Charles Band's Full Moon Freakshow

This week it's our honour to welcome an absolute icon of not just horror cinema, but of international film culture, full stop, Lady Barbara Steele! After a moderately successful acting career in her native England, Barbara found her first taste of serious fame in Italy starring in director Mario Bava's landmark Gothic thriller BLACK SUNDAY and Ricardo Freda's eerie chiller THE HORRIBLE DR. HITCHCOCK before dancing for Fellini in his classic 1963 masterpiece 8 1/2. After a memorable turn in Roger Corman's 1961 Poe Cycle film THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM, Barbara would continue to be the Queen of the "Hollywood on the Tiber" scene in Italy throughout the decade, starring in a tidal wave of sensual shockers like THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH, NIGHTMARE CASTLE, CASTLE OF BLOOD, AN ANGEL FOR SATAN, THE SHE BEAST and many, many more. Moving permanently to America in the 1970's, Barbara would then appear in future genre classics like David Cronenberg's gruesome SHIVERS and Joe Dante's campy Corman-produced PIRANHA before teaming up with DARK SHADOWS guru Dan Curtis and co-producing his acclaimed TV miniseries THE WINDS OF WAR and its sequel WAR AND REMEMBRANCE, which earned her an Emmy Award in 1989. And despite all these listed achievements, we've really only just scratched the surface of this incredible artist's life. 

In this latest episode, Charlie welcomes real deal Full Moon royalty to the show: the great Tim Thomerson! Tim started his career in show business as a character actor and standup comedian doing the club circuit in LA, before being scouted by director Robert Altman to star in his 1978 comedy A WEDDING. That same year he would be cast as the gender bent Gene in the cult TV series Quark and then star in other films and television like the meta slasher classic FADE TO BLACK, at least one episode of FANTASY ISLAND and Charlie's 3D action film METALSTORM. But it was with his role as the no nonsense "future cop" in the 1985 sci-fi thriller TRANCERS that Tim would become an instant fan favorite. Later, he would reprise his role as Deth in further TRANCERS films as well as becoming DOLLMAN in the equally beloved Full Moon franchise. Of course, you've also seen him do his thing in other classic pictures like Kathryn Bigelow's NEAR DARK, the weird Sylvester Stallone/Dolly Parton comedy RHINESTONE, Sondra Locke's RATBOY and dozens upon dozens of other great entertainments.

Join Charlie on the road at Horror Hound weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio as he sits down with Musician/Actor William Katt [The Greatest American Hero, Carrie, House].

Dee Wallace joins Charlie on the Freakshow this week! From her first major role in Wes Craven's 1977 classic THE HILLS HAVE EYES, followed by a startling lead performance in Joe Dante's werewolf masterpiece THE HOWLING, Dee found superstardom starring as the mom in Steven Spielberg's juggernaut sci-fi family hit ET and soon afterwards, as yet more mom's encountering the unknown in the 1983 adaptation of Stephen King's CUJO and the cult creature feature CRITTERS. Since then, Dee has worked for greats like Peter Jackson and Rob Zombie, has appeared at least once in almost every TV series of the past 50 years and has also found herself a second career as a self help guru. Don't miss this episode!

Charlie welcomes veteran actor William Forsythe who you know from his work in the Cohen Brothers/Nicolas Cage comedy RAISING ARIZONA, his role as Flat Top in Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy, his appearances in Rob Zombie shockers like HALLOWEEN and THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, his role as the brutal butcher Manny Horowitz in HBO's BOARDWALK EMPIRE and many, many more. He's truly one of the great performers and we are honored to have him here, on the Freakshow!

Charles Band's beloved podcast returns for a second season and we're kicking it off with an interview with father/daugher cinephiles Roger and Gala Avary, recorded last year at Full Moon HQ! Hear stories from Roger about working for Charlie in his youth and learn about what goes into the making of the duo's Quentin Tarantino co-hosted show THE VIDEO ARCHIVES PODCAST!

This week on the Freakshow is a newly minted member of the Full Moon family and one of the most important B movie directors in history: the one, the only Jim Wynorski, director of THE LOST EMPIRE, CHOPPING MALL, BIG BAD MAMA 2 and THE RETURN OF THE SWAMP THING as well as the upcoming KILLBOTS!

This week, Charlie welcomes another buzz name in indie horror to the show: New England born writer, director Joe Begos! Joe first made a dent in the world of strange cinema with his 2013 sci-fi shocker ALMOST HUMAN and followed that with his critically acclaimed exploding head saga THE MIND'S EYE. Splatter-filled flicks like the punk rock vampire film BLISS and the epic survival shoot-em-up VFW starring DON'T BREATHE's Steven Lang and Fred "The Hammer" Williamson followed leading to his latest flick, the carnage filled Christmas slasher CHRISTMAS BLOODY CHRISTMAS, featuring a maniacal robotic department store Santa going on a bloody rampage.

