Tom Holland | |
---|---|
Born | July 11, 1943 Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S. |
Education | Worcester Academy |
Alma mater | University of California, Los Angeles (B.A., J.D.) |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1964–present |
Notable work | Psycho II Fright Night Child's Play Thinner The Langoliers Rock, Paper, Scissors |
Children | 1 |
Thomas Lee Holland (born July 11, 1943) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, penning the 1983 sequel to the classic Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho, [4] directing and co-writing the first entry in the long-running Child's Play franchise, [5] and writing and directing the cult vampire film Fright Night . [6] He also directed the Stephen King adaptations The Langoliers [7] and Thinner. [8] He is a two-time Saturn Award recipient. Holland made the jump into children’s literature in 2018 when he co-wrote How to Scare a Monster with fellow writer Dustin Warburton.
Holland was born July 11, 1943, in Poughkeepsie, New York, [9] to Lee and Tom Holland. He attended Ossining Public High School in Ossining, New York, before transferring to Worcester Academy, where he graduated in 1962. After graduating high school, Holland attended Northwestern University for one year before transferring to the University of California, Los Angeles, where he graduated in 1970. [10] He later graduated from UCLA Law School with a Juris Doctor. [11]
Holland trained as an actor at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg. Throughout the 60s and early 70s Holland appeared under the moniker of Tom Fielding in several supporting and guest star roles for both television and film, including A Walk in the Spring Rain alongside Anthony Quinn and Ingrid Bergman.[ citation needed ]
In December 2009 Holland was cast for Adam Green's Hatchet II , [12] to star alongside Danielle Harris, Tony Todd, Kane Hodder, and R.A. Mihailoff. [13] He narrated the film alongside Green on San Diego Comic-Con International 2010. [14]
Holland made his screenwriting debut with the 1978 made-for-television film The Initiation of Sarah . He made his feature film writing debut in 1982, adapting the Edward Levy novel The Beast Within into the film of the same title. [15] That same year, he wrote Class of 1984 , an urban thriller film centered on juvenile delinquency and punk subculture. The film proved controversial upon release and was heavily censored in the United Kingdom [16] and outright banned in other countries. [17] It has since become a cult classic. [18] [19] [20]
Holland was hired by Universal Pictures to write a sequel to the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho, which since its initial release had been acclaimed as not only a seminal and iconic horror film, [21] [22] but one of the greatest films of all time. [23] [24] [25] Lead actor Anthony Perkins, who had previously displayed apprehension at appearing in a sequel, agreed to do the film after being impressed by Holland's screenplay. [26] The film, directed by Richard Franklin and co-starring Meg Tilly, Robert Loggia, and Dennis Franz, opened at No. 2 at the box office (behind Return of the Jedi ) and went on to gross $34 million. [27]
Holland re-teamed with director Franklin the following year on his next film, Cloak & Dagger. Unlike their previous film, Cloak & Dagger was a spy film aimed at a younger audience, and starring Henry Thomas of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in its leading role. Despite positive critical reviews, [28] the film was a financial failure, grossing $9,719,952 off of a 13 million dollar production budget.
Holland's directorial debut came in 1985 with the vampire horror film Fright Night . Holland first conceived of the premise during the writing of Cloak & Dagger, [29] of a horror film fan who learns that his neighbor is a vampire. He chose to direct the film himself after being disappointed with Michael Winner's direction of his screenplay Scream for Help. [30] [31] The film was both financial and critical success, earning a rave review from Roger Ebert [32] who wrote "Fright Night is not a distinguished movie, but it has a lot of fun being undistinguished." The film spawned a sequel in 1988 titled Fright Night Part 2 , and a 2011 remake, Fright Night starring Colin Farrell and Anton Yelchin. That remake also had its own sequel, Fright Night 2: New Blood , which was released in 2013. Holland was not involved in any of the sequels or the remake. On October 28, 2020, Holland confirmed that he is writing a direct sequel to the original Fright Night titled Fright Night: Resurrection and that his sequel would ignore the 1988 sequel and be a proper sequel to his 1985 film. [33]
In 1988, Holland directed the film Child's Play, which received positive reviews from Ebert [34] and Leonard Maltin, [35] spawned a long-running franchise consisting of six sequels, and helped elevate its antagonist Chucky to a pop culture icon. He directed three episodes of the horror anthology series Tales from the Crypt, and returned to television films with The Stranger Within. He wrote and directed a 1996 ABC miniseries adaptation of the Stephen King novella The Langoliers, and the following year adapted King's novel Thinner into a film of the same title.
