William Lustig.txt
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0527350/bio
Biography for William Lustig
Date of Birth: 1 February 1955, The Bronx, New York, USA
Height: 5' 9" (1.75 m)
Mini Biography
William Lustig was born on February 1, 1955 in Bronx, New York. During his teenage years, Lustig avidly watched a huge volume of lowdown trashy exploitation fare at numerous 42nd Street grind house theaters in Manhattan and also worked as a movie theater usher in Fort Lee, New Jersey. After graduating from high school, he took a few film classes at New York University.
Lustig began his film career in his mid to late teens, working behind-the-scenes in various minor production capacities on a handful of hardcore X-rated porno pictures as well as a production assistant on both "The Seven Ups" and "Death Wish." He made his debut as a director, producer and editor with the hardcore porn features "Hot Honey" and "The Violation of Claudia." Lustig directed both of these movies under the alias Billy Bagg.
In 1980, Lustig found himself at the center of a storm of controversy when he made the grim, gory and disturbing slasher sleaze splatter landmark "Maniac," which boasts an incredibly intense performance by the legendary character actor Joe Spinell as a vicious depraved psychopath and plenty of hideously graphic and gruesome make-up effects by horror genre icon Tom Savini. In 1982, Lustig followed up "Maniac" with the tough, gritty and exciting New York urban revenge opus "Vigilante." In 1988, he delivered another winner with the terrific "Maniac Cop," a violent horror action flick about an undead New York police officer on a killing spree which was the first of several cinematic collaborations with fellow maverick independent filmmaker Larry Cohen.
Lustig followed up with the 1989 stirring action item "Hit List" and the suspenseful serial killer thriller "Relentless" were likewise on the money excellent and entertaining offerings. However, the two "Maniac Cop" sequels were strictly hit-or-miss affairs: the second one was a worthy successor to the superior original and the third one was a regrettably mediocre entry in the series. Lustig's last film as a director to date was the nifty and enjoyable fright flick "Uncle Sam."
Since 1997, William Lustig went on to initially produce retrospective DVD documentaries for Anchor Bay and now currently runs the outstanding DVD label Blue Underground which restores and re-releases popular and little seen cult movies and other grind house action, drama, and horror films.
IMDb Mini Biography By: woodyanders
Trivia
Nephew of boxer Jake LaMotta.
Spent several years producing the documentary shorts for Anchor Bay before branching out on his own with his new company Blue Underground.
After procuring several films for Anchor Bay and producing the DVD packages for them, Lustig began his own company in 2002 with the intent of releasing really cool films that may not reach a huge market, but should be treated like gems despite this. Blue Underground has lived up to its mission statement by releasing rare, offbeat and foreign language films.
Claims to have seen "Deliverance" 70 times while working in a movie theater as an usher.
Met actor Joe Spinell while working as a production assistant on the film The Seven Ups.
Personal Quotes
"When I was in New York and I had my office on Broadway, before Federal Express and fax machines there used to be things called messengers and they used to come up to my office and see the posters for "Maniac" and "Vigilante." That was my audience. They used to go crazy over those movies. So that's what I always say to myself -- that's my audience. I'm making movies for the dishwasher, the messengers, that's who I'm making movies for. People who would appreciate them. I'm making a six pack and a joint for a Saturday night." (on the appeal of his movies)
Where Are They Now
(April 2002) CEO of Blue Underground Inc.
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http://larecord.com/interviews/2008/03/25/tue-mar-25-william-lustig-interview
TUE., MAR. 25: WILLIAM LUSTIG INTERVIEW
March 25th, 2008
Yeah, how did your working in that come about?
Well, back in the seventies, especially in New York, there was a boom of adult films being made as a result of the success of Deep Throat and The Devil in Miss Jones. They were 35mm productions intended for theatrical release and were accrued by the people who were also crew members on main stream films. I served an apprenticeship working on adult films, in various capacities, and then I got the opportunity to get the financing to make my own. And I made two.
Hot Honey and the successful Violation of Claudia, right?
Correct.
The Grindhouse theaters on 42nd Street were in full force the same time your film career began to take off. What films or experiences changed your perceptions of cinema on The Deuce?
Those theaters were known for their wild audiences. Do you have a favorite audience story?
The most memorable audience experience I had down there was at the first screening of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I had never seen an audience react to a movie as they did for Chainsaw. It was indescribable. It was like, this was the movie that so many movies released before Chainsaw promised to deliver that actually delivered. And the audience, to say they were appreciative would be an understatement. They just went absolutely berserk.
Really?
Yeah.
Nowadays, as the C.E.O. of Blue Underground (blue-underground.com), a DVD company that specializes in salvaging many obscure cult classics, most of which once played the Deuce, how do you go about choosing the films you want to restore and release?
WILLIAM LUSTIG TRIBUTE SHOWING MANIAC AND HIT LIST AT NEW BEVERLY CINEMA, 7165 W. BEVERLY BLVD., LOS ANGELES. NEWBEVCINEMA.COM.
Category: Features
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http://www.fearnet.com/news/news-article/william-lustig-talks-new-maniac-see-original-line-now
News Article
William Lustig Talks New 'Maniac'! See The Original On-Line Now!
Rob Galluzzo
Friday, June 21, 2013 - 12:00pm
William Lustig Talks 'MANIAC' Remake
http://bcove.me/yz5nrtde
Anyone familiar with the original 'Maniac' knows that one of the main reasons its remained such an iconic "slasher" pic of that era is because of the unforgettable performance from it's lead actor Joe Spinell. It was a character that Spinell held near & dear to his heart and he had even planned to shoot a follow-up titled 'Maniac 2: Mr. Robbie' prior to his untimely passing. So considering Joe's affection for this character, I posed the hypothetical question to William Lustig, "How would Joe feel about a remake to 'Maniac' over 30 years after the original?" Below was his heartfelt response:
Bill Lustig on Joe Spinell - MANIAC
http://bcove.me/93g29trk
As a bonus, here's an additional video interview we conducted last year with Lustig all about the original 'Maniac.' And you can also read our exclusive interview with actress Megan Duffy who plays Lucie in the new film.
Bill Lustig on Maniac
http://bcove.me/2vgj0b4j
The new 'Maniac' is now playing in select theaters and available on VOD on demand services. For more details, check the official IFC Midnight site and don't forget to watch the original 'Maniac' streaming free for this weekend only on the FEARnet website!
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http://www.cinema.indiana.edu/?post_type=film&p=1306
Jorgensen Guest Filmmaker Lecture Series
William Lustig
* 2011
* Lecture
* 70 Minutes
Monday, November 21, 2011 3:00 p.m.
This Jorgensen Lecture will be in an interview format. Mr. Lustig will be interviewed by David Church, PhD Candidate in the Department of Communication and Culture, Film and Media Studies. The interview will cover Mr. Lustig's career as a director of films in the horror genre, as well as theatrical and home market distribution.
William Lustig is an American film director and producer who worked primarily in the horror film genre. As a film director, Lustig is best known for his films Maniac, Vigilante, Uncle Sam, and the Maniac Cop series. Lustig has also worked as an actor playing small roles in his own films as well as in films by Sam Raimi, most notably as a fake Shemp character in Army of Darkness and a dockworker in Darkman. As of 2009, Lustig is the CEO of Blue Underground; an entertainment company specializing in the release of obscure and exploitation films on DVD and BluRay.
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http://download.kcrw.com/audio/1230564/tt_2012-10-30-202404.6929.mp3
tt_2012-10-30-202404-6929-0-0-0.6929.mp3
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/fbLvTpzckGU?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0
=> does fucking not fucking DL with fucking YTD <=
http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/tt/tt121031william_lustig_mania
The Treatment
William Lustig: Maniac and Vigilante
Host: Elvis Mitchell
Produced by:
* Harriet Ells,
* Jenny Radelet
Wed Oct 31, 2012
BONUS EPISODE (contains adult language): Looking for the perfect cult slasher film to make your Halloween complete? Horror legend William Lustig recently joined Elvis Mitchell at Film Independent at LACMA for a conversation about two of his classics, 1980's Maniac and his 1983 follow-up, Vigilante. In Maniac, Joe Spinnell plays Frank Zito, a serial killer who decorates his personal collection of mannequins with the clothes and scalps of his victims. Lustig talks candidly about how he found loopholes with both the MPAA and SAG to get his film made, plus why "the 70's were the golden age of serial killers."
