Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals will be interested in his upcoming big coast-to-coast premiere of a cult classic mammoth sci-fi creature sequel masterpiece.
“Svengoolie” presents his big coast-to-coast premiere of “Ghoulies II” (1987/1988)
Original 1987/1988 Empire Pictures* theatrical release trailer for Albert Band‘s production of “Ghoulies II.” Sidebar: From the earlier Shout! Factory/Scream Factory/MGM* double-feature Blu-Ray twinset release of “Ghoulies” (1984) and “Ghoulies II,” which is currently out of print as of this writing**.
“They’ll get you in the end.. again!” Original 1987/1988 Empire Pictures theatrical poster for “Ghoulies II.”
The legendary Berwyn/Chicago classic mammoth sci-fi creature masterpiece feature film host will present his big coast-to-coast broadcast premiere of “Ghoulies II” (1987/1988), this Sat., July 15 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.
The cult classic mammoth 1987 sci-fi creature masterpiece sequel production was directed by veteran actor-turned-director-turned producer Albert Band. Albert Band is the real-life father of veteran director/producer and pioneering home entertainment distributor Charles Band; the junior Band founded pioneering home entertainment licensing/distribution firm Media Home Entertainment; according to the official website of Charles Band and a 1979 Billboard article on the early rise of Betamax and VHS videocassette formats.
Early in his feature film directorial career, the senior Band directed the cult classic mammoth Allied Artists (post-Monogram) western masterpiece production of “The Young Guns” (1956) with Russ Tamblyn, Gloria Talbott, Perry Lopez, Chubby Johnson and I. Stanford Jolley; the cult classic mammoth United Artists horror-thriller masterpiece production of “I Bury the Living” (1958) with Richard Boone (of TV’s “Have Gun, Will Travel” fame), legendary folk singer Theodore Bikel, Peggy Maurer, Howard Smith, Herbert Anderson (later of TV’s “Dennis the Menace” fame) and Robert Osterloh and the cult classic British horror-vampire masterpiece production of “Zoltan: Hound of Dracula” (1977, a.k.a. “Dracula’s Dog;” produced and released in Great Britain by music recording & electronics giant EMI, released in the United States through Crown International Pictures) with Michael Pataki, José Ferrer, Jan Shutan and Reggie Nalder.
Alongside directing his own productions, it was reported that the senior Band helped his son, Charles Band with his own numerous feature film and direct-to-video productions until the senior Band’s death in 2002. The original story concept cult classic mammoth 1987 sequel masterpiece production was written by Charlie Dolan and was adapted into a screenplay by veteran screenwriter Dennis Paoli. Known for writing numerous cult classic mammoth modern horror masterpiece productions, one of Paoli’s earliest involvements with screenwriting/teleplays was writing additional dialogue for Patterson Denny and Stuart Gordon‘s critically-acclaimed classic mammoth PBS comedy-drama teleplay masterpiece adaptation that was co-produced by Chicago’s Public TV station, WTTW/11 of Chicago’s Organic Theatre Company and their critically-acclaimed theatrical play masterpiece; “Bleacher Bums” (1979), a tribute to fans of the world-famous Chicago Cubs baseball team with young Joe Mantegna (the idea for “Bleacher Bums” came from Mantegna), young Dennis Franz (later of TV’s “NYPD Blue” fame), Roberta Custer, Richard Fire, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Mike Saad, Keith Szarabajka and Ian Patrick Williams. A recording of a 1984 WTTW/11 Chicago re-airing of the 1979 WTTW/PBS teleplay adaptation of “Bleacher Bums” was unearthed by veteran Berwyn/Chicago television archivist Rick Klein’s “FuzzyMemoriesTV: The Museum of Classic Chicago Television.” -C.H. “Ghoulies II” (1987) marked the only original screenwriting credit for Dolan in his brief screenwriting career.
The senior Band’s production of “Ghoulies II” (1987/1988) was the sequel to Luca Bercovici‘s cult classic mammoth sci-fi/creature masterpiece, “Ghoulies” (1984) with Peter Liapis, the legendary Michael Des Barres (“Murdoc” of TV’s “MacGyver” fame), Lisa Pelikan, Jack Nance, young Mariska Hargitay (later of TV’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” fame), Peter Risch, Tamara De Treaux, Scott Thomson, Ralph Seymour, Keith Joe Dick, David Dayan and Charene Cathleen.
Albert Band also served as producer and his son, Charles Band served as an executive producer of “Ghoulies II” (1987/1988) along with veteran associate producer Frank Hildebrand.
*The Band family and their production of “Ghoulies II” was produced and distributed through the junior Band’s production-releasing firm Empire Pictures/Empire International Pictures, which also produced the earlier cult classic mammoth sci-fi creature masterpiece production of “Ghoulies” (1984). Shortly after the release of “Ghoulies II” in the 1987-1988 theatrical release season, the Junior Band’s Empire Pictures ran into numerous financial difficulties due in part to the company’s reliance on financing for productions from the now-former French banking firm Crédit Lyonnais- Charles Band’s Empire Pictures/Empire International Pictures went defunct in the latter part of 1988. The Empire Pictures holdings were soon acquired by Moshe Diamant and Eduard Sarlui’s independent releasing company Trans World Entertainment/Epic Pictures (of “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” fame); according to Luke Ford’s interview with Moshe Diamant.
Diamant and Sarlui’s Trans World Entertainment/Epic Pictures would run into similar financial problems that Band had with Empire- as TWE/Epic Pictures also relied on financing for productions from Crédit Lyonnais- the combined entertainment firm and banking firm soon ran into additional financial problems around 1993 and combined the Empire/TWE/Epic Pictures library holdings and other Crédit Lyonnais-inherited TV/film holdings from similar financial matters, according to Suzan Ayscough’s 1993 article in Variety; another 1993 Variety article and a 1995 Variety article.
After Crédit Lyonnais’ debacle, the Empire/Trans World/Epic library was then transferred into the hands of the French Government’s Consortium de Realisation agency, or CDR. France’s CDR then sold the Empire/Trans World/Epic film collection to Philips Electronics‘ music recording and film subsidiary PolyGram, according to Rex Weiner’s 1997 Variety article. After Philips Electronics of the Netherlands exited the music recording/film/TV program industry, the electronics giant sold off PolyGram to Canada’s Seagram Group; which then-owned rival Universal Studios/MCA at the time. The pre-1996 PolyGram Filmed Entertainment /Empire Pictures/Epic Productions/Trans World feature film library was then sold to the current incarnation of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1998, according to Claudia Eller’s Oct. 1998 Los Angeles Times article. MGM placed the aforementioned library, including “Ghoulies”/”Ghoulies II” under the company’s other acquisition of Orion Pictures; including Orion’s ownership of the majority of the American-International Pictures/Filmways library.
After the demise of Empire, Charles Band immediately re-entered independent film production by establishing Full Moon Features, which specializes in producing modern low-budget horror/sci-fi feature films for direct-to-video distribution through various home entertainment and premium streaming subscription firms. In 2017, The junior Band’s Full Moon Features released a now-rare limited multi-Blu-Ray disc anthology box set of feature films that were produced by Empire by arrangement with the current incarnation of MGM that included both “Ghoulies”/”Ghoulies II,” according to a 2017 online advertisement from the official YouTube channel of Full Moon Features, titled “The Empire Pictures Blu-Ray Collection.” -C.H.
In Svengoolie’s home area of Berwyn/Chicago, Illinois; he previously showcased the senior Band’s cult classic mammoth 1987/1988 “Ghoulies” sequel masterpiece production as a Berwyn/Chicago big broadcast premiere back in November 2001 on his hometown TV station in Berwyn/Chicago, Ilinois; WCIU-TV 26/”The U,” according to IMDB.
Who was in Albert Band’s production of “Ghoulies II” (1987/1988)?
The players who appeared in the senior Band’s cult classic mammoth Empire Pictures sci-fi creature masterpiece sequel production of “Ghoulies II” (1987/1988) were Damon Martin (as Larry), Royal Dano (as Uncle Ned), Kerry Remsen (as Nicole), Dale Wyatt (as Dixie), Phil Fondacaro (as Sir Nigel Pennyweight), J. Downing (as P. Hardin), Jon Pennell (as Bobby), Sasha Jenson (as Teddy), Starr Andreeff (as Alice), William Butler (as Merle), Donnie Jeffcoat (as Eddie), Christopher Burton (as Leo), Mickey Knox (as Ray), Romano Puppo (as Zampano), Ames Morton (as Patty), Michael Deak (as Bozo)***, Anthony Dawson (as the Priest) and Hal Rayle (in an uncredited role for the vocal stylings/vocal characterizations of the “Ghoulies” creatures).
Silver Screen Reflections 