He and David Chackler founded the horror film company Dead Rabbit Films in 2009. [36] Holland wrote and directed a horror anthology webseries titled Twisted Tales , [37] which appeared on Fearnet in 2013 and was released on home media in 2014. [38]
Year | Title | Director | Writer |
---|---|---|---|
1982 | The Beast Within | No | Yes |
Class of 1984 | No | Yes | |
1983 | Psycho II | No | Yes |
1984 | Cloak & Dagger | No | Yes |
Scream for Help | No | Yes | |
1985 | Fright Night | Yes | Yes |
1987 | Fatal Beauty | Yes | No |
1988 | Child's Play | Yes | Yes |
1993 | The Temp | Yes | No |
1996 | Thinner | Yes | Yes |
2011 | Fright Night | No | Story |
2017 | Rock, Paper, Scissors | Yes | No |
Short film
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
2016 | You're So Cool, Brewster! The Story of Fright Night | Documentary film; also creative consultant |
What Is Fright Night? | Documentary short films | |
Tom Holland and Amanda Bearse Talk Fright Night | ||
Tom Holland: Writing Horror | ||
Roddy McDowall: From Apes to Bats | ||
A Beautiful Darkness: The Look of Regine |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1963 | America America | (voice) | Uncredited |
1969 | Model Shop | Gerry | |
Changes | Roommate | ||
1970 | A Walk in the Spring Rain | Boy | |
1972 | Josie's Castle | Leonard Robbins | |
1983 | Psycho II | Deputy Norris | |
2009 | The Crystal Lake Massacres Revisited | Charles Brewster | Mockumentary short film |
2010 | Hatchet II | Bob | |
2014 | Digging Up the Marrow | Himself | |
2015 | Clowntown | The Clown with No Name | Short film |
TBA | The Tarot | Uncle Walter |
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1986 | Amazing Stories | Yes | No | No | Episode: "Miscalculation" |
1989-1992 | Tales from the Crypt | Yes | Yes | No | Directed episodes: "Lover Come Hack to Me" & "King of the Road" Written and directed episode: "Four-Sided Triangle" |
1991 | The Owl | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unsold pilot |
1995 | The Langoliers | Yes | Yes | No | Miniseries |
2007 | Masters of Horror | Yes | No | No | Episode: "We All Scream for Ice Cream" |
2013 | Twisted Tales | Yes | Yes | Yes | Web series (9 episodes) |
TV movies
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1978 | The Initiation of Sarah | No | Story | |
1990 | The Stranger Within | Yes | No | |
1992 | Two-Fisted Tales | Yes | No | Segment "King of the Road" |
2006 | The Initiation of Sarah | No | Story |
Web short films
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Driven | Yes | Yes | Yes |
2008 | 5 or Die | Yes | No | Yes |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1958 | Telephone Time | Millsap | Episode: "Trail Blazer" |
1964 | 77 Sunset Strip | Al Killian | Episode: "Lover's Lane" |
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Vic Burns | Episode: "Out on the Outskirts of Town" | |
1965-1966 | A Flame in the Wind | Steve Reynolds #2 | 50 episodes |
1967 | Combat! | Pfc. Tommy Bishop | Episode: "Entombed" |
1968 | Felony Squad | LeRoy Baker | Episode: "Epitaph for a Cop" |
1969 | My Friend Tony | Urknown | Episode: "The Hazing" |
The Young Lawyers | David Harrison | Episode: "Pilot" | |
Medical Center | Jess Yarnaby | Episode: "24 Hours" | |
1978 | The Incredible Hulk | Steve Silva | Episode: "Another Path" |
1983 | The Winds of War | Devilfish Sub Captain | Episode: "Into the Maelstrom" |
1991 | The Owl | Mugger | Television pilot, appears uncredited in extended international version |
1994 | The Stand | Carl Hough | 2 episodes |
1995 | The Langoliers | Harker | 2 episodes |
2007 | Masters of Horror | Funeral Guest | Episode: "We All Scream for Ice Cream" |
2010 | Team Unicorn | Grandpa | Episode: "A Very Zombie Holiday" |
2013 | Twisted Tales | Himself / Janitor | Web series (9 episodes) |
2015 | 20 Seconds to Live | Bystander | Episode: "Evil Doll" |
Film | Rotten Tomatoes score |
---|---|
The Beast Within (1982) | 13% [41] |
Class of 1984 (1982) | 75% [42] |
Psycho II (1983) | 61% [43] |
Scream for Help (1984) | — |
Cloak & Dagger (1984) | 64% [44] |
Fright Night (1985) | 91% [45] |
Fatal Beauty (1987) | 23% [46] |
Child's Play (1988) | 69% [47] |
The Temp (1993) | 29% [48] |
The Langoliers (1995) | 50% [49] |
Thinner (1996) | 16% [50] |
Fright Night (2011) | 72% [51] |
Rock Paper Dead (2017) | — |
Year | Award | Category | Film | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1984 | Edgar Award | Best Motion Picture | Psycho II | Nominated |