In this epic, two-part interview, Charlie talks to director, writer, producer and podcaster Mick Garris, the man behind such genre faves as CRITTERS 2: THE MAIN COURSE, PSYCHO IV: THE BEGINNING and NIGHTMARE CINEMA as well as the Stephen King classic SLEEPWALKERS and the epic TV adaptations of King's THE STAND and THE SHINING. In 2005, he created the acclaimed MASTERS OF HORROR, an insanely ambitious TV series that amassed a staggering collection of talented directors like Stuart Gordon, Tobe Hooper and Dario Argento. Mick is a man of limitless talent and vision and a creator who has dedicated his life to strange cinema.

This week, Charlie welcomes  William Lustig - one of cult cinema's real deal heroes - to the Freakshow! As a director, Lustig made an instant splash in his early 20's helming the still shocking and controversial 1980 psychological slasher MANIAC, featuring gory effects by Tom Savini, and then continued evolving his craft with pictures like the MANIAC COP trilogy, the violent revenge thriller VIGILANTE and RELENTLESS. He also founded and still serves as the CEO of legendary home video label Blue Underground where he has spent decades rescuing and restoring some of the weirdest and coolest horror movies ever made.

This week, Charlie's guest is award-winning screenwriter Larry Karaszewski who, along with longtime writing partner Scott Alexander, co-penned such acclaimed pictures as Tim Burton's ED WOOD and BIG EYES; Milos Foreman's THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT and MAN ON THE MOON; the Stephen King adaptation 1408 and Eddie Murphy's triumphant comeback picture DOLEMITE IS MY NAME among many  others.  Larry is also a dedicated film historian and preservationist who eats, sleeps and breathes movies. Don't miss this one!

This week's guest got his start - as so many other great talents did - working for Roger Corman during the heyday of New World Pictures, first with the spastic comedy HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD and later with the ferocious Killer fish classic PIRANHA. He chased this early success with 1981’s THE HOWLING, widely considered the greatest werewolf movie ever made. And then came GREMLINS in 1984, the blockbuster film that almost single handedly spurred on the invention of the PG-13 rating. He’s one of the greatest horror and weird fantasy directors in history, he’s Joe Dante and we are honored to have him in the Freakshow!

This week Charlie welcomes one of the founding fathers of transgressive cinema; a man who broke all the rules and managed to magically make high art out of bad taste. His early films like Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and multiple maniacs secured him a rabid cult following of weirdos and his more mainstream efforts like Cry Baby and Hairspray made him a household name. He’s a writer, director, author, world traveler, comedian and oracle of Trash movie culture. He’s the immortal John Waters and we’re excited to have him on the Freakshow!

Last week's Freakshow guest was so awesome that we had to spread his gory gospel over two killer episodes. So with that, sit back, relax and get ready for the second installment of my epic chat with the one, the only Joe Bob Briggs...

This week Charlie welcomes actress, producer and horror movie icon Barbara Crampton to the show. Barbara first found maor fame starring in early Full Moon films like Stuart Gordon's RE-ANIMATOR and FROM BEYOND and would later appear in PUPPET MASTER, CASTLE FREAK and more. She has also worked for Brian DePalma, Roger Corman, Adam Wingard and Rob Zombie while also finding fame as a daytime soap opera star. Recently, Barbara made a serious comeback as a bloodsucking housewife in the award winning comedy horror movie JAKOB'S WIFE and she's got a number of awesome projects currently on the go. Get ready for another epic Freakshow chat!

This week, Charlie welcomes a man who almost single handedly invented independent genre cinema, the legendary Roger Corman. Corman first made waves via his work in the 1950s and '60s with American International Pictures, and later, with his own companies New World Pictures, Concorde, New Concorde and New Horizons. He's made over 200 films and distributed hundreds more and along the way has discovered and nurtured such major talents as Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Nicholson, Dick Miller, Joe Dante, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, James Cameron and many, many more. He's a force of nature that refuses to stop making movies his way and we couldn't be more thrilled to have him on the Freakshow!

In this second installment of our two-part chat with the one and only Cassandra Peterson (aka Elvira: Mistress of the Dark), Charlie gets the iconic Queen of Halloween to talk about the early days of Elvira, her foray into filmdom and much, much more! Don't miss this awesome episode! 

This week, Charlie welcomes the one and only Cassandra Peterson (aka the iconic Elvira: Mistress of the Dark) to the show! Cassandra's a horror culture superstar who has literally done it all; she's an actor, writer, producer, performer, comedian, singer, entrepreneur, a best-selling author and the undisputed Queen of Halloween. Bow down!

Charlie sits down with the "man behind the mask" Kane Hodder, the stuntman turned thespian whose greatest claim to freaky fame is playing iconic slasher Jason Voorhees in a handful of the latter FRIDAY THE 13th sequels! But there's more to Kane than meets the machete, as Charlie soon finds out!

This week on the Freakshow, Charlie welcomes horror icon Bill Moseley, the actor who first found fame starring as Choptop in Tobe Hooper's THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE PART 2 and then found even greater success starring as Otis in a series of gnarly Rob Zombie shockers like HOUSE OF A THOUSAND CORPSES and THE DEVIL'S REJECTS as well as dozens of other weird and wild genre movies. Then, model and influencer CJ Sparxx shows up to the party; she's the host of the popular podcast “inside OnlyFans” and she's been featured on multiple Playboy magazine covers and centerfolds. And it goes without saying that she's super hot!