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Kevin Sean Michaels | |
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 Kevin Sean Michaels at the 2007 Fangoria Weekend of Horrors | |
| Born | |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, artist, producer, entertainer |
Kevin Sean Michaels is an American film director, artist, producer and entertainer.
|
Kevin Sean Michaels | |
|---|---|
| Kevin Sean Michaels at the 2007 Fangoria Weekend of Horrors | |
| Born | |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, artist, producer, entertainer |
Kevin Sean Michaels is an American film director, artist, producer and entertainer.
Michaels is best known as an Art Director for Troma Entertainment as well as directing and producing his own documentaries, Vampira: The Movie and The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels. [ citation needed ]
In 2015, Michaels began hosting a radio show on Universal Broadcasting Network called "Friend or Foe", where guests included Weird Al Yankovic and others. [1]
| This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification .(April 2022) |
Michaels was Art Director for Troma Entertainment for five years, and briefly worked on Troma's Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead . While at Troma, Michaels designed and edited 250 DVD covers, 90% of their DVD titles.
Michaels' first documentary was Vampira: The Movie, which profiled Maila Nurmi, the first horror host. The film featured testimonials by Sid Haig, Julie Strain, Kevin Eastman, Forrest Ackerman, Debbie Rochon, John Zacherle, Lloyd Kaufman, Bill Moseley, Cassandra Peterson, Jami Deadly, Jerry Only and horror historian David J. Skal. The score was written and performed by Ari Lehman, the first Jason Voorhies of Friday The 13th. Premiering in October 2006, Vampira: The Movie was released on DVD in September 2007 by Alpha Video, and won a Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award in 2008 for Best Independent Production.
Michaels' second documentary was The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels on director Ted V. Mikels, who produced The Astro-Zombies, Girl in Gold Boots, The Doll Squad and many others. The DVD was released in 2010 by Alpha Video. Michaels also served as Creative Consultant on Mikels' third installment in his Astro-Zombies series. It was narrated by John Waters.
Michaels' third documentary was Ingrid Pitt: Beyond the Forest on actress Ingrid Pitt, who starred in Where Eagles Dare and numerous productions by Hammer Films. This animated short turned out to be the last project for Pitt, who recorded the narration in May 2010. The animation is by 10-year-old artist Perry Chen, under the guidance of two-time Academy Award nominee Bill Plympton. [2] [3] Ingrid Pitt: Beyond the Forest made the long-list and qualified for the Academy Award for Short Animated Film in 2011.
Michaels produced a documentary starring David Lynch called Beyond The Noise: My Transcendental Meditation Journey, by young film student Dana Farley, who has severe dyslexia and attention deficit disorder. He currently creates music videos and content for Lynch's non-profit organization.
In 2010, Michaels was one of 75 international artists and animators who Plympton referred to as "Dog Jammers" for a remake of Plympton's short film called Guard Dog Global Jam. In 2012, Michaels produced a short animated film called, The Namazu, animated by Dani Bowman, with voices contributed by Tom Kenny and Stella Ritter (daughter of John Ritter).
The Toxic Avenger is a 1984 American superhero black comedy splatter film directed by Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman and written by Kaufman and Joe Ritter. It is the first installment of The Toxic Avenger franchise. The film was released by Troma Entertainment, known for producing low budget B-movies with campy concepts and gruesome violence. Virtually ignored upon its first release, The Toxic Avenger caught on with filmgoers after a long and successful midnight movie engagement at the Bleecker Street Cinema in Greenwich Village in late 1985. It is now regarded as a cult classic.
Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them play on 1950s horror with elements of farce, parody, gore, and splatter.
Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their feature films, such as The Toxic Avenger and Tromeo and Juliet. Many of the strategies employed by him at Troma have been credited with making the film industry significantly more accessible and decentralized.
Bill Plympton is an American animator, graphic designer, cartoonist, and filmmaker best known for his 1987 Academy Awards-nominated animated short Your Face and his series of shorts featuring a dog character starting with 2004's Guard Dog.
Cassandra Peterson is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of the horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Peterson gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ-TV in her stage persona as Elvira, hosting Elvira's Movie Macabre, a weekly B movie presentation. A member of the Los Angeles-based improvisational and sketch comedy troupe The Groundlings, Peterson based her Elvira persona in part on a "Valley girl"-type character she created while a member of the troupe.
