John McNaughton | |
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Born | |
Occupation(s) | Film director, television director |
Years active | 1970–present |
Style |
John McNaughton (born January 13, 1950) is an American film and television director, originally from Chicago, Illinois, whose works encompass the horror, thriller, drama and comedy film genres. His films include Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986), The Borrower (1991), Mad Dog and Glory (1993), Normal Life (1996), Wild Things (1998), Speaking of Sex (2001) and The Harvest (2013).
His first feature film, [1] made in 1986, was Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer , a film McNaughton directed, co-wrote, and co-produced. [2] Numerous complications plagued the controversial film, [1] delaying its theatrical release until 1989. The film made Time magazine's and Roger Ebert's ten best lists and won best picture honors at Fantasporto, Sitges Film Festival and the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film. [1]
His other works include the films Mad Dog and Glory and Wild Things , the documentary Condo Painting as well as episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street , John From Cincinnati , Masters of Horror and the pilot episode for Push, Nevada .
McNaughton studied fine arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in television production and a minor in photography. [1]
Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a character created by the American novelist Thomas Harris. Lecter is a serial killer who eats his victims. Before his capture, he was a respected forensic psychiatrist; after his incarceration, he is consulted by FBI agents Will Graham and Clarice Starling to help them find other serial killers.
Wild Things is a 1998 American erotic thriller film directed by John McNaughton and starring Matt Dillon, Kevin Bacon, Neve Campbell, Denise Richards, Theresa Russell, Robert Wagner, and Bill Murray. It follows a high school guidance counselor in south Florida who is accused of rape by two female students and a series of subsequent revelations after a police officer begins investigating the alleged crimes.
Monster is a 2003 American biographical crime drama film written and directed by Patty Jenkins in her feature directorial debut. The film follows serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a street prostitute who murdered seven of her male clients between 1989 and 1990 and was executed in Florida in 2002. It stars Charlize Theron as Wuornos, and Christina Ricci as her semi-fictionalized lover, Selby Wall.
Terrance Quinn, known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He is best known for his Primetime Emmy Award-winning performance of John Locke on the TV series Lost (2004–2010). In film, he is best known for playing the title role in The Stepfather (1987) and Howard Hughes in The Rocketeer (1991), with roles in other films such as Heaven's Gate (1980), Silver Bullet (1985), Young Guns (1988), Blind Fury (1989), Tombstone (1993), and Primal Fear (1996).
Summer of Sam is a 1999 American crime thriller film about the 1977 David Berkowitz serial murders and their effect on a group of fictional residents of an Italian-American neighborhood in The Bronx in the late 1970s. The killer, David Berkowitz, his murders and the investigation are shown in the film, but the focus is on two young men from the neighborhood: Vinny, whose marriage is faltering due to his cheating, and Ritchie, Vinny's childhood friend who has embraced punk fashion and music.
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is a 1986 American independent psychological horror crime film directed and co-written by John McNaughton about the random crime spree of a serial killer who seemingly operates with impunity. It stars Michael Rooker in his debut as the nomadic killer Henry, Tom Towles as Otis, a prison buddy with whom Henry is living, and Tracy Arnold as Becky, Otis's sister. The characters of Henry and Otis are loosely based on convicted real life serial killers Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole.
Mad Dog and Glory is a 1993 American crime comedy-drama film directed by John McNaughton and starring Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, and Bill Murray, and supporting roles from Richard Belzer and David Caruso as De Niro's partner.
Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting.
Mad dog is a phrase commonly attributed to rabid dogs.
Tom Towles was an American character actor of film, theatre, and television, known for his portraying villains and intimidating supporting characters. His breakthrough role as Otis in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Male. He appeared in numerous films and television series including Night of the Living Dead, Blood In Blood Out, The Rock, NYPD Blue, Dr. Dolittle, The Devil's Rejects, Miami Vice, and Malcolm in the Middle.
Extreme cinema is a subgenre used for films distinguished by its use of excessive sex and violence, and depiction of extreme acts such as mutilation and torture. It recently specializes in genre film, mostly both horror and drama.
The Borrower is a 1991 American science fiction horror film directed by John McNaughton and starring Rae Dawn Chong, Tom Towles and Antonio Fargas. The story revolves around an alien serial killer, who is sent to Earth to live among humans as a form of penalty.
Laura Elena Gräfin von Bismarck-Schönhausen, known professionally as Laura Harring, is an American actress and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1985 and later began acting in television and film. She is best known for her dual roles as Rita and Camilla Rhodes in the 2001 movie Mulholland Drive. She is also known for her roles in other movies, including The Forbidden Dance (1990), John Q (2002), Willard (2003), The Punisher (2004), The King (2005), Love in the Time of Cholera (2007), Ghost Son (2007), The Caller (2008), Drool (2009), Sex Ed (2014), and Inside (2016). She also played Carla Greco in General Hospital (1990–1991), Paula Stevens on Sunset Beach (1997), and Rebecca "Becca" Doyle in The Shield (2006).
Normal Life is a 1996 American crime drama film based on the real lives of husband-and-wife bank robbers, Jeffrey and Jill Erickson. The film stars Ashley Judd and Luke Perry and was directed by John McNaughton. The original screenplay was written by husband-and-wife team Peg Haller and Bob Schneider.
A film à clef is a film describing real life, behind a façade of fiction. "Key" in this context means a table one can use to swap out the names.
Neil Giuntoli is an American actor active since 1987, whose most famous role was in Child's Play (1988). Giuntoli is also the author and lead actor of the play Hizzoner, a fictional account of former Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley. The play received the longest run ever granted to a production at Chicago's Prop Theater and was critically well received.
Elena Maganini is a film editor, best known for her work on the first season of Showtime TV drama series Dexter.
August Underground is a 2001 American exploitation horror film directed by Fred Vogel, who co-wrote it with Allen Peters. The film stars Vogel as a serial killer named Peter, who kidnaps and kills several innocent people, while his unnamed accomplice, played by Peters, films and documents the murders.
The Harvest is a 2013 American horror thriller film released by IFC Films that was directed by John McNaughton. It is the first feature film he has directed in over a decade and his first horror venture since Haeckel's Tale, a 2006 episode of the horror anthology series Masters of Horror. The movie had its world premiere on October 19, 2013, at the Chicago International Film Festival. The movie follows a young girl who befriends a seemingly lonely and confined boy her own age, only to fall afoul of his mother. In a 2017 interview McNaughton said about the film: "It has the bones of a fairy tale. It’s about growing up and having to break free from your parents. Your parents want your heart and you can’t let them take it. You have to break away and make your own life."
Charlize Theron is a South African-American actress who made her film debut in an uncredited role as a follower of a cult in the 1995 horror film Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest. Theron followed this with appearances as a hitman’s girlfriend in 2 Days in the Valley, a waitress in the romantic comedy Trial and Error (1997), and a woman plagued with demonic visions in the mystery thriller The Devil's Advocate (1997) with Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino. She appeared in the science fiction thriller The Astronaut's Wife with Johnny Depp, and Lasse Hallström's The Cider House Rules. For her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the crime drama Monster (2003), Theron received the Academy Award for Best Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. The following year, she played Swedish entertainer Britt Ekland in the biographical film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers.