running horror franchise Puppet Master, atmospheric Romania-shot vampire flicks like Subspecies, not to mention some true sci-fi gems like the Trancers films, Doctor Mordrid, Robot Wars, and more. There’s always been a certain inimitable charm and irreverence about Full Moon, one that recalls the early days of Marvel Comics, and that even predates the MCU by decades with its own “cinematic universe.”
We can, and probably will, do a whole series on the wonders of Full Moon and its predecessor, Empire Pictures, one of these days. But for now, we’ve got some tips to make your Halloween season really scream. A buying guide packed to the rafters with some of the coolest horror merch you can shake a puppet’s hooked hand at.
Let’s go…
Horror Puppet: The Further Adventures of a Cinema Survivor by Charles Band
For anyone who has read Charles Band’s first memoir, Confessions of a Puppetmaster: A Hollywood Memoir, you might be wondering what the heck is left to tell. Band’s earlier book is a riotous recounting of a life well-lived in Hollywood, from a man who literally grew up on and around film sets. It’s a sharp, funny, often self-deprecating look at the career of the man who created the Full Moon brand and brought some of the most notorious and beloved cult films of a generation to life. (This is a man who maintained a residence in a spooky castle in Italy and bought and lived on the grounds of Harry Houdini’s Los Angeles estate for a while.) Of course it was a great read, and of course, like any so many Hollywood B-movie stories, there has to be at least one sequel.
Which brings us to Band’s latest memoir, Horror Puppet: The Further Adventures of a Cinema Survivor. Like any good sequel, we find our hero “five years later.” Band hasn’t stopped making movies and he’s still one of genre’s most beloved eccentrics. Full Moon is still going strong with new flicks (often lurid, wild, irreverent ones) and their head honcho is here to blend the wild tales of moviemaking with the sometimes wilder tales of his personal life. Whether it’s excavating relics in Italy, becoming an olive oil baron, or bringing elevated horror fare like Models vs. Werewolves to the masses, Band and co-author Adam Felber will remind you that the only way to live is fearlessly. Even if the movies might give you a fright every now and then.
Toulon’s Trunk – The Ultimate Puppet Master Collectible
The cool kids know the truth: the Puppet Master series should be spoken of in the same breath as any of the other great horror franchises of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Freddy? Feh. Jason? A jock in a hockey mask. Michael? Learn your lines. Give us Blade (not the vampire hunter), Pinhead (no, not that one), or the incredibly unsettling Leech Woman any day. There are a whopping 15 flicks in the Puppet Master franchise, and if you haven’t seen all of ‘em, you’ve probably seen at least one, and we’re sure you’d recognize Blade if you saw him staring back at you from a VHS box.
A boxed set containing the first 13 Puppet Master movies on Blu-ray plus a bonus disc with six hours of behind-the-scenes footage (do you have any idea what it takes to get those puppets to convincingly murder their human co-stars?) would be cool enough on its own. But when it’s made of wood and metal and made to look like titular puppet master Andre Toulon’s trunk of sinister magical rarities (the wonderfully titled Arcana of the Puppet Master), then you’ve really got something special on your hands.
Puppet Master 12 Blu-ray Collection
OK, so maybe you’re not a Puppet Master superfan yet and the notion of a replica of Andre Toulon’s trunk of evil mystical wonders isn’t quite your bag. Then might we suggest this boxed set of the first 11 Puppet Master movies, plus the aforementioned Arcana of the Puppet Master behind-the-scenes disc? Check it out here. Oh, and did we mention that the later films feature Nazis biting it in increasingly unpleasant fashion? Because they sure do, and boy is it satisfying.
If you’re new to Full Moon and not yet ready to take the plunge on the full franchise here, do yourself a favor and at least check out the original Puppet Master. Thank us later.
The Andre Toulon Puppet Master Replica Collection – BLADE
The only thing better than a prop replica is a replica of a murderous haunted puppet with a knife and a hook instead of hands. When the main characters of one of the most storied horror franchises of all time are essentially toys, why skimp on the details? Indulge your wildest Puppet Master dreams with Blade, the most iconic of the bunch. Standing 17” high, just like his screen counterpart, Blade and his brothers and sisters in the Andre Toulon Collection are destined to be unsettling conversation pieces the next time you have a house full of your psychic buddies investigating your untimely and mysterious end.
Check out Blade here, and be sure to click through to see the stunning replicas of these other iconic characters. Collect them all! (Legal Disclaimer: Den of Geek will not be held responsible for any actions the puppets may or may not take on their own.)
Models vs. Werewolves Blu-ray
Folks, sometimes you just want to watch a horror movie that does exactly what it says on the box. Are you in the mood for beautiful women? Or maybe you need to (gently, if you have claws) scratch a certain lycanthropic itch? Why not both?
We’ve long been of the opinion that good werewolf movies are in relatively short supply these days in the sea of moodier, more cerebral, “elevated horror” fare. Thus, Models vs. Werewolves is here to get you through the next um…Full Moon. Bonus time! Models vs. Werewolves features the beloved Dee Wallace, bringing her career full circle from her starring role in that other classic werewolf flick, The Howling back in 1981. Check it out here.
Puppet Master Backpack Charm – LaBlade
Look, what’s an exploitation cinema house to do except, y’know, exploit trends? The LaBlade backpack charm is infinitely cooler and at least more explicably ugly than other backpack charms with brand names you may have heard of. Clever, collectible, cool, and as they say “a perfect way to accessorize!”
Check this little guy out here.
Subspecies Blu-ray
Are you ready for your next “every single October” horror movie viewing? Because if a low budget vampire movie actually shot in Romania, where the locations provide more authentic atmosphere than any eight or nine figure budgeted blockbuster could ever dream of, doesn’t get the ol’ blood flowing, we don’t know what will.
Subspecies is the tale of three young women and their misadventures in a Romanian village, and their encounters with perhaps the most gruesome and unsettling vampire in cinematic history, the truly terrifying Radu. Puppet Master is understandably the face of the Full Moon franchise, but there are six Subspecies flicks and all of ‘em are worth your time. At least do yourselves a favor and check out the first one, and drink your fill of those creepy Carpathian nights.
BONUS CHRISTMAS SECTION!
Just like you, it pisses us off when there’s Christmas merchandise up in stores before Halloween. But get that Christmas shopping done early for your coolest friends and relatives, and help them understand that the spooky season doesn’t have to end when the last of the candy corn has been fed to the neighborhood kids.
Gingerdead Man Resin Statue
Ah, a holiday tale as old as time. An executed murderer’s ashes are added to some gingerbread spice mix and a murderous cookie is born. Could happen to anyone, really! The Gingerdead Man occupies that rare space of Christmas-adjacent horror, but also features a truly unhinged Gary Busey performance (is there any other kind?). This 8.75” tall Gingerdead Man resin statue can keep you and your loved ones motivated as a seasonal kitchen decoration as you crank out batches and batches and batches of holiday cookies.
Full Moon’s Holiday Horror Ornaments
A boxed set of holiday horror, just to make Santa think twice about those cookies you left by the tree (hey, why do they sound like Gary Busey?). You get six (six six) resin-cast ornaments that showcase some of the most memorable characters Full Moon has to offer. You get Full Moon stalwarts like Blade and Jester (Puppet Master), Myron (Head of the Family, a movie we need to tell you about one of these days), Gingerdead Man (see above), Killer Eye (star of, wait for it, The Killer Eye), and Radu (Subspecies).
Come to think of it, screw Christmas, get these for Halloween and find an excuse to add more disembodied heads to your collection! Check it out here.
All of this and more can be found from our friends at Full Moon Horror!