Confessions of a Puppetmaster: A Hollywood Memoir of Ghouls, Guts, and Gonzo Filmmaking – The Wild, Candid Story of Exploitation Cinema and a Fortune Made and Lost - Hardcover

Band, Charles; Felber, Adam

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0063087340 ISBN 13: 9780063087347

Verlag: William Morrow, 2021

Inhaltsangabe

“Confessions of a Puppetmaster is a fast, funny, wild ride through some wild times. Plus, Charlie compares me to Harrison Ford, so I’m all in!” —Bill Maher

Renowned producer, director, and “B movie” showman Charles Band takes readers on a wild romp through Hollywood’s decidedly un-Oscar-worthy underbelly, where mayhem and zombies reign supreme, and cheap thrills and entertainment are king

"This book is a blast. It made me want to stay up all night and watch terrible movies." —Peter Sagal

"One of the most entertaining film bios ever." —Larry Karaszewski

"Reads like a Tarantino film written by Hunter S. Thompson." —Booklist

Zombies, aliens, a little skin, lots of gore—and even more laughs—the cinematic universe of Charles Band is legendary. From the toilet-invading creatures of Ghoulies to the time-travelling bounty hunter in Trancers to the pandemic-crashed Corona Zombies, Band has spent four decades giving B-movie lovers exactly what they love. In Confessions of a Puppetmaster, this congenial master of Grindhouse cinema tells his own story, uncut.

Born into a family of artists, Band spent much of his childhood in Rome where his father worked in the film industry. Early visits to movie sets sealed young Charlie’s fate. By his twenties he had plunged into moviemaking himself and found his calling in exploitation movies—quick, low-budget efforts that exploit the zeitgeist and feed people’s desire for clever, low-brow entertainment. His films crossed genres, from vampire flicks to sci fi to erotic musical adaptations of fairy tales. As he came into his own as a director, he was the first to give starring roles to household names like Demi Moore, Helen Hunt, and Bill Maher.

Off set, Band’s life has been equally epic. Returning to his beloved Italy, he bought both Dino De Laurentiis’s movie studio and a medieval castle. After Romania’s oppressive communist regime fell, he circumvented the U.S. State Department to shoot films in Dracula’s homeland. He made—and then lost—a moviemaking fortune. A visionary, Band was also at the vanguard of the transition to home video and streaming, making and distributing direct-to-video movies long before the major studios caught on.

In this revealing tell-all, Band details the dizzying heights and catastrophic depths of his four decades in showbiz. A candid and engaging glimpse at Hollywood’s wild side, Confessions of a Puppetmaster is as entertaining as the movies that made this consummate schlockmeister famous.

 

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Charles Band is a renowned producer, director, mogul, and “B movie” showman. He has directed or produced more than 360 films, including cult classics like Ghoulies and Tourist Trap, one of Stephen King’s favorite horror movies. He lives in Los Angeles.

Adam Felber is an Emmy-nominated and WGA Award-winning writer and performer whose credits include Real Time with Bill Maher, and the children’s programs Wishbone and Arthur. He lives in Los Angeles.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: William Morrow
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0063087340
• ISBN 13: 9780063087347
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 288
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: HarperCollins Publishers, Product Safety Manager; enquiries@harpercollins.ie; ; HarperCollins, Macken House, 39/40 Mayor Street Upper; Dublin 1; D01 C9W8; Irland