From HouseofHorrors.com
All The Info You Need On Masters Of Horror Season Two
By Dave Dreher
Oct 19, 2006, 07:47
This mornings email
brought a wealth of info on the forthcoming Masters of Horror Season
2. Below you will find pretty much all the info you need on what
this season has in store for us.
Season Two kicks off on Oct. 27th on Showtime Check it out:
Masters of Horror: Season 2 Stars include:
Sean
Patrick Flanery (The Boondock Saints, The Dead Zone), Ron Perlman
(Hellboy), Meat Loaf (Fight Club), Michael Ironside (Scanners, Total
Recall), Marisa Coughlan (Boston Legal, Teaching Mrs. Tingle), George
Wendt (Cheers), John Saxon (From Dusk till Dawn, A Nightmare on Elm
Street), Ted Raimi (Spider-Man), Meredith Monroe (Dawson’s Creek)
andMatt Keeslar (Waiting for Guffman, Art School Confidential).
MASTERS OF HORROR: Season 2 – Episode Descriptions
(In alphabetical order by directors’ last name)
“Sounds Like" by Brad Anderson- 11/17/2006
Quality
control supervisor Larry Pearce (CHRIS BAUER) spends his days
monitoring the nuances of his tech support staff’s telephone
conversations… listening is his life. However, when grief over
his son’s death leads to a supernaturally heightened sense of sound,
Larry is forced to take violent action to silence the horrific
cacophony in his head. Its “The Tell-Tale Heart” meets “The
Conversation” in this tale of psychological terror based on Mike
O’Driscoll’s short story. LAURA MARGOLIS also stars.
Brad Anderson (“The Machinist,” “Session 9”) is set to direct.
“Pelts” by Matt Venne.- 12/1/2006
Fur
trader Jake Feldman (MEATLOAF) knows that you can’t make a coat without
breaking a few animals’ necks. In his pursuit to make the perfect
fur coat to win over a woman, Feldman steals supernatural raccoon pelts
that violently turn against those that covet them. “The
skin trade” gets a whole new twist in this Giallo-style adaptation of
F. Paul Wilson’s short story. JOHN SAXON also stars.
Dario Argento (“Suspiria,” “Terror at the Opera”) is set to direct.
“Pro-Life” by Drew McWeeny & Scott Swan - 11/24/2006
A
near-accident on an isolated mountain road lands young Angelique
(CAITLIN WACHS) in a nearby women’s health clinic. As her
fervently anti-abortion father Dwayne (RON PERLMAN) and his well-armed
three sons attempt to “liberate” Angelique, she discovers that the only
thing more dangerous than her would-be saviors is the demonic seed
growing within her. MARK FEUERSTEIN and EMMANUELLE VAUGIER also
star.
John Carpenter (“Halloween,” “The Thing”) is set to direct.
“The Screwfly Solution” by Sam Hamm. - 12/8/2006
Based
on the short story by Raccoona Sheldon, a deadly virus infects the
nation, transforming men into psychotic killers who attack every woman
that crosses their paths. A suburban housewife and her teenage daughter
embark on a treacherous journey to survive, but how can they protect
themselves from an entire gender gone mad? JASON PRIESTLY and
ELLIOT GOULD star.
Joe Dante (“The Howling,” “Gremlins”) is set to direct.
“The V Word” by Mick Garris. -11/10/2006
When
two teenage boys break into a mortuary in hope of seeing a dead body,
the macabre punishment visited upon them will far outweigh their
crime. Instead of fulfilling their morbid curiosity, the boys are
attacked by a rampaging vampire (MICHAEL IRONSIDE) and must ultimately
decide whether to sacrifice themselves or survive as blood-thirsty
killers.
Ernest Dickerson (“Bones,” “Demon Knight”) is set to direct.
“Valerie on the Stairs” by Mick Garris. -12/29/2006
At
a commune for aspiring novelists, Rob Hanisee (TYRON LEITSO) discovers
that there are fates worse than literary anonymity when he is visited
by a strange apparition. Beautiful, naked and covered with
supernatural ooze, Valerie might be the muse that Rob has always
searched for -- or the manifestation of a much darker force. Blood and
death follow Rob across the tenuous line between life and art.
CHRISTOPHER LLOYD also stars in this adaptation of Clive Barker's
original screen story.
Mick Garris (“Riding the Bullet,” “The Stand”) is set to direct.
“The Black Cat” by Stuart Gordon & Dennis Paoli.
Edgar
Allan Poe (JEFFREY COMBS), out of ideas and short of cash, is tormented
by a black cat that will either destroy his life or inspire him to
write one of his most famous stories.
Stuart Gordon (“Re-Animator,” “Dagon”) is set to direct.
“We All Scream for Ice Scream” by David J. Schow.
Years
ago, a youthful prank by a gang of kids known as the West End Bunch
went seriously wrong. Now grown up and a parent himself, former
West-Ender Layne Banixter (LEE TERGESON) witnesses the friends of his
youth systematically murdered by their own children, who have
inexplicably turned against them. In order to save his family, Layne
must face long-buried fears and the realization that sometimes the sins
of the fathers are visited upon the son. WILLIAM FORSYTHE also
stars in this adaptation of John Farris’ short story.
Tom Holland (“Fright Night,” “Child’s Play”) is set to direct.
“The Damned Thing” by R.C. Matheson. - 10/27/2006
An
unknown monstrous force descends upon a small Texas town, turning
husband against wife, brother against sister, parent against child.
Tortured by his own tragic past, Sheriff Kevin Reddle (SEAN PATRICK
FLANERY) must overcome his horrific rage if he is to restore
order. MARISA COUGHLAN and TED RAIMI also star in this
apocalyptic tale of terror.
Tobe Hooper (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Poltergeist”) is set to direct.
“Family” by Brent Hanley. - 11/3/2006
The
Fullers (MEREDITH MONROE and MATT KEESLAR), a young married couple,
move to a new town and discovers that their neighbor, Harold Thompson
(GEORGE WENDT), is not what he seems. He putters away at his
hobbies; however, his passion is anything but innocent. The
Fullers will soon know what evil lurks in the depth of suburban
basements.
John Landis (“American Werewolf in London,” “Thriller”) is set to direct.
“The Washingtonians” by Jonathon Schaech & Richard Chizmar.
After
his grandmother’s funeral, Mike (JONATHON SCHAECH) discovers an
artifact in her basement could re-write the history of our
nation. Interpreting clues that suggest George Washington was in
fact an insatiable cannibal, Mike must protect his family and escape
from a band of loyal Washingtonians, hungry for human flesh and willing
to protect our founding father’s secrets at any cost. SAUL
RUBINEK also stars in this adaptation of Bentley Little’s short story.
Peter Medak (“The Changeling”) is set to direct.
“Right to Die” by CREDITS TO BE DETERMINED
Her
flesh has been charred and her body remains comatose, but from a strict
medical perspective, Abby is still alive. Beset by guilt, her
conflicted husband Cliff (MARTIN DONOVAN) is determined to get a court
order to cease her pain. Her condition worsening, she repeatedly
flat-lines and is revived. But each time Abby’s body dies, her
apparition grows stronger, violently attacking those that have taken
advantage of her plight. If Cliff pulls the plug, he’s next on
the list. This topical horror story takes a supernatural stand on
the right-to-life debate. CORBIN BERNSEN also stars.
Rob Schmidt (“Wrong Turn”) is set to direct.
“Dream Cruise” by Naoya Takayama and Norio Tsuruta.
Jack
(DANIEL GILLIES), an American lawyer working in Tokyo, has fallen in
love with the wife of his most valued client, Eiji. Despite Jack's
deep-rooted fear of the sea, he reluctantly accepts Eiji's invitation
to join the couple for a day trip on the Tokyo Bay. Pleasure turns to
terror as they discover the watery destiny in store for each of them.
RYO ISHIBASHI and YOSHINO KIMURA also star in this adaptation of Koji
Suzuki’s short story.
Norio Tsuruta (“Ringu 0: Bâsudei,” “Premonition”) is set to direct.
Director BIOS
BRAD ANDERSON
The
Darien Gap, Brad Anderson's first feature, screened in competition at
the '96 Sundance Film Festival. Because of this film he was honored by
Variety in '97 as one of the "Ten Leading New Independent Directors to
Watch." In 1998 his film Next Stop Wonderland, featuring Hope Davis and
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, was picked up at Sundance by Miramax. It won
the Grand Prix and Audience awards at the Deauville Film Festival, as
well as the Excellence in Filmmaking Award by the National Board of
Review.
