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Just when I was beginning to think that Full Moon Productions was
dead and buried, I received a mysterious package from a company
called Amazing Fantasy Entertainment. Enclosed in the package was
a copy of the latest Charles Band flick "Hideous!" One look at
the cover art – a handful of mutated little freaks in action
poses – and I began to experience horrid flashbacks to Full Moon’s
many failed franchise attempts. But reviewing direct-to-video films
is my job, so I buckled down and put that sucker in my VCR . . .
Before I begin to praise "Hideous!," I must take a moment to explain
my trepidation when it comes to Charles Band and his Full
Moon Entertainment moniker. Mr. Band was singlehandedly responsible
for the glut of cheesy horror product in the direct to video
market during the mid-eighties. As anyone who reads this column
knows, I’m a fan of this particular flavor of cinema. And
although Charles Band had a fair number of interesting
projects – "TerrorVision," "From Beyond," and "The Pit and
the Pendulum" to name a few – a majority of his film projects
were crass attempts at franchising characters. Troma Films enjoyed
a moderate level of success with this tactic, but Band and Full
Moon never had the renegade spirit that endears Troma to its
fans. Their attempts to exploit horror fans with numerous
idiotic sequels and crossover films were tainted with a sense
of disdain for the very people it wanted to sell to. The vibe I
got from the countless "Puppet Master" and "Trancers" sequels was
that Charles Band didn’t give a damn about making quality product
or interesting story . . . He was just cranking out concept
characters, hoping that one of them would become a Saturday
morning cartoon and make him rich beyond his wildest
dreams.
<a href= "http://www.fullmoonpictures.com">Full Moon Pictures - makers of Hideous!</a>
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