This conversation was recorded courtesy of Film Independent at LACMA.
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http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/william-lustig-presents-anthology
FILM
William Lustig's Genre Studies
Calling up film director William Lustig, I wasn't sure what to expect. This is the man who created the scene that haunted a big chunk of my childhood: a mustached man getting his head blown apart, in slow motion, in his now-classic Maniac (1980). His DVD label, Blue Underground, specializes in the most tainted and obscure grindhouse movies, the kind the played in theaters with permanently sticky floors. Would he be socially awkward? A bit weird? Possibly creepy?
CRAIG HUBERT: The Anthology Film Archives series always brings a lot of excitement among cinephiles. How did the series originate? Did they approach you or did you go to them with the idea?
WILLIAM LUSTIG: Well, it's kind of a combination of both. Back in 2007, I was was approached by Anthology, who wanted to do a New York vigilante series. And of course, having made the movie Vigilante, I guess I was the first phone call. In the course of getting to know them, I happened to mention, "You know, nobody has ever done a series which honor these incredible movies from the '70s and '60s." For one reason or another, normally because of music clearance problems, these movies, which really deserve to be seen, have just languished.
HUBERT: What is the process of choosing the films in the series?
HUBERT: Wow.
HUBERT: Did the films you saw in New York during this period influence your filmmaking?
LUSTIG: Without a doubt. These films were definitely very important to me. It's funny, when I go back and watch these films again, I can see where I got an idea for this, or an idea for that, even if I didn't understand it at the time. That's kind of fun to discover.
HUBERT: We should discuss a few of the films playing this year. The most fascinating to me is Villain.
LUSTIG: Oh, I love that movie.
HUBERT: I was blown away. People seem to think the film ruined Richard Burton's career.
HUBERT: I imagine that's a problem you run into frequently. Prints disappear, or deteriorate over time. Has there been anything that you wanted to get for the program that has just been impossible to find?
LUSTIG: Yes. A movie called The Traveling Executioner, starring Stacy Keach. I have tried and tried to get that movie, but we have never been able to find a print of that film. It's not available anywhere on DVD. It's a film which is totally neglected.
LUSTIG: Keep in mind, with the police in New York, there was an acknowledgement of enormous corruption. It was really bad. The movies of the early '70s kind of reflected the attitude of the police of the '60s. So you had movies like Cops and Robbers. I mean, it's a movie about suburban cops living in Levittown, who just decide they want to cash out. It's all part of the era, when the cops were dirty. What made those movies so much fun was their cynicism. That's really the common denominator among all the films I've shown. If nothing else, they're very cynical movies, whether it's a spaghetti Western or a cop movie. It's all about people who aren't exactly who they seem.
HUBERT: Do you think you'll ever get to a point with the series where you will run out of ideas?
LUSTIG: What's happened is, as I've processed a lot of what we've discussed, the studios have realized there's an audience for their deep catalogue. Last year we showed White Line Fever. Following that Sony put it out on their burn-on-demand DVD. So, it's not a question of me running out of ideas, it's that part of the fun of this was that they were unavailable. I think that, probably next year, if we do another series, it will probably be a different theme. It will probably honor a particular director, or actor, from that period. Doing something like that. I'm just not going to be able to find films that are unavailable.
HUBERT: Was the goal of the series for DVD labels, like Warner Archive, to pick up some of the films and get them to the public? Or has that just been a nice surprise?
LUSTIG: I think that in small part, my series has shown the interest that audiences have for these movies. If you look back, we showed The Outfit two years ago, and of course Warner Archive put it out this year.
HUBERT: From what I understand, it's one of their most popular titles.
LUSTIG: Right. We showed Rolling Thunder as well, and now MGM put it out on their burn-on-demand. So I think we've had some influence on the studios. I think we'll see more of that in the future.
WILLIAM LUSTIG PRESENTS RUNS THROUGH JULY 25 AT ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT ANTHOLOGY'S WEBSITE.
http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/film_screenings/series/37585
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4pModCGVqk
...esp the comments...