In
2001 he had the unusual experience of having two of his films
simultaneously hit theaters, both to overwhelming critical praise: the
romantic comedy Happy Accidents (IFC Films), which stars Marisa Tomei
and Vincent D'Onofrio; and the horror film Session 9 (USA Films), which
stars David Caruso, Josh Lucas and Peter Mullan. The Machinist,
produced and shot in Spain and starring Christian Bale and Jennifer
Jason Leigh, premiered at Sundance and the Berlin Film Festival and was
released by Paramount Classics in 2004. He is currently developing a
thriller called Lucid and a musical called Nonstop to Brazil.
His television directing credits include episodes of Homicide, The Wire, The Shield, and Surface.
DARIO ARGENTO
Dario
Argento is Italy’s leading director of innovative surreal thriller and
horror movies. The son of Salvatore Argento, one of the big movie
producers of the 60’s and 70’s, and Elda Luxardo, the well-known
photographer, he began his career as a film critic. Together with
Bernardo Bertolucci he then worked as assistant scriptwriter to his
great maestro, Sergio Leone, for whom he wrote the story for ONCE UPON
A TIME IN THE WEST (1968). In 1970, Argento made his directing debut
with THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE. This was followed by CAT O’
NINE TAILS (1971), and FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (1972). This trilogy
contributed to establishing Dario Argento as a recognized master of the
thriller genre. In 1975, after a brief departure from his usual fare,
during which he made LE CINQUE GIORNATE (THE 5 DAYS WAR) (1973), he
returned to his own unique vision of horror, generating terror amongst
movie audiences with DEEP RED, considered by many critics his
masterpiece.
The
year 1977 marked the release of SUSPIRIA, one of his best-loved films
abroad. He then undertook work on the screenplay and post-production of
George Romero’s classic DAWN OF THE DEAD (1979). During the 80’s
Argento went on to tackle his supernatural thriller INFERNO (1980),
followed by the sophisticated, disturbing TENEBRE (1983), and
PHENOMENA, A Tale of Horror (1985). In 1987 Argento directed one of his
most shocking movies, OPERA, set in Parma’s Teatro Regio. In 1990, he
moved to the U.S. where he worked with George Romero on TWO EVIL EYES,
for which he wrote and directed the episode THE BLACK CAT. Argento
directed TRAUMA in 1992, casting his young daughter Asia, for the first
time, as leading actress. THE STENDHAL SYNDROME (1996) announced his
return to working as director in Italy, followed by THE PHANTOM OF THE
OPERA (1998), SLEEPLESS (2001) and THE CARD PLAYER (2004). Dario
Argento also wrote the screenplay for Patroni Griffi’s LOVE CIRCLE
(1968). He produced two films directed by Lamberto Bava: DEMONS (1985)
and DEMONS II (1986), as well as Michele Soavi’s THE CHURCH (1989) and
THE SECT (1991), and Sergio Stivaletti’s M.D.C (THE WAX MASK) (1996).
Argento has also worked for television and he directed four short films for the 1972 series LA PORTA SUL BUIO.
JOHN CARPENTER
Born
in Carthage, New York, and raised in Bowling Green, Kentucky, John
Carpenter was captivated by movies, especially Westerns. The son of a
college music professor, he attended Western Kentucky University, then
enrolled in the University of Southern California's School of Cinema.
After winning an Academy Award® for his 1970 short subject, The
Resurrection of Broncho Billy (completed while a film student at USC),
Carpenter directed a series of low-budget, highly-commercial and
critically-acclaimed movies, including Dark Star, Assault on Precinct
13 and Halloween.
Following
Halloween, he established his reputation further with such genre hits
as The Fog, They Live, Prince Of Darkness and Christine. His rank as an
action director on a wider scale is also evident in such productions as
Escape From New York, The Thing and Big Trouble In Little China.
His
motion picture credits also include the comedy-thriller Memoirs Of An
Invisible Man, the psychological horror film In The Mouth Of Madness,
the sci-fi love story Starman, which earned Jeff Bridges a Best Actor
Oscar® nomination, and Village Of The Damned, the terrifying remake of
the classic 1950s horror story. For the small screen, Carpenter
directed the thriller Someone's Watching Me, the acclaimed biographical
mini-series Elvis and the Showtime horror trilogy John Carpenter
Presents Body Bags. The "master of terror," as one critic describes
him, shaped the imagination of filmgoers and generations of young
filmmakers with other thrillers such as Vampires, Escape from LA and
Ghosts of Mars.
