Tom Holland (filmmaker)
American filmmaker (born 1943)
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.
Early life and education
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]
Career
Acting career
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 at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con .[ 14]
Writing
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.
Directing
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 .
Dead Rabbit Films
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]
Personal life
He is the father of American actor Josh Holland.[ 39] [ 40]
Filmography
Film
Short film
Executive producer
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
Acting credits
Television
TV movies
Web short films
Year
Title
Director
Writer
Executive Producer
2006
Driven
Yes
Yes
Yes
2008
5 or Die
Yes
No
Yes
Acting credits
Critical reception
Awards and nominations
References
^ Worcester Academy (Class of 1962) Yearbook
^ "Thomas Lee Holland" . Martindale-Hubbell .
^ "Thomas Lee Holland # 61529 - Attorney Licensee Search" .
^ "TOM HOLLAND and PSYCHO II" . Damn Dirty Geeks . August 10, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2017 .
^ Stuart, Gwynedd (October 12, 2017). "Director Tom Holland Looks Back at Child's Play Nearly 30 Years Later" . L.A. Weekly . Retrieved December 5, 2017 .
^ Vanderbilt, Mike. "Tom Holland on his seminal vampire flick Fright Night, which turned 30 this week" . The A.V. Club . Retrieved December 5, 2017 .
^ The Langoliers (1995) , retrieved December 5, 2017
^ "VUDU - Watch Movies" . www.vudu.com . Retrieved December 5, 2017 .
^ "Tom Holland Biography" . FilmReference . Retrieved August 9, 2018 .
^ Vanderbilt, Mike (August 5, 2015). "Tom Holland on his seminal vampire flick Fright Night, which turned 30 this week" . The A.V. Club . Retrieved August 8, 2018 .
^ Hollywood Interview
^ "A.J. Bowen and Tom Holland Join Cast of Hatchet 2" . June 25, 2012.
^ " 'Hatchet 2' Picked Up By Dark Sky Films, Plans to Build Franchise!" . January 13, 2010.
^ "First Look: Tom Holland in Hatchet II" . July 10, 2010.
^ "Tom Holland Remaking His Own 'The Beast Within' - Bloody Disgusting" . bloody-disgusting.com . August 6, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2017 .
^ "BBFC Rating; Class of 1984" .
^ http://www.filmsite.org/reviews/1982/class-of-1984/ [dead link ]
^ "Film Review: Class of 1984 (1982) | HNN" . horrornews.net . Retrieved December 6, 2017 .
^ Muir, John Kenneth (January 27, 2012). "John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV: The Films of 1982: Class of 1984" . John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV . Retrieved December 6, 2017 .
^ "Class of 1984 Movie - The 80s Movies Rewind" . www.fast-rewind.com . Retrieved December 6, 2017 .
^ Kermode, Mark (October 22, 2010). "Psycho: the best horror film of all time" . The Guardian . ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved December 6, 2017 .
^ " 'Psycho': The horror movie that changed the genre" . EW.com . Retrieved December 6, 2017 .
^ "The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time by Entertainment Weekly" . www.filmsite.org . Retrieved December 6, 2017 .
^ "AFI's 100 Greatest American Movies" . www.filmsite.org . Retrieved December 6, 2017 .
^ "The 100 greatest films of all time" . The Telegraph . Retrieved December 6, 2017 .
^ McCarty, John (1990). The Modern Horror Film . Citadel Press . pp. 67– 69. ISBN 0806511648 .
^ "Psycho II (1983) - Box Office Mojo" . www.boxofficemojo.com . Retrieved December 6, 2017 .
^ "Movie Review - - THE SCREEN: 'DAGGER', SPY GAMES - NYTimes.com" . www.nytimes.com . Retrieved December 6, 2017 .
^ Shock Till You Drop (August 9, 2013), Choice Cuts: Tom Holland's Fright Night Tour , archived from the original on December 13, 2021, retrieved December 6, 2017
^ "PIRATE COMMENTARIES" . Icons of Fright - Horror News | Horror Interviews | Horror Reviews & More! . October 17, 2011. Retrieved December 6, 2017 .
^ "FRIGHT NIGHT Reunion Panel From Dallas, TX FEAR FEST 2 moderated by ICONS Robg" . www.iconsoffright.com . Retrieved December 6, 2017 .
^ Ebert, Roger. "Fright Night Movie Review & Film Summary (1985) | Roger Ebert" . www.rogerebert.com . Retrieved December 6, 2017 .
^ Burlingame, Russ=https://comicbook.com/movies/news/fright-night-director-offers-update-on-sequel-hes-writing/ (October 28, 2020). "Fright Night Director Offers Update on Sequel He's Writing". Comicbook.com .
^ Ebert, Roger. "Child's Play Movie Review & Film Summary (1988) | Roger Ebert" . www.rogerebert.com . Retrieved December 6, 2017 .
^ Maltin, Leonard; Sader, Luke; Clark, Mike (2008). Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide . Penguin. p. 240 . ISBN 9780452289789 . leonard maltin child's play.
^ Barton, Steve (November 30, 2009). "Tom Holland and David Chackler Bring Horror Fans Dead Rabbit Films" . Dread Central .
^ Barton, Steve (May 17, 2010). "Tom Holland to Unleash His New Brand of Twisted Tales" . Dread Central . Retrieved June 4, 2022 .
^ Barton, Steve (February 20, 2014). "Tom Holland's Twisted Tales Come Home" . Dread Central . Retrieved June 4, 2022 .
^ "Tom Holland here..." Reddit . Ask Me Anything . 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2018 .
^ Hatfull, Jonathan (October 6, 2015). "Tom Holland talks Twisted Tales and the Ten O'Clock People" . SciFiNow . Retrieved August 9, 2018 .
^ "The Beast within" . Rotten Tomatoes .
^ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of Class of 1984 " . Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved February 16, 2013 .
^ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of Psycho II " . Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved February 16, 2013 .
^ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of Cloak & Dagger " . Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved February 16, 2013 .
^ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of Fright Night " . Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved February 16, 2013 .
^ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of Fatal Beauty " . Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved February 16, 2013 .
^ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of Child's Play " . Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved February 16, 2013 .
^ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of The Temp " . Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved February 16, 2013 .
^ "Stephen King's 'The Langoliers' (1995)" . Rotten Tomatoes .
^ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of Thinner " . Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved February 16, 2013 .
^ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of Fright Night " . Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved February 16, 2013 .
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