Evil Town
Evil Town is a 1987 American zombie horror film directed by Curtis Hanson, Mardi Rustam, Larry Spiegel and Peter S. Traynor.[1][2][3][4] Evil Town was the last film with the actor Dean Jagger.[5]
| Evil Town | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Curtis Hanson Larry Spiegel Peter S. Traynor Mardi Rustam |
| Written by | Royce D. Applegate Richard Benson Larry Spiegel |
| Produced by | Joan Kasha William D. Sklar Peter S. Traynor |
| Starring | James Keach Dean Jagger Robert Walker Jr. Doria Cook-Nelson Michele Marsh Christie Houser Hope Summers Lynda Wiesmeier |
| Cinematography | Bob Ioniccio Bill Mann |
| Edited by | David Blangsted Jess Mancilla Peter Parasheles |
| Music by | Charles Bernstein |
Production company | Production Company: Mars Productions[1] |
| Distributed by | New World Pictures Starmaker Video Trans World Entertainment (TWE) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Synopsis edit
The film depicts an evil scientist's (Dean Jagger) campaign to achieve eternal youth, through synthesizing a drug derived from human pituitary fluid. In extracting the fluid, he creates mindless zombies from the donors. Because the local town residents are in on the plot, to achieve immortality, they help the scientist, by abducting visitors who come through town.[6]
Cast edit
- James Keach as Dr. Chris Fuller
- Dean Jagger as Dr. Schaeffer
- Robert Walker Jr. as Mike
- Doria Cook-Nelson as Linda
- Lynda Wiesmeier as Dianne
- Michele Marsh as Julie
- Christie Houser as Terrie
- Dabbs Greer as Lyle Phelps
- Regis Toomey as Doc Hooper
- Lurene Tuttle as Mildred Phelps
- Richard Hale as Lester Wylie
- Hope Summers as Mrs. Wylie
- E. J. André as Earl
Production edit
The film went into production in 1984 and went through numerous re-writes and re-edits before release in 1987.[3] It is made up of footage of several older films, with major footage coming from the unfinished Dean Jagger film God Bless Dr. Shagetz (1974). When the pieces of the various older films were patched together, there was inclusion of some new footage, including some with Jillian Kesner and nude scenes with Playboy Playmate Lynda Wiesmeier.[7]
Pre spin-off edit
When beginning work on Evil Town in 1984, director Mardi Rustam liked the story enough to make his own version, which he released as Evils of the Night (1985),[7][8] two years before the release of Evil Town.
Reception edit
Cavett Binion of All Movie Guide called it a "silly horror film" and noted that it was an assemblage of parts of earlier films, including an unfinished one from the 1970s, and that it was "spiced up with some gratuitous nudity courtesy of former Playboy playmate Lynda Wiesmeier". While remarking that the editor's efforts to maintain continuity were commendable, he concluded that "the end result seems hardly worth the effort".[9]
Release edit
The film was scheduled for release on June 3, 1987, but due to the high level of anticipation for the movie, many theaters began showing it on the evening of June 2, 1987[citation needed]. It was released in the United States on VHS in November 1987.[10]
References edit
- ^ a b "Evil Town (1987)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ^ "Evil Town". Complete Index to World Film. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ^ a b Jay R. Nash, Stanley Ralph Ross, ed. (1988). The Motion Picture Guide 1988 Annual: The Films of 1987. Jay R. Nash, Stanley Ralph Ross, James J. Mulay, Daniel Curran, Jeffrey H. Wallenfeldt (illustrated ed.). Cinebooks. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-933997-16-5.
- ^ Bowker's Complete Video Directory 2002. Vol. 1. R.R. Bowker. 2002. p. 458. ISBN 978-0-8352-4478-7.
- ^ "Dean Jagger". IMDb.
- ^ Mick Martin; Marsha Porter (1994). Video Movie Guide 1995 (revised ed.). Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-39196-4.
- ^ a b Weldon, Michael (1996). The Psychotronic Video guide (illustrated ed.). Macmillan. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-312-13149-4.
- ^ Evils of the Night was shot in June of 1983, but not released until 1985. If Rustam shot "additional scenes" for Evil Town in 1984, he would have been borrowing the concept from his own yet-to-be-released Evils of the Night. Mick Martin; Marsha Porter (1990). Derrick Bang (ed.). Video Movie Guide 1991 (6, revised ed.). Random House. ISBN 978-0-345-36945-1.
- ^ Binion, Cavett. "Evil Town 1987". All Movie Guide. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ^ "Evil Town (1987) - Overview". TCM.com. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
External links edit
- Evil Town at IMDb
- Evil Town at the TCM Movie Database
- Evil Town at AllMovie