JOE DANTE
A
lifelong movie buff who turned his love into his career, Dante first
displayed his encyclopedic knowledge of movies (especially
horror/fantasy/sci-fi movies) in the 1960s publication "Castle of
Frankenstein." When his boyhood friend Jon Davison got a job with
producer Roger Corman in the 1970s, he sent for Dante and had him hired
as New World Pictures' principal editor of preview trailers. Along with
the typical New World exploitation fodder, Dante also cut trailers for
the likes of Fellini's Amarcord He also got to edit an occasional
feature, including 1977's Grand Theft Auto which marked Ron Howard's
directing debut.) When Davison bet Corman that he could produce a New
World film in one week for $50,000, it was up to Dante and Allan Arkush
to direct it. The result was Hollywood Boulevard (1976), which gave
Dante his baptism of fire behind the camera.
In
1978 he directed his first feature, Piranha an effective,
tongue-in-cheek, low-budget thriller about killer fish written by John
Sayles. He followed it with the more ambitious The Howling (1981), a
vivid werewolf tale co-written by Sayles. This brought him to the
attention of Steven Spielberg, who hired both Dante and Jon Davison to
work on one segment of Twilight Zone-The Movie (1983). Theirs was a
bizarre story about a boy who holds his family prisoner in a
cartoon-like house. Dante's career then took a giant leap as Spielberg
hired him to direct his big-budget scare movie Gremlins (1984). His
career has moved in fits and starts since then, with hits and misses
along the way, including Explorers (1985), Amazon Women on the Moon
(1987, some sequences only), Innerspace (1987), The 'burbs (1989),
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), and Matinee (1993). At his best,
Dante manages to capture in his work the wonder-and humor-of 1950s and
1960s movies that first turned him on; his films are overflowing with
in-jokes for like-minded movie buffs. He remains loyal to many actors
of that period (and the sci-fi/fantasy genre) and uses them in his
films as often as possible. He also indulges his love for cartoons,
having given famed animation director Chuck Jones a cameo in Gremlins
and hired him to create animated gags for the closing credits of
Gremlins 2
ERNEST DICKERSON
Ernest
Dickerson is one of the most accomplished directors and
cinematographers of his generation. Born in Newark, New Jersey,
Dickerson studied at New York University where he earned a graduate
degree in 1982 at the Institute of Film and Television at the Tisch
School of Arts. While attending the school, Dickerson and fellow
student Spike Lee began a working relationship. Dickerson was the
cinematographer for many of Lee’s films including the critically
acclaimed “Do The Right Thing,” where Dickerson received the New York
Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematography; “Jungle Fever” with
Wesley Snipes, “Mo’ Better Blues” and “Malcolm X.” Dickerson made his
feature film directorial debut with “Juice” starring Omar Epps and
Tupac Shakur. Other big screen directing credits include “Surviving the
Game” with Ice-T, “Tales From The Crypt: Demon Night,” “Bulletproof,”
and “Bones” starring Snoop Dogg and Pam Grier. He is currently working
on the feature film “Never Die Alone” starring DMX and David Arquette.
This thriller is based on a book by cult novelist Donald Goines. His
television credits include HBO’s “Ambushed,” Showtime’s critically
acclaimed “Blind Faith” with Charles S. Dutton, “Strange Justice”
starring Delroy Lindo and Regina Taylor, for which he received the
prestigious Peabody Award: TNT’s “Monday Night Mayhem,” which featured
John Turturro as Howard Cosell; “Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus
Bookie” starring David Krumholtz and Nick Turturro and Showtime’s “Our
America” starring Josh Charles, Mykelti Williamson, Brandon Hammond and
Roderick Pannell. He most recently directed Showtime’s “Good Fences”
starring Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover.
MICK GARRIS
Award-winning
filmmaker Mick Garris began writing fiction at the age of twelve. By
the time he was in high school, he was writing music and film
journalism for various local and national publications, and during
college, edited and published his own pop culture magazine. He spent
seven years as lead vocalist with the acclaimed tongue-in-cheek
progressive art-rock band, HORSEFEATHERS. His first movie business job
was as a receptionist for George Lucas’s Star Wars Corporation, where
he worked his way up to running the remote-controlled R2-D2 robot at
personal appearances, including that year’s Academy Award®s ceremony.