1986 | Dario Argento Award | Best Film | Fright Night | Won |
Critics' Award | Special Mention | Won | ||
International Fantasy Film Award | Best Film | Nominated | ||
Saturn Award | Best Director | Nominated | ||
Best Horror Film | Won | |||
Best Writing | Won | |||
1990 | Saturn Award | Best Horror Film | Child's Play | Nominated |
Best Writing Shared with Don Mancini and John Lafia | Nominated | |||
1996 | Saturn Award | Best Television Presentation | The Langoliers | Nominated |
A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic term for any horror film involving murder, film analysts cite an established set of characteristics which set slasher films apart from other horror subgenres, such as monster movies, splatter films, supernatural and psychological horror films.
Shadow of the Vampire is a 2000 independent period vampire mystery film directed by E. Elias Merhige and written by Steven Katz. The film stars John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe. It is a fictionalized account of the making of the classic vampire film Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens, directed by F. W. Murnau, during which the film crew begin to have disturbing suspicions about their lead actor.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a 1982 American science fiction horror film and the third installment in the Halloween film series. It is the first film to be written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace. John Carpenter and Debra Hill, the creators of Halloween and Halloween II, return as producers. Halloween III is the only entry in the series that does not feature the series antagonist, Michael Myers. After the film's disappointing reception and box office performance, Michael Myers was brought back six years later in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988).
Chris Joseph Columbus is an American filmmaker. Born in Spangler, Pennsylvania, Columbus studied film at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where he developed an interest in filmmaking. After writing screenplays for several teen comedies in the mid-1980s, he made his directorial debut with a teen adventure, Adventures in Babysitting (1987). Columbus gained recognition soon after with the highly successful Christmas comedy Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).
Child's Play is a 1988 American supernatural slasher film directed by Tom Holland, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Don Mancini and John Lafia, and a story by Mancini. The film stars Catherine Hicks and Chris Sarandon with Brad Dourif as Chucky. Its plot follows a widowed mother who gives a doll to her son, unaware that the doll is possessed by the soul of a serial killer.
Fright Night is a 1985 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Tom Holland, in his directorial debut. The film follows teenager Charley Brewster, who discovers that his next-door neighbor Jerry Dandrige is a vampire. When no one believes him, Charley decides to get Peter Vincent, a TV show host who acted in films as a vampire hunter, to stop Jerry's killing spree.
Willard is a 1971 American horror film directed by Daniel Mann and written by Gilbert Ralston, based on Stephen Gilbert's novel Ratman's Notebooks. Bruce Davison stars as social misfit Willard Stiles, who is squeezed out of the company started by his deceased father. His only friends are a couple of rats raised at home, including Ben and Socrates, and their increasing number of friends. When Socrates is killed by Willard's boss, he goes on a rampage using his rats to attack.
Psycho II is a 1983 American psychological slasher film directed by Richard Franklin, written by Tom Holland, and starring Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Robert Loggia, and Meg Tilly. It is the first sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho and the second film in the Psycho franchise. Set 22 years after the first film, it follows Norman Bates after he is released from the mental institution and returns to the house and Bates Motel to continue a normal life. However, his troubled past continues to haunt him as someone begins to murder the people around him. The film is unrelated to the 1982 novel Psycho II by Robert Bloch, which he wrote as a sequel to his original 1959 novel Psycho.
