Seizure (film)

Last updated
Seizure
Seizureposter1974.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Oliver Stone
Written by
  • Oliver Stone
  • Edward Mann
Produced byGarrard Glenn
Starring
CinematographyRoger Racine
Edited by
  • Nobuko Oganesoff
  • Oliver Stone
Music byLee Gagnon
Production
companies
  • Astral Bellevue Pathé
  • Cine Films Inc.
  • Cinerama Productions Corp.
  • Euro-American Pictures
  • Intercontinental Leisure Industries Ltd.
  • Queen of Evil Ltd.
Distributed by
Release date
  • November 6, 1974 (1974-11-06)
Running time
98 minutes
Countries
  • Canada
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
BudgetCAD $250,000 [1]

Seizure is a 1974 horror film. It is the directorial debut of Oliver Stone, who also co-wrote the screenplay.

Contents

Plot

Horror writer Edmund Blackstone (Jonathan Frid) sees his recurring nightmare come to chilling life one weekend as one by one, his friends and family are killed by three villains: the Queen of Evil (Martine Beswick), a dwarf named Spider (Hervé Villechaize), and a giant scar-faced strongman called Jackal (Henry Judd Baker). [2]

Cast

Production

Seizure is the directorial debut of Oliver Stone, who also co-wrote the screenplay. [3] [4] Star Mary Woronov would later claim that one of the film's producers was gangster Michael Thevis, who partially bankrolled the film in an attempt to launder money, as he was under investigation by the FBI. [5]

Release

The film had a very limited release theatrically in the United States by Cinerama Releasing Corporation, [6] playing on New York's 42nd street in 1974. [7]

The film was released on VHS by various video companies in the 1980s including Prism Entertainment. [8] A transfer to DVD and Blu-ray was released on September 9, 2014, by Scorpion Releasing. [9] [10] [11] [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hervé Villechaize</span> French actor (1943–1993)

Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize was a French actor and painter. He is best known for his roles as the evil henchman Nick Nack in the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, and as Mr. Roarke's assistant, Tattoo, on the American television series Fantasy Island that he played from 1977 to 1983. On Fantasy Island, his shout of "De plane! De plane!" became one of the show's signature phrases. He died by suicide in 1993.

<i>Forbidden Zone</i> 1982 film by Richard Elfman

Forbidden Zone is an American absurdist musical fantasy comedy film produced and directed by independent filmmaker Richard Elfman, and co-written by Elfman and Matthew Bright. Shot in 1977 and 1978, the film premiered in 1980 and was distributed in 1982. Originally shot on black-and-white film, Forbidden Zone is based upon the stage performances of the Los Angeles theater troupe The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, of which Elfman, Bright and many of the cast and crew were a part, and revolves around an alternate universe accessed through a door in the house of the Hercules family.

<i>Freddys Nightmares</i> American horror anthology television series (1988–1990)

Freddy's Nightmares is an American horror anthology television series, which aired in syndication from October 1988 until March 1990. A spin-off from the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series, each episode is introduced by Freddy Krueger, and features two different stories, with eight of them throughout the series actually having Freddy Krueger as the main antagonist. The pilot episode was directed by Tobe Hooper, and begins with Krueger's prosecution on child-murdering charges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruggero Deodato</span> Italian film director and screenwriter (1939–2022)

Ruggero Deodato was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor.

<i>Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde</i> 1971 British film directed by Roy Ward Baker

Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde is a 1971 British horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker based on the 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The film was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions and was their third adaptation of the story after The Ugly Duckling and The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll. The film is notable for showing Jekyll transform into a female Hyde; it also incorporates into the plot aspects of the historical Jack the Ripper and Burke and Hare cases. The title characters were played by the film's stars, Ralph Bates and Martine Beswick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martine Beswick</span> English actress and model

Martine Beswick is a Jamaican-born British actress and model perhaps best known for her roles in two James Bond films, From Russia with Love (1963) and Thunderball (1965), who went on to appear in several other notable films in the 1960s. In 2019, she was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' Monster Kid Hall of Fame.

<i>Bug</i> (2006 film) 2006 psychological horror film

Bug is a 2006 psychological horror film directed by William Friedkin and written by Tracy Letts, based on his 1996 play of the same name. The film stars Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Lynn Collins, Brían F. O'Byrne, and Harry Connick Jr.

<i>Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers</i> 1988 American black comedy slasher film by Michael A. Simpson

Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers is a 1988 American slasher film written by Fritz Gordon and directed by Michael A. Simpson. It is the second installment in the Sleepaway Camp film series, and stars Pamela Springsteen as Angela, and Renée Estevez. The film takes place five years after the events of the original, and features serial killer Angela, working as a counselor, murdering misbehaving teenagers at another summer camp.

<i>Zombie Nightmare</i> 1987 Canadian horror film

Zombie Nightmare is a 1987 Canadian zombie film produced and directed by Jack Bravman, written by John Fasano, and starring Adam West, Tia Carrere, Jon Mikl Thor, and Shawn Levy. The film centres around a baseball player who is killed by a group of teenagers and is resurrected as a zombie by a Haitian voodoo priestess. The zombie goes on to kill the teens, whose deaths are investigated by the police. The film was shot in the suburbs of Montreal, Canada. It was originally written to star mostly black actors but, at the request of investors, the characters' names were changed to more typically white names. While Bravman was credited as director, Fasano directed the majority of the film. Problems occurred between Fasano and the production crew, who believed him to be assistant director and ignored his directions.