Garris hosted and produced “The Fantasy Film Festival” for nearly three
years on Los Angeles television, and later began work in film publicity
at Avco Embassy and Universal Pictures. It was there that he created
“Making of…” documentaries for various feature films. Steven Spielberg
hired Garris as story editor on the AMAZING STORIES series for NBC,
where he wrote or co-wrote 10 of the 44 episodes. Since then, he has
written or co-authored several feature films (RIDING THE BULLET,
*BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED, THE FLY II, HOCUS POCUS, CRITTERS 2) and
teleplays (QUICKSILVER HIGHWAY, VIRTUAL OBSESSION, THE OTHERS), as well
as directing and producing in many media: cable (Showtime’s PSYCHO IV:
THE BEGINNING), features (CRITTERS 2, SLEEPWALKERS), television films
(QUICKSILVER HIGHWAY, VIRTUAL OBSESSION), series pilots (THE OTHERS,
LOST IN OZ), and network miniseries (THE STAND, THE SHINING, STEVE
MARTINI’S THE JUDGE). His independent feature film version of Stephen
King’s RIDING THE BULLET, which Garris adapted (and produced and
directed) from King’s e-book phenomenon, was released in October, 2004,
and he is currently completing postproduction on DESPERATION, which
King adapted himself, and which Garris is producing and directing as a
three-hour ABC feature for television.
Garris
is the creator and Executive Producer of the Showtime series MASTERS OF
HORROR™ as well as a writer and director on the show. A LIFE IN THE
CINEMA is his first book, though he has had stories published in
several magazines and anthologies. His second book—and first novel—
DEVELOPMENT HELL: THE NINE LIVES OF A HOLLYWOOD PLAYER, will be
published by Cemetery Dance in 2005. Garris lives in Studio City,
California, with his wife, Cynthia, an actress, musician, composer and
muse.
STUART GORDON
Director/Writer/Producer
In
1985, winning the Critics’ Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Stuart
Gordon surprised audiences with his first feature film RE-ANIMATOR.
With its stunning box office success, RE-ANIMATOR has become a cult
classic and Stuart Gordon has developed a strong and loyal following.
His professional career began in 1970 as artistic director of The
Organic Theater Company of Chicago, a position he held for fifteen
years. The ensemble, which included actors Joe Mantegna and Dennis
Franz, produced original plays and adaptations. Gordon was able to work
directly with Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, Mary Renault and Kurt Vonnegut
bringing their works to the stage. And in 1974 he produced and directed
the world premiere of David Mamet’s SEXUAL PERVERSITY IN CHICAGO. The
company performed on and off-Broadway, and toured the US and Europe.
Gordon left Organic in 1985 when he was offered a three picture deal in
Los Angeles after the success of RE-ANIMATOR.
Gordon
followed RE-ANIMATOR with another H.P. Lovecraft adaptation, FROM
BEYOND (1986), solidifying his notoriety in the horror genre. His
subsequent directing credits include DOLLS (1987), ROBOT JOX (1990),
PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1991) starring Lance Henricksen, FORTRESS (1993)
starring Christopher Lambert, CASTLE FREAK (1995) which won a Golden
Chainsaw Award from Fangoria Magazine and SPACE TRUCKERS starring
Dennis Hopper. In 1998 in an astonishing change of pace, he directed
Ray Bradbury’s comical fable THE WONDERFUL ICE CREAM SUIT starring
Edward James Olmos and Esai Morales for Disney Studios. The film
premiered at the Sundance Festival and won the Best Director award at
Rome’s Fantafestival. Joe Mantegna played the same role he had
performed onstage at Organic almost twenty five years earlier. Gordon
returned to another Lovecraft inspired project, DAGON in 2001 and
followed that with KING OF THE ANTS a brutal crime drama in 2003. He
and David Mamet have recently reunited to work on the film version of
EDMOND (based on his controversial play). William H. Macy and Julia
Stiles star. Gordon’s writing credits are equally impressive.
In
1989 he and frequent collaborator Brian Yuzna created Disney’s
blockbuster HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS. Gordon also executive produced
its sequel HONEY, I BLEW UP THE KID. Gordon and his writing partner
Dennis Paoli also wrote BODY SNATCHERS for Warner Bros and THE DENTIST
for Trimark. Gordon lives in Los Angeles with his actress wife Carolyn
Purdy Gordon (who he murders in his films whenever possible) and his
three daughters: Suzanna, Jillian and Margaret.
TOM HOLLAND
Tom
Holland was raised in Hudson Valley, New York. He was interested in
theater from an early age and went from a summer apprenticeship at the
Buck County Playhouse to the theater school at Northwestern University.
