"I didn't know Dino, but I knew Dino. I'd grown up knowing Italian men cut from the same mold - expressive, warm, clever old guys, with just a hint of scoundrel underneath. My kind of people."
Telling because, after inhaling his fast-paced and breezy narrated autobiography, I have zero doubt that quite a few people would describe the gleefully indefatigable and unstoppable Charles Band the same way.
Because while he presents himself as being warm, expressive, and clever, Band also glistens with the sometimes alluring, sometimes off-putting, snake oil sheen of a true huckster. One that is self-aware of his many and considerable faults, but also bubbles with an infectious and delightful energy about what he has done and, for both better and worse, accomplished.
Charles Band loves what he does and, truth be told, that he has managed to land on his feet, even with the occasional shirt losing or arrest warrant inducing obstacle, and keep making multiple movies year in and year out for decades. Well, that is an impressive feat in and of itself.
In the early 90s I took to describing Charles Band as "an amalgamation of Roger Corman, Stan Lee, and George Lucas." An instinctual observation proven true while reading this bright and breezy book. Band has the unapologetic exploitation film production mindset of Corman, the four-color and cartoonish imagination of Lee, and the merchandising instincts of Lucas.
What Band lacks in ability, be it artistic or financial, he more than compensates for with exuberant tenacity. Something this brisk and breezy 275 page read illustrates with gusto. To this day Charles Band seems incapable of slowing down or resting on the laurels of his b-movie legacy. Because there is always some new gimmick or concept to exploit and explore.
So I tip my hat, raise a glass, and fervently hope that the Puppetmaster's Full Moon Empire might lasts just a tad longer. While some may grumble and bemoan Band and his output. I think the entertainment world and film industry is brighter and more interesting place because his glorious and oddball output.
Read and enjoy these Confessions of a Puppetmaster.
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