Psycho III is a 1986 American slasher film, and the third film in the Psycho franchise. It stars Anthony Perkins, who also directs the film, reprising the role of Norman Bates. It co-stars Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey, and Roberta Maxwell. The screenplay is written by Charles Edward Pogue. The original electronic music score is composed and performed by Carter Burwell in one of his earliest projects. Psycho III is unrelated to Robert Bloch's third Psycho novel, Psycho House, which was released in 1990.
Fright Night Part 2 is a 1988 American supernatural horror comedy film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, the sequel to the 1985 film Fright Night. Roddy McDowall and William Ragsdale reprise their roles as Charley Brewster and Peter Vincent, alongside new cast members Traci Lind, Julie Carmen and Jon Gries. Composer Brad Fiedel also returned with another distinct synthesizer score.
Hatchet is a 2006 American slasher film written and directed by Adam Green. The film has an ensemble cast, including Joel David Moore, Kane Hodder, Deon Richmond, Tamara Feldman, Richard Riehle, Mercedes McNab, Robert Englund, and Tony Todd. The plot follows a group of tourists on a New Orleans haunted swamp tour, who accidentally get stranded in the wilderness, only to be hunted by a vengeful, supernatural deformed man who kills anyone that enters the swamp. The film's successes spawned a film series including three sequels. A comic book series followed thereafter.
Class of 1984 is a 1982 crime thriller film directed by Mark Lester and co-written by Tom Holland and John Saxton, based on a story by Holland. The film stars Perry King, Merrie Lynn Ross, Timothy Van Patten, Lisa Langlois, Stefan Arngrim, Michael J. Fox, and Roddy McDowall.
Fade to Black is a 1980 American psychological horror comedy film written and directed by Vernon Zimmerman, and starring Dennis Christopher, Eve Brent and Linda Kerridge. It also features Mickey Rourke and Peter Horton in minor roles. The plot follows a shy and lonely cinephile who embarks on a killing spree against his oppressors while impersonating classic film characters.
Cop and a Half is a 1993 American family buddy cop-comedy film directed by Henry Winkler, and stars Burt Reynolds, Norman D. Golden II, and Ray Sharkey in his final role. Reynolds plays a veteran cop who reluctantly takes an eight-year-old boy (Golden) as his partner to solve a murder investigation.
Fatal Beauty is a 1987 American action comedy thriller film directed by Tom Holland, and starring Whoopi Goldberg as Detective Rita Rizzoli, and Sam Elliott as Mike Marshak. The screenplay was written by Hilary Henkin and Dean Riesner. The original music score was composed by Harold Faltermeyer. The film was marketed with the tagline "An earthquake is about to hit L.A. It's called Detective Rita Rizzoli."
Adam Green is an American actor, filmmaker and musician, best known for his work in horror and comedy films, including the Hatchet franchise, 2010's Frozen, and the television series Holliston.
Hatchet II is a 2010 American slasher film written and directed by Adam Green. It is the sequel to Hatchet and the second installment in the titular film series. Picking up right where the first film ended, Hatchet II follows Marybeth as she escapes the clutches of the deformed, swamp-dwelling killer Victor Crowley. After learning the truth about her family's connection to the hatchet-wielding madman, Marybeth returns to the Louisiana swamps along with an army of hunters to recover the bodies of her family and exact the bloodiest revenge against the bayou butcher.
Fright Night is a 2011 American supernatural horror comedy film directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by Michael De Luca and Alison Rosenzweig. A remake of Tom Holland's 1985 film, the film's screenplay was adapted by Marti Noxon. It stars Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and David Tennant. The plot follows a teenaged boy who discovers that his neighbor is actually a vampire, which culminates in a battle between the two. The film held its world premiere at The O2 in London on August 14, 2011. It was released in the United States by Touchstone Pictures on August 19, 2011.
There's No Such Thing as Vampires is a 2020 horror film that was directed by Logan Thomas. It is based on a script written by Thomas and Aric Cushing, who also starred.
The Fright Night franchise consists of American vampire horror-comedy films, including three theatrical releases with an original movie, its sequel and a remake, followed by one straight-to-home video sequel to the remake. Based on an original story by writer-director Tom Holland, the overall plot of each installment follows an adolescent hero who determines that his next door neighbor is a real-life vampire and his pursuits in defeating the monster.
leonard maltin child's play.