Developing an interest in film, he transferred to UCLA, graduating in
1973. He spent a year at AFI, supporting himself by working both behind
and in front of the cameras in commercial production. Holland also
worked as an actor, under the alias of Tom Fielding, and can be seen in
such films as “Walk in the Spring Rain” and “The Model Shop.” Holland
began screenwriting; His first produced film “The Beast Within” was
released by United Artists in 1980, and was followed in quick
succession by “Psycho II,” ”Cloak and Dagger,” and “Scream for Help.”
Determined to exercise more creative control, Holland wrote and
directed the comedy horror classic “Fright Night.” He next directed
“Fatal Beauty,” starring Whoopi Goldberg. After that he co-wrote and
directed “Child’s Play,” which launched a horror franchise and birthed
the horror icon, Chucky the killer doll. Holland next directed “The
Temp,” and “Thinner.” He has also directed television, including “Tales
From the Crypt,” “The Stranger Within,” starring Rick Schroeder, “King
of the Road,” a pilot staring Brad Pitt and the hit mini-series
“Stephen King's Langoliers.” He has just finished the internet series
"Tom Holland's Driven," which will premiere online and will be
available for download this summer. He and his wife Kathi have one son,
Joshua, who is also an actor.
TOBE HOOPER
Honored
with many awards for his films and achievement in the horror genre,
Tobe Hooper is truly a “Master of Horror.” Before becoming a filmmaker,
Tobe Hooper, a native of Austin, Texas spent the 60s as a college
teacher and documentary cameraman. He organized a small cast of college
teachers and students and made “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974.)
This film changed the horror film industry and became an instant
classic. Even today remains on every list of top horror films of all
time. Hooper based it upon the real life killings of Ed Gein, a
cannibalistic killer responsible for the grisly murders of several
people in the 1950s. Hooper's success with "Texas Chainsaw Massacre"
landed him in Hollywood. Rex Reed said, “It’s the scariest film I have
ever seen.” Leonard Maltin writes, “While not nearly as gory as its
title suggests Massacre is a genuinely terrifying film made even more
unsettling by its twisted, but undeniably hilarious black comedy.” It
is in the Permanent Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, and was
officially selected at the Cannes Film Festival of 1975 for Directors
Fortnight.
Hooper
rejoined the cast of "Chainsaw" for “Eaten Alive” (1976) starring Mel
Ferrer, William Finley and Marilyn Burns. The film received the first
Saturn Award. Also in the film was Robert Englund in his first film
role. Hooper’s success continued with Stephen King's 1979 mini series
“Salem's Lot.” In 1981, Hooper directed “The Fun House” for Universal
Pictures. Then in 1982 Steven Spielberg enlisted him to direct the
successful haunted-house shocker, “Poltergeist” for MGM. During the mid
‘80s Hooper directed several films and television projects, including
“Lifeforce” (1985) with Patrick Stewart for Tri-Star, “Amazing
Stories,” “The Equalizer,” “Invaders from Mars,” “Freddy’s Nightmares,”
“Tales from the Crypt,” with Whoopie Goldberg and “The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre 2” with Dennis Hopper. In the ‘90s he continued doing both
film and television; “I’m Dangerous Tonight,” “Nowhere Man,” “Dark
Skies,” “Perversions of Science” with Jamie Kennedy and Jason Lee, “The
Apartment Complex“ with Amanda Plummer for Showtime, Night Terrors”
(1993) and “The Mangler” for New Line (1995.) In the new century,
Tobe’s career continued to grow stronger with “Night Visions,” “The
Shadow Realm,” and the pilot episode for Steven Spielberg’s award
winning miniseries “Taken.” Last year, 2004, Tobe had the successful
remake of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” for New Line in theaters.
This
year, 2005, Hooper has started own low budget horror franchise, TH
Nightmare; has “Toolbox Murders” with Angela Bettis in release through
Lion’s Gate; is in post production on “Mortuary;” pre-production on
“Zombies;” and will produce and direct “Ghosts,” a miniseries for
A&E.
JOHN LANDIS
John
Landis is the award-winning director (and often writer and co-writer)
of such acclaimed motion pictures as “Animal House,” “The Blues
Brothers,” “An American Werewolf in London,” “Trading Places,” “Three
Amigos,” “Into the Night,” “Spies Like Us,” “Coming to America” and
“The Innocent Blood.” In 2004, the Independent Film Channel broadcast
his feature length documentary on a car salesman, “Slasher,” to great
acclaim. Michael Jackson was so impressed with “An American
Werewolf in London” that he asked Landis to write and direct his
groundbreaking music “Thriller.” Landis and Jackson later
collaborated on the classic Michael Jackson video “Black or White.”