Maila Elizabeth Syrjäniemi, known professionally as Maila Nurmi, was an American actress who created the campy 1950s character Vampira.
Ingrid Pitt was a Polish-British actress and writer, best known for her work in horror films of the 1970s.
Redneck Zombies is a 1987 American horror comedy trash film directed by Pericles Lewnes and released by Troma Entertainment.
William Moseley is an American actor, primarily known for his performances in horror films. His best-known roles include Chop Top in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), Otis B. Driftwood in Rob Zombie's Firefly trilogy, Luigi Largo in Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008), and The Magician in Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival (2015). He had a recurring role as camp cook Possum on the HBO TV series Carnivàle (2003–05). He has also released records with guitarist Buckethead in the band Cornbugs, as well as featuring on the guitarist's solo work.
Ted V. Mikels was an American independent filmmaker primarily of the horror cult film genre. Movies that he both produced and directed include Girl in Gold Boots (1968), The Astro-Zombies (1968), and The Doll Squad (1973).
The Astro-Zombies is a 1968 American science fiction horror film written, directed and produced by Ted V. Mikels and starring John Carradine, Wendell Corey, and Tura Satana.
Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead is a 2006 black comedy musical horror film directed by Lloyd Kaufman and co-directed by Gabriel Friedman from a screenplay by Friedman and Daniel Bova. The film centers around the takeover of a New Jersey fried chicken fast food restaurant by possessed zombie chickens after it is built on top of a sacred Native American burial ground. The film was distributed and released on December 29, 2006, and in 2008 on DVD by Troma Entertainment.
The zombie comedy, often called zom com or zomedy, is a film genre that aims to blend zombie horror motifs with slapstick comedy as well as morbid humor.
La orgía de los muertos a.k.a. The Hanging Woman, Beyond the Living Dead, Return of the Zombies and Bracula: Terror of the Living Dead, is a 1972 Spanish/ Italian horror film directed by José Luis Merino, starring Paul Naschy and Dyanik Zurakowska. The film was shot in March 1972, but wasn't shown in Spanish theaters until September 3, 1973. It was shown theatrically in the U.S. in 1974 as The Hanging Woman, and then was later re-released there as Beyond the Living Dead. It was released in Germany on April 6, 1976 as Der Totenchor der Knochenmanner/ Death Chorus of the Skeletons, and re-released in Germany on March 1, 1977 as Die Bestie aus dem Totenreich/ The Beast from the Death Realm. It was shown in the U.K. as Zombies - Terror of the Living Dead, in France as Les Orgies Macabres, and in Australia as Bracula, Terror of the Living Dead.
The Zombie Diaries is a 2006 British independent found footage horror film written, produced and directed by Kevin Gates and first-time feature-filmmaker Michael Bartlett. It stars Russell Jones, Sophia Ellis, and James Fisher.
Die You Zombie Bastards! is a 2005 American comedy horror film directed by Caleb Emerson, written by Emerson and Haig Demarjian, and starring Tim Gerstmar, Geoff Mosher, and Pippi Zornoza. It is about a serial killer (Gerstmar) who must save his cannibal wife Violet (Zornoza) from zombies animated by Baron Nefarious (Mosher).
The Doll Squad is a 1973 low-budget Z-grade action film by Feature-Faire that was later re-released under the title Seduce and Destroy. Directed, edited, co-written and co-produced by Ted V. Mikels, it features Francine York, Michael Ansara, John Carter, Anthony Eisley, Leigh Christian and Tura Satana. Mikels claimed he filmed it for a total cost of $256,000.
Atom the Amazing Zombie Killer is a 2012 American independent horror comedy feature film directed by Zack Beins and Richard Taylor, and written by Beins, Taylor and Tim Johnson. It stars Mark Shonsey, Lindy Starr, Zachary Byron Helm, and Lloyd Kaufman.
Strike Me Deadly is a 1963 American thriller film written and directed by Ted V. Mikels in his directorial debut, and starring Gary Clarke, Jeannine Riley, and Steve Ihnat. Its plot follows a man and his wife who, after witnessing a murder, are stalked by a killer in a forest during a raging storm.