With practical effects designer-turned-director Damien Leone's Terrifier 3 making horror movie history, now seems like a good time to look back at some other special effects wizards who took a shot at directing their own films. Spoilers: they do a good job.
1. Night of the Living Dead (1990, dir. Tom Savini)
It seems unthinkable to remake Night of the Living Dead, George A. Romero's zombie classic and one of the five most influential horror movies of all time. All a filmmaker could conceivably do to "update" it is to add color and more practical gore, two things Night wasn't missing in the first place. But first-time director (and longtime Romero collaborator) Tom Savini makes a few changes that fundamentally alter what the story is really about, maybe not for the better but at least for the different. The story still works and is timeless, the makeup impressive. It's just a shame that the movie came out in 1990, when the MPAA was gunning for horror following its success in the previous decade, and most of the blood and gore was cut from the finished film. It's crazy to think that all three films in Romero's original Dead trilogy have now been remade. Two of them are good.
2. Pumpkinhead (1988, dir. Stan Winston)Arguably the best of all the movies on this list, Stan Winston's directorial debut is both a great folk horror film and introduces one of the best movie monsters of the 1980s. Lance Henriksen gives his usual 100% committed performance as a grieving farmer who conjures up an evil spirit to take revenge on the teenagers who killed his son in a horrible accident. While the excellence of the titular monster should come as no surprise -- this is a Stan Winston creation, after all -- what is most impressive about the movie is Winston's control of the tone. Equal parts sad, tragic, and scary, Pumpkinhead bucks the trend of '80s horror by doing away with the "fun" and instead opting to be something deadly serious and creating a brand new mythology. It's a shame Winston didn't direct more horror; his only other feature credit would be A Gnome Named Norm in 1990.
3. Wishmaster (1997, dir. Robert Kurtzman)Obviously, I defer to Adam Riske on this one. He has been a lover and champion of it for as long as I've known him, and it's his infectious enthusiasm that got me to both revisit and reconsider a movie I had previously written off (I think?) as coming from a fallow period of horror. It's too much fun to be ignored. Robert Kurtzman (formerly of KNB) acquits himself well in the director's chair, Andrew Divoff is having a blast in the Robert Englund position, and the practical effects are just incredible, particularly in the movie's insane prologue. Thank you, Adam, for beating the drum for Wishmaster.
4. The Fly II (1989, dir. Chris Walas)No, it's not David Cronenberg's The Fly, even if it does borrow the structure and most of the main story beats. It's Son of the Fly in every way. Literally. Eric Stoltz is the progeny of Seth and Ronnie from the first film, who is raised in a lab and eventually begins morphing into a fly because that shit is genetic. The screenplay boasts Mick Garris and Frank Darabont among its contributors, but was rewritten, rushed, and studio noted to death. Walas, making his directorial debut after handling the amazing effects on the 1986 remake, really comes to life as director in the movie's gore-heavy last half hour when The Fly II goes totally bananas and features peeling faces, elevator squishings, and lots of goop. He would direct only one more feature: 1992's The Vagrant, still unseen by me.
5. Cellar Dwellar (1988, dir. John Carl Buechler)The late John Carl Buechler started working on Roger Corman movies before becoming a Charles Band guy, handling many of the monsters and effects for the original Empire Pictures productions. It was Band who gave Buechler his break as a director, hiring him to helm a segment of The Dungeonmaster and eventually Troll. Buechler's best movie as director, though -- better even than Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (sorry, Mike) -- is the 1988 Empire production Cellar Dwellar, about a comic book monster that comes to life and stalks the house in which he's been magically released. Written by an uncredited Don Mancini (the Child's Play/Chucky franchise), the movie boasts a really fun Beuchler monster, a wacky ensemble cast that includes Jeffrey Combs, Yvonne de Carlo, and future Paramount CEO Brian Robbins, and a runtime of only 77 minutes. This is the kind of movie that makes me miss Empire.
OOOOO love the theme...thanks! also i have a few gaps on this list (dont tell Adam that Wishmaster is one of them! SHAME! SHAME!). Might have to squeeze one or two in before end o month! woot!
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DeleteI haven't seen Pumpkinhead since the first night it came out. Honestly I think I might have been too young for it. I remember Henrickson and the witch being really good and Pumkinhead looked so awesome but the movie was so sad. I'm ashamed to admit I've seen Bloodwings more than this one. Its an Ami Dolenz thing(I also saw Shes Out of Control opening night )
ReplyDeleteAnyways its due for a rewatch(Pumpkinhead not SOoC).
Fly 2 might need to get seen again as well as its been awhile for that one too. Zuniga alone should've justified a rewatch but I got to get past the dog scene.
I wish I could see Wishmaster thru Riske's eyes.
Great article Patrick.