John
Landis has been active in television as the Executive Producer (and
often director) of the Emmy® Award-winning series “Dream On.”
Other TV shows produced by his company St. Clare Entertainment (St.
Clare is the patron saint of television) include “Weird Science,”
“Sliders,” “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,” “Campus Cops” and “Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle’s The Lost World.” He has also acted in such films as
diverse as “Death Race 2000,” “Muppets Take Manhattan” and “Spiderman
2.”
His
many honors include several People’s Choice Awards, the prestigious
W.C. Handy Award, several Cable Ace Awards and NAACP Image Award and
various international film and television festival awards. He was
made a Chevalier dans l’ ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French
Government in 1985, and was awarded the Federico Fellini Prize by
Rimini Cinema in Italy in the nineties. The Eastman House in
Rochester, New York has named him a George Eastman Scholar. A
retrospective of all his films was held at the Toronto Film Festival in
Italy in 2004, and he was given the prestigious TIME MACHINE CAREER
ACHIEVEMENT AWARD at the Sitges Film Festival in Spain. He
finished shooting his part of Showtime’s MASTERS OF HORROR™ series this
past April from an original screenplay, Deer Woman, written by him and
his son Max Landis.
PETER MEDAK
Peter
Medak is a Hungarian-born director, mostly of British and American
films. Medak escaped from Budapest during the 1956 uprising and fled to
England. There he began his career in film in 1957 with ABPC – Elstree
Studios working his way through Cutting rooms, Sound Department, Camera
department; to become a 1st assistant Director and Associate producer.
In 1963 he was signed by MCA Universal Studios and started directing
television in Hollywood and London. In 1967, Medak was signed by
Paramount Studios to direct his first feature film NEGATIVES, starring
Glenda Jackson. He gained praise for his next film, A DAY IN THE DEATH
OF JOE EGG in 1969 (Allan Bates and Janet Suzman) and he received
further commercial success with THE RULING CLASS (1972) – Staring Peter
O’Toole, a comedy about a British nobleman who thinks he is Jesus
Christ.
Medak
continued his solid film career with many other notable works such as
THE CHANGELING (starring George C. Scott). More recently THE KRAYS
(1990), a crime story about London’s notorious identical-twin gang
bosses, following it with LET HIM HAVE IT, this film led to the
posthumous pardon of Derek Bentley who was innocently sentenced to
death and hung in 1953 for a crime which he never committed. This case
grew into one of the most famous British injustices, which has
basically changed the entire English Judicial system, even though it
needed the films impact on the public to finally clear his name. Next
he made ROMEO IS BLEEDING (1994), a horrifying yet darkly hilarious
study of modern-day gang activity starring Gary Oldman and Lena Olin.
In addition to several other movies, Medak has directed various Operas
on the stage in Europe and the U.S. and also directed a number of
television episodes and movies, including critically acclaimed HOUSE,
CARNIVALE, THE WIRE, LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, THE
GUARDIAN, HOMICIDE and the several mini-series’, including Dickenson’s
DAVID COPPERFIELD, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTREDAM, and FEAST OF ALL SAINTS
based on Anne Rice’s novel. In 2006, Medak joins the stellar line-up of
directors for the second season Showtime Network’s Emmy® nominated
anthology series, MASTERS OF HORROR™. He is preparing several movie
projects for the immediate future including INAMORATE which is being
produced by Johnny Depp.
ROB SCHMIDT
Filmmaker
Rob Schmidt was born on a farm a few miles outside of the village of
Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. His parents were refugees from city life
trying (unsuccessfully) to become rural people at the northern edge of
Appalachia. The conflicting cultures of left wing urban bohemia and
unschooled rural poverty were the inspiration for his film Wrong Turn.
“I grew up surrounded by strange people and things: hobos that would
leave apples on the corral fence in exchange for meals, a best friend,
a tenant farmer’s son, who had no tongue and only babbled gibberish. It
didn’t prevent us from cutting ourselves up with pocket knives we were
too young for, playing with gasoline or getting lost in the forests
that surrounded us. There’s a lot of death in the country, cows and
pigs slaughtered for food, dogs and cats hit by speeding cars and deer
and rabbits brought down by hunters, their corpses hung from trees to
drain. There were switchblades and old shotguns among all the tools in
the barns and city folks, orthodox Jews from Brooklyn and political
radicals from Chicago, would come out to a place populated by
impoverished Appalachians driving ancient pickups and Amish riding in
their horse drawn buggies through miles of empty forest. It was a great
place to grow up.” He studied photography and filmmaking at SUNY
Purchase and directing at the American Film Institute, making around a
dozen short films. Rob drew the attention of Killer Films and producer
Christine Vachon with his award-winning shorts Earl’s Demise &
Saturn. Christine made his feature Crime and Punishment in Suburbia, a
Sundance favorite, and his feature Speed of Life drew the attention of
Stan Winston, with whom he went on to make Wrong Turn. Stephen King
listed Wrong Turn as his favorite movie of 2003. He’s currently
prepping The Alphabet Killer, based on the double letter murders in and
around Rochester, NY.