The CineFiles & AVManiacs.com Present: An Interview With William Lustig
Uploaded on Oct 26, 2010
Here's a first - a co-production between The CineFiles and AVManiacs.com! In this exciting departure from our regular format, we present an interview with Bill Lustig, director of numerous exploitation films. A few of which might be familiar to our fans: Maniac, Vigilante, and The Maniac Cop series. He is now the head of Blue Underground, which is one of the premiere DVD and Blu-Ray labels for cult movies.
In our brief discussion - Lustig speaks about how he got into the film industry; his influences; getting into the video industry and even announces a few upcoming titles from Blue Underground.
We hope to make this is a semi-regular feature, so if you enjoy the interview, please be sure to let us know by commenting and giving us a rating.
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http://cinespect.com/2011/07/qa-with-filmmaker-and-anthology-film-archives-guest-curator-william-lustig/
[The Blue Bicycle: A compendium of projects and writings created/moderated by Charles H. Meyer
Q&A with Filmmaker and Anthology Film Archives Guest Curator William Lustig
Published on July 12th, 2011 | by Charles H. Meyer
Cinespect conducted a phone interview with Lustig on Tuesday to discuss his work.
As I understand it, you got into the film business when you were a teenager?
Well, yes, I started working in the film business as a production assistant in my teen years. I also worked in the editing room at that time.
What was that like? How did you get into the business?
Well, you know, film production in New York in the seventies was booming, and there were many opportunities to work on films. It was just knowing somebody who knew somebody, the old story of working my way in there. But once you start working, you start connecting with people, and that leads to more jobs.
Right.
And back then the adult industry was making movies for theatrical release. The production of adult films was identical to making just another low-budget movie. And the crews that would work on adult movies back then would also work on mainstream movies. They would just go back and forth. So it was a situation where there was a boom in the adult industry, and at the same time there was also a boom in film production in New York City.
That must have been great for the economy.
Right. Well that was very deliberate.
Yes. Joe was a friend of ours. It was a little inside joke.
No. It was left in Harlem and was towed.
So that was something that Savini just thought he remembered?
Well, it was a long time ago.
Yeah.
How did you start Blue Underground?
I started Blue Underground in 2001 and previous to that, the group at the beginning of Blue Underground had been producing the Anchor Bay DVDs in the late nineties. It was a situation where Anchor Bay was going in a different direction, and we started Blue Underground.
I read in an interview with you that you would like Blue Underground to start producing films. Are you in talks with any directors?
Do you have any plans to release a William Lustig boxed set at any point?
If I can get the rights, sure.
On the subject of DVDs and Blu-Rays, do think they have much of a future now that instant streaming is getting more common?
Are they films that you remember seeing when they came out, when you were younger?
Yes, many of these films I had seen when they were first released.
Are any of them films you are seeking the rights for to release in the U.S.?
No, these are films that are not available for me to put out.
My pleasure. Thank you for looking at the films, and I hope that your readers will come out and support the series.
Tags: Anthology Film Archives, William Lustig
About the Author
Charles H. Meyer is Editor-in-Chief of Cinespect.
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http://cinemaheadcheese.blogspot.com/2011/01/interview-william-lustig.html
January 7, 2011
Interview: William Lustig
Posted by Jeff
Lacey Paige sat down with director William Lustig to discuss his career. The Blue Underground president and director of such influential cult classics as Maniac, Vigilante and the Maniac Cop trilogy talks a little about his adult film career, the state of genre DVD and of course his classic features.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sW6kJL3nqR0#t=17
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http://twitchfilm.com/2007/08/blue-underground-forgotten-70s-cinema-interview-with-bill-lustig.html
BLUE UNDERGROUND & FORGOTTEN 70'S CINEMA - Interview with Bill Lustig
Blake
[ http://twitchfilm.com/globalvoices/blake/
http://twitchfilm.com/globalvoices/ ]
Blue Underground president and filmmaker Bill Lustig is one of the good guys. He works tirelessly to bring us great films on DVD with the utmost attention to quality and loving extras. Producing DVDs and getting the absolute best possible release of a film on one can be a minefield of technical and legal hurdles. Thankfully we all have Mr. Lustig as a champion and warrior of many films we love. His continued dedication to bring us the best possible releases of many of our favorite genre films is very much appreciated. When you see a DVD at a store with the Blue Underground label, you know instantly your in for a top quality treat.