Maitland McDonagh is an American film critic, writer-editor and podcaster. She is the author of Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento (1991) and other books and articles on horror and exploitation films, as well as about erotic fiction and erotic cinema. In 2022, McDonagh was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' Monster Kid Hall of Fame. She is the founder of the small press 120 Days Books, which became an imprint of Riverdale Avenue Books.

<i>Hollywood Boulevard</i> (1976 film) 1976 film by Allan Arkush and Joe Dante

Hollywood Boulevard is a 1976 American satirical exploitation film directed by Allan Arkush and Joe Dante, and starring Candice Rialson, Paul Bartel, and Mary Woronov. It follows an aspiring actress who has just arrived in Los Angeles, only to be hired by a reckless B movie film studio where she bears witness to a series of gruesome and fatal on-set accidents. The film blends elements of the comedy, thriller, and slasher film genres.

<i>The Amityville Curse</i> 1990 Canadian film

The Amityville Curse is a 1990 Canadian supernatural horror film directed by Tom Berry and starring Kim Coates, Cassandra Gava and Jan Rubeš. It is loosely based on the novel of the same name by Hans Holzer. It is the fifth film in the Amityville Horror film series.

<i>The Mask</i> (1961 film) 1961 Canadian film

The Mask is a 1961 Canadian surrealist horror film produced in 3-D by Warner Bros. It was directed by Julian Roffman, and stars Paul Stevens, Claudette Nevins, and Bill Walker.

<i>Night of the Scarecrow</i> 1995 American film

Night of the Scarecrow is a 1995 American horror film directed by Jeff Burr, and starring Elizabeth Barondes, John Mese, Stephen Root, Bruce Glover, Dirk Blocker, John Hawkes, Gary Lockwood, and Martine Beswick. Its plot focuses on a small farming community where the spirit of a warlock is unleashed and possesses a scarecrow.

Invasion of the Scream Queens is a 1992 documentary film by American filmmaker Donald Farmer. The film interviews the women who have made a career out of starring in the B horror and science fiction genres are interviewed, and clips and trailers from their films are shown. It was produced by Mondo Video (1992) (USA) and released on VHS format.

<i>The House of the Devil</i> 2009 American film

The House of the Devil is a 2009 American horror film written, directed, and edited by Ti West, starring Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov, Greta Gerwig, A. J. Bowen, and Dee Wallace.

<i>American Nightmare</i> (film) 1983 Canadian film

American Nightmare is a 1983 Canadian slasher film directed by Don McBrearty and starring Lawrence Day, Lora Staley, Lenore Zann, Michael Ironside, and Alexandra Paul in her feature film debut. It tells the story of a successful pianist investigating the disappearance of his sister in an urban decadence as a serial killer targets prostitutes and sex workers. The screenplay by John Sheppard, based on a story by John Gault and Steven Blake, was influenced by the rising crime rates in American cities throughout the 1970s and early 1980s.

<i>Deep Space</i> (film) 1988 American film

Deep Space is a 1988 sci-fi horror film directed by Fred Olen Ray, starring Charles Napier, Ann Turkel and Bo Svenson. Napier stars a cop trying to stop the murderous rampage of an escaped creature engineered by the government.

<i>Murder Obsession</i> 1981 film

Murder Obsession, a.k.a. Fear, is a 1981 Italian giallo-horror film directed by Riccardo Freda, and starring Laura Gemser and Anita Strindberg.

Henry Judd Baker was an American actor known for such films and television shows as Oliver Stone's Seizure, Clean and Sober, The Mighty Quinn, William Friedkin's Cruising and Dark Shadows.

References

  1. Vatnsdal 2004, p. 82.
  2. Kim Newman (18 April 2011). Nightmare Movies: Horror on Screen Since the 1960s. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 24–. ISBN   978-1-4088-1750-6.
  3. James Michael Welsh; Donald M. Whaley (2013). The Oliver Stone Encyclopedia. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 219–. ISBN   978-0-8108-8352-9.
  4. Oliver Stone (1 January 2001). Oliver Stone: Interviews. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. VIII. ISBN   978-1-57806-303-1.
  5. Nastasi, Alison. "Watch 'Seizure,' the Strange Horror Movie That Served As Oliver Stone's Directorial Debut". Lights, Camera, News. Movies.com. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  6. The Staff of Lone Eagle Publishing (2002). Film Directors. Lone Eagle Pub. p. 238. ISBN   9781580650434.
  7. Lavington, Stephen (November 30, 2011). Virgin Film: Oliver Stone. Virgin Digital.
  8. Video Watchdog. Tim & Donna Lucas. 1994. p. 32.
  9. "'Seizure' Rides on Oliver Stone's Name". PopMatters. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  10. "Scorpion Releasing Prepping Oliver Stone's Seizure for Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. 17 June 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  11. "Seizure Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  12. "Seizure: DVD". Amazon.com. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.