I grew up on the films of Full Moon, the low budget genre studio founded by producer Charles Band. I watched and enjoyed nearly every movie put out by the company in their heyday, whether I was catching them on cable or reserving copies in advance at local video stores so I could rent them the day they came out. I went on adventures through time with TRANCERS' Jack Deth, I watched DOLLMAN fight the DEMONIC TOYS, I was mesmerized by the PUPPET MASTER films, and on and on.
This fall, authors Dave Jay, William S. Wilson, and Torsten Dewi, with the aid of guest contributors Nathan Shumate, Jay Woelfel, Chris Endicott, Thomas Sueyres, Dave Wain, and Matty Budrewicz, will be taking readers inside Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment studio with It Came from the Video Aisle, which promises to be "the ultimate Full Moon book"… and that means it's a must purchase as far as I'm concerned.
Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment was the most remarkable B-movie studio of the 1990s, responsible for a barrage of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror classics during the last true "golden age" of the home video era. From Puppetmaster to Trancers and beyond, Full Moon transformed the VHS experience for fans worldwide, bringing the inner workings of the movie-making process into the living room, and in turn creating a ravenous fanbase that remains to this day. This book tracks the history of the company, from its late '80s birth among the ruins of the American drive-in through to its bid to survive in the modern digital world. Featuring rare artwork, behind-the-scenes photos, and over 60 exclusive interviews with the cast and crew who helped to create the legendary B-movie studio, this is an essential read for any cult film fan still lamenting the death of the "mom 'n pop" video store.
Sporting a foreword by C. Courtney Joyner, writer of (among other things) PUPPET MASTER III, which many fans consider to be the best Full Moon movie, It Came from the Video Aisle is the authorized telling of the "history of the most ambitious B-movie studio of the 1990s and beyond". The soft cover's 480 pages feature 430 color images of "behind-the-scenes photos, posters, and artwork, many never before published".
The history of the story is told through interviews with the following people:
Charles Band, Richard Band, Jackson Barr, Adolfo Bartoli, J.R. Bookwalter, Jeff Burr, William Butler, J.S. Cardone, Benjamin Carr, Peter David, Sonny Carl Davis, Mike Deak, Danny Draven, Richard Elfman, Jack Ersgard, Ernest Farino, Jeff Farley, Brent Friedman, Stuart Gordon, Trent Haaga, Kenneth J. Hall, Linda Hassani, Sam Irvin, Mel Johnson Jr., Rolf Kanefsky, John Lechago, Jacqueline Lovell, Lee MacLeod, Peter Manoogian, Mark Manos, Ed Naha, Ted Nicolaou, Dennis Paoli, Dave Parker, Vlad Paunescu, Albert Pyun, Mark Rappaport, Fred Olen Ray, Ethan Reiff, Duncan Rouleau, David Schmoeller, Gary Schmoeller, Pat Siciliano, Venesa Talor, Tim Thomerson, Cyrus Voris, and Graeme Whifler.
It Came from the Video Aisle is set to be released on October 28, 2017. If you'd like to get your hands on a copy, the book can be pre-ordered on Amazon.