At the 25th Brussels International Film Festival where Mr. Lustig served on the jury, I was able to sit down and discuss Blue Underground with him and some great films of seventies cinema that haven't been released on home video.
***
BLUE UNDERGROUND NEWS
LUSTIG: Well thank you, I appreciate it. The pleasure is all mine because I enjoy these movies and I enjoy sharing with people the films that I enjoy watching.
BLAKE: What are some of the latest happenings at Blue Underground? There is a rumor going around that you are stepping down in a year.
BLAKE: Any updates on a possible Four Flies DVD Release? (also asked Dario Argento here)
LUSTIG: No. I have no updates on Four Flies on Grey Velvet.
BLAKE: Do you think it will ever happen?
BLAKE: Any other Euro-crime or gialli films coming out?
BLAKE: What was the journey to finding it?
LUSTIG: That was the first of its kind and everything was derivative after that. Everything was done based on the success of that one, which of course was based on the success of The French Connection.
BLAKE: Speaking of Castellari, how have his titles done for you?
LUSTIG: Just ok, not spectacular, but not terrible, just ok.
BLAKE: Anything you can mention on the new Stendhal Syndrome DVD?
BLAKE: Yes that was beautiful. Previous to it all I had ever seen was a red film print of it.
LUSTIG: Well if you get that two disc DVD of it!
BLAKE: Oh I definitely got it!
LUSTIG: Stendhal is going to be like that.
BLAKE: Can you talk about the current and upcoming slate of DVD releases for Blue Underground?
BLAKE: Wow! Will they be available in a box set?
LUSTIG: We are not going to be doing a box set but individual titles.
BLAKE: Raro have been releasing a lot of Fernando Di Leo films on home video. Do you see his films getting released here in the US?
BLAKE: What was the situation with the website for Blue Underground being redone?
BLAKE: Well that certainly clears that up. The combination of the rumor that you might step down and the website not being updated, left many to start speculating.
(Note: Their new website project was started in June 2006 and was originally to have launched in August 2006. Luckily for fans it is now back up and running again)
***
HOME VIDEO
BLAKE: Where do you see DVD and home video going?
BLAKE: What do you think of day and date releases?
BLAKE: Yes.
BLAKE: Hopefully though, as technology makes it easier for people to access films, people will still want to go out and see actual film prints. There will always be a beauty to experiencing a film through a print.
LUSTIG: Of course, but to make a print of an old film is very costly.
***
Blake: Any personal favorite film of yours that is not out on home video? One you feel is under appreciated that film lovers should rush out and see?
Also, Welcome Home, Soldier Boys! Have you ever seen that?
BLAKE: No.
BLAKE: I definitely hope so. I feel the same way about Rolling Thunder getting a good release.
LUSTIG: Oh my God yes! But you said not available on video.
BLAKE: Oh yeah!
BLAKE: This is so weird; I just saw a double feature of both these films a couple of months ago.
LUSTIG: Really? The Outfit and Rolling Thunder? Where?
BLAKE: I saw them at a film festival that Quentin Tarantino does at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown.
LUSTIG: The Outfit is one of those incredible and great movies. That is the kind of film I want to be able to put out, you know! I love that period. I love those films. They really spoke to me. When I saw The Outfit at the cinema, I saw it on a double feature with a really strange film starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, where he is a hit man coming to Los Angeles called The Outside Man. Did you ever see The Outside Man?
BLAKE: When I saw The Outfit double feature, the second film was The Dion Brothers aka The Gravy Train with Stacey Keach in it.
BLAKE: (Laughs)
***
THE GRINDHOUSE FAKE MOVIE TRAILER QUESTION
BLAKE: In the movie Grindhouse there are fake movie trailers. If you were to do a fake movie trailer, what would it be?
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BRUSSELS INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL
BLAKE: Thoughts on the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival this year?
***
NOTES
I hope many of these unreleased films Mr. Lustig find there way to home video soon. I would also like to thank the KING OF INTERVIEWS Michael Guillen for providing copy editing assistance for this interview. You can read his excellent Four Flies review - here.
http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/neglected-horror-dario-argentos-quattro-mosche-di-velluto-grigio-four-flies/
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