Don Coscarelli, indie horror director and screenwriter of Bubba Ho-tep, Phantasm, The Beastmaster and John Dies at the End

Don Coscarelli is a master of the horror-comedy. He believes that
even in the most horrifying times of your life, there are also
moments of levity. His films explore the idea that there is another
world, it's terrifying and dangerous, and it's also hilarious. Don
has always preferred to just go ahead and make his own films, and
feels you lose a sense of fun and exploration on big studio
projects. The great thing about making indie movies is that anyone
can pick up a camera and go make a movie over a few days or even a
few years. Don shot and directed all three of his early films until
The Beastmaster, which was shot by John Alcott, a frequent director
of photography for Stanley Kubrick. Don wanted to make an epic
“sword and sandal” movie after making his third film, Phantasm. The
Beastmaster was still a low budget indie film, but he wanted to use
a great cinematographer to give it a real sense of grandeur. Don
felt he had to sell his soul in order to get enough money to shoot
The Beastmaster, and the producers even threatened to fire him, but
fortunately John Alcott stood up for him. Prior to The Beastmaster,
Don directed Phantasm, about a mysterious grave robber called the
Tall Man. After the first week of shooting Phantasm, he decided to
shut down, choosing to only shoot on the weekends and taking the
time during the week to scout, rehearse and rework scenes for about
a year. Don thinks it's helpful for indie filmmakers to pad their
schedule with pickup days to give enough time to go back and get
better shots, special effects or reshoot scenes if necessary. For
his film, John Dies at the End, Don once again decided to take his
time and made the movie on an intermittent basis, which luckily
worked for the actors, who were all inexperienced, with the
exception of Paul Giamatti. Mike Gioulakis was the cinematographer
who also acted as the gaffer. Don went on to make the sequels
Phantasm II, III and IV before writing and directing Bubba Ho-Tep.
Elvis, played by Bruce Campbell, actually lives in a retirement
home, and a fellow resident, played by Ossie Davis, have to fight a
reanimated mummy who is killing the elderly. Don had a delightful
time working with Ossie Davis, especially directing him to
realistically fight a rubber mummy. Part of the horror of the movie
was making the old folk's home truly scary- a place where people
are abandoned and alone. Currently, Don has been on a quest to find
the original negative of The Beastmaster in order to remaster it,
and set up a website for tips on where it might be located.
Luckily, a perfect interpositive was found in the vaults of Warner
Bros. which will be used for the remastered version. You can read
Don Coscarelli's book about his experiences called True Indie: Life
and Death in Filmmaking. Find Don Coscarelli: Facebook:
@doncoscarelli Instagram: @don_coscarelli Twitter: @DonCoscarelli
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