NORIO TSURUTA
Born
in 1960, Tokyo, graduated from Wako University, majoring in economics.
He produced independent movies throughout his high school and
university life, and his 1985 horror movie “Torineko” was highly
praised by movie/visual art critics. After he graduated from
university, he worked for a video software company and a movie
distribution company in marketing and PR, though later he decided to
pursue his career as a movie director and became a freelancer. He made
his debut as a professional director with “Scary True Stories,” based
upon the horror comic, which he planned and developed. Although it was
a low budget video project, it became a smash hit and in 1992 produced
“Scary True Stories/Night Two” and “All New Scary True Stories: Realm
of Spectres.” This straight to video series exhibited well thought
plots and was acclaimed by movie industry professionals including
director Kiyoshi Kurosawa and writer Hiroshi Takahashi. The series
influenced “Ringu (’98)” written by Hiroshi Takahashi, “Kairo (’01)”
directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and other horror movies. And “Ju-on: The
Grudge,” which became the No.1 hit horror movie in the US, includes
scenes and execution styles that imitated “All New Scary True Stories:
Realm of Spectres” as the director Takashi Shimuzu openly acknowledges
in the DVD’s commentary. And this is why Tsuruta is called “Father of
J-Horror” or “Pioneer of J-Horror.”
In
1993, he directed a non-horror independent film that was screened at
restricted theaters, but aspiring to follow his passion in horror
movies and explore his style further in the genre, he released two
horror videos in 1996: “Evil Spirit Kaidan/The Cursed Beautiful Women”
which is said to have offered the original concept of Sadako who crawls
out of TV screens in “Ringu”; and “The Ghost Class,” which is based
upon Jiro Tsunoda’s work. In 1999, he directed a TV horror drama, “The
School’s Kaidan” and launched his career in the TV industry. Later that
year, he directed “Scary True Stories” as a two-hour Fuji Television
drama and the cast included popular actors Hitomi Kuroki, Goro Inagaki
and Miho Nakayama. This TV version “Scary True Stories” enjoyed great
popularity and after a couple dramas were produced on the theme, it
became a regular drama series in spring 2004, with Goro Inagaki as
star. Then from fall 2004 to spring 2005, the series enjoyed its second
season as Tsuruta worked as the principal director. In 2000, he started
directing major theatrical movies and released “Ringu 0 - Birthday.”
In
2001, he directed Japan-Hong Kong co-production movie “Kakahi,” and it
won the Fantaland King’s Award at 2001 Yubari International Fantastic
Film Festival. In 2004, he released “Premonition,” based upon “Horror
Newspaper” by Jiro Tsunoda. “Premonition” was officially entered in the
2005 New York Tribeca Film Festival which was organized Robert De Niro.
Besides “Premonition,” “Ringu 0,” and “Kakashi,” the video “Scary True
Stories” was released on DVD in the US, Europe and other countries,
winning great popularity. He’s also known for his talent in discovering
new actresses. He cast Yukie Nakama in “Ringu 0,” Kou Shibazaki in
“Kakashi,” and Maki Horikita in “Premonition,” helping them become big
stars.
Confirmed Air Dates:
Masters Of Horror: The Damned Thing 10/27/2006
Masters Of Horror: Family 11/3/2006
Masters Of Horror: The V Word 11/10/2006
Masters Of Horror: Sounds Like 11/17/2006
Masters Of Horror: Pro-Life 11/24/2006
Masters Of Horror: Pelts 12/1/2006
Masters Of Horror: Screwfly Solution 12/8/2006
Masters Of Horror: Valerie On The Stairs 12/29/2006
Masters Of Horror: #209 1/5/06
Masters Of Horror: #210 1/12/06
Masters Of Horror: #211 1/19/06
Masters Of Horror: #212 1/26/06
Masters Of Horror: #213 2/2/06
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