Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
From the writer/director of cult classics comes a memoir that's equal parts revealing autobiography and indie film crash course.
Don Coscarelli turned genre film on its head with mind-blowing horror/sci-fi/fantasy mashups like Phantasm, The Beastmaster, Bubba Ho-Tep and John Dies at the End. Now he's inviting you on board for an entertaining and uncompromising look at how it all happened.
Bear witness to the creation of a wildly inventive horror thriller about inter-dimensional grave robbing that became a franchise phenomenon spanning four decades and counting.
You'll tag along as Coscarelli chaperones three out-of-control child stars on a tour of Japan, almost drowns Catherine Keener in her first film role, and turns a short story originally deemed unfilmable by its own author into a beloved cult classic. You'll also learn why he refuses to sit in a director's chair, why getting Hollywood legend Ossie Davis to wrestle a rubber mummy wasn't nearly as much fun as it sounds, and why shooting an intimate moment between a ferret and a tiger has become an important metaphor for Coscarelli's career.
And you'll learn how he managed to retain creative and financial control of his creations in an industry ruled by power-addicted predators, and all without going insane or bankrupt.
True Indie will prove indispensable for film fans, aspiring filmmakers, and anyone who loves an underdog success story.
Synopsis
From Don Coscarelli, the celebrated filmmaker behind many cherished cult classics comes a memoir that's both revealing autobiography and indie film crash course.
Best known for his horror/sci-fi/fantasy films including Phantasm, The Beastmaster, Bubba Ho-tep and John Dies at the End, now Don Coscarelli's taking you on a white-knuckle ride through the rough and tumble world of indie film.
Join Coscarelli as he sells his first feature film to Universal Pictures and gets his own office on the studio lot while still in his teens. Travel with him as he chaperones three out-of-control child actors as they barnstorm Japan, almost drowns actress Catherine Keener in her first film role, and transforms a short story about Elvis Presley battling a four thousand year-old Egyptian mummy into a beloved cult classic film.
Witness the incredible cast of characters he meets along the way from heavy metal god Ronnie James Dio to first-time filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary. Learn how breaking bread with genre icons Tobe Hooper, John Carpenter and Guillermo Del Toro leads to a major cable series and watch as he and zombie king George A. Romero together take over an unprepared national network television show with their tales of blood and horror.
This memoir fits an entire film school education into a single book. It's loaded with behind-the-scenes stories: like setting his face on fire during the making of Phantasm, hearing Bruce Campbell's most important question before agreeing to star in Bubba Ho-tep, and crafting a horror thriller into a franchise phenomenon spanning four decades. Find out how Coscarelli managed to retain creative and financial control of his artistic works in an industry ruled by power-hungry predators, and all without going insane or bankrupt.
True Indie will prove indispensable for fans of Coscarelli's movies, aspiring filmmakers, and anyone who loves a story of an underdog who prevails while not betraying what he believes.