IN THIS EPISODE In this episode, Gil and I chatted with Tales From The Crypt alum John Harrison. John directed two episodes of Crypt: Easel Kill Ya with Tim Roth and The Pit with Wayne Newton which he also wrote. John wrote two of the episodes that we shot in London – Horror In The Night starring Elizabeth McGovern and The Kidnapper which starred Steve Coogan and Julia Sawalha.

John came to Crypt already a highly respected horror auteur. Coming from Pittsburgh, John was heavily influenced by another Pittsburgh native, George Romero. In fact, John worked on Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead and Day Of The Dead. He also worked on Creepshow, Tales From The Darkside, Monsters (the TV series), Nightmare Café and Earth 2 – all before lending his talents to Crypt.

Since then? Among other things, John wrote the animated feature “Dinosaur” for Disney. He wrote and directed Clive Barker’s Book of Blood for TNT, and John’s 6-hour miniseries adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune (2000), which he directed, was an Emmy Award-winner here in the US and an international TV and home video hit.

Then John did the sequel - Children of Dune - another 6-hour miniseries encompassing the next two novels of Frank Herbert's mythic adventure series.  John wrote and co-produced the series - which also won an Emmy, this time for the Sci-Fi Channel.

I’ve only just scratched the surface of our friend John Harrison. Did I mention he’s a musician and scores his work, too? He really is a one-man-movie-making band.

This episode was originally published in April 2023.

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IN THIS EPISODE I empathize with every John Smith or Robert Jones. It sucks having to share your name with others, never mind so many others. I had encountered my first Alan-Katz-who-wasn't-me in grade school. My friend Kenny Katz's dad was named Alan (Allan actually). The second Alan-Katz-Who-Wasn't-Me that I encountered was at summer camp. He was my bunkmate along with his twin brother Robert. I met the next Alan-Katz-who-wasn't-me whenn I got to Los Angeles and began breaking into the movie & TV business. That Allan Katz was hugely successful with massive credits already to his name. There was actual confusion. Money went to the wrong Alan Katz (several of his residual payments went to me - I sent them back). In this episode, that Alan Katz and I finally get to have a conversation together. Join us for The Name Game!

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IN THIS EPISODE It turns out making iconic horror characters is harder and more complicated than it looks. Perfect example: The Crypt Keeper, host of HBO's Tales From The Crypt. In this episode, for the firs time ever, the FOUR people responsible for creating the Crypt Keeper sit down together to talk about the thing they all created if not together than in their turns. It really did take four different creative contributions to create the CK. So, get prepared to meet Crypt's producer, Gil Adler, voice of the CK, John Kassir, special effects maestro Kevin Yagher and Alan Katz.

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IN THIS EPISODE My dear friend and former agent/manager Nick Mechanic returns to talk about the current stage of movies, TV and deal-making. It's not a pretty picture, but the challenge of conquering and staying on Showbiz Mountain is part of the lure for some people. Like Nick. As we'll discuss, the most difficult part of Showbiz Mountain isn't climbing onto it in the first place, it's staying on Showbiz Mountain once you've summited it. That's what ultimately undoes most people.

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In This Episode We pay tribute to our grood friend, the director ELLIIOT SILVERSTEIN (Cat Ballou, A Man Called Horse, The Car, Tales From The Crypt). Elliot was a consumate craftsman as a director. Beyond the craft, he also was a strong union guy who was instrumental in making the Director's Guild of America the powerhouse union it is today. Elliot takes us inside his remarkable, detail-oriented process. This really is a master class in 'How To Be A Movie Director".

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IN THIS EPISODE You've almost certainly seen actor Mark Ivanir's work - even if you don't recognize him. He's that prolific - and that good at disappearing into the roles he's playing. Among Mark's work: Schindler's List, Emelia Perez, 7 Days In Entebbe, Homeland, Mayor of Kingstown, Babylon Berlin and Big Mistakes. Mark's story outside his acting work is equally fasciniating. We talk about his role in helping the Jews of Ethiopia escape to Israel as part of Operation Solomon in 1991 - a breathtakingly bold intelligence mission.

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Note: this episode was originally published April11, 2023.

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IN THIS EPISODE - As we've talked about in the podcast, when Universal Pictures first ordered three "Tales From The Crypt" branded feature films, Gil Adler and I were supposed to write the movie and Gil was supposed to direct the first. But Gil and I wanted to do something less conventional while the Crypt Partners and Universal wanted something more traditional - like, say, a monster movie. So, Gil and I opted to make the second Crypt feature (which became the ill-fated Bordello Of Blood) and we hired Ernest Dickerson (a terrific filmmaker in his own right and Spike Lee's former director of photography on movies like "She's Gotta Have It", "Do The Right Thing", "Mo Better Blues", "Jungle Fever" and "Malcolm X"). Ernest talks about all the influences that guided him (he's a huuuuuge horror fan) and his approach to filmmaking in general and to the various challenges of making "Demon Knight".

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Note: this episode was originally published June13, 2023.

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IN THIS EPISODE we catch up with the special effects makeup masters the Chiodo Brothers. Way, way back in the day, Alan & Gil talked about hitchinig their collective creative wagons together. In this sit-down, two of the brothers, Stephen and Charles, join Alan & Gil for a free-ranging celebration of all things horror. But especially that place where horror and comedy co-exist like, well, brothers.

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Note: this episode was originally published October 29, 2023.

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IN THIS EPISODE When it comes to producing Big Studio Tentpole Movies - the summer or Christmas blockbuster that the studio is counting on to make its year - no one was/is better than this podcast's occasional co-host GIL ADLER. After Gil and Alan parted ways and ended their decade-long creative partnership and friendship, Gil went on to become Warner Bros go-to tentpole guy. He oversaw Superman Returns, Constantine and Valkyrie, all with budgets near or above $200 million. Valkyrie proved to be especially challenging for Gil on a number of different fronts. Here, Gil dives deeply into the experience of making that movie and in the high stakes game of Major Studio Movie Production.

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IIN THIS EPISODE: Leading actors come and go but good character actors are eternal. Actors like our very good friend William Sadler embody a kind of character actor perfection. Bill's easygoing charm can play anywhere on the good v evil spectrum. Hell, one of Bill's best known characters is The Grim Reaper, a seemingly larger-than-life character turned endearingly neurotic (and hilarious) by Bill's granular approach to his craft.

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Note: As our original publishing platform no longer exists, we are republishing this interview here. It was originally published November 8, 2022.

If you enjoy this podcast, please check out our other (growing roster) of podcasts at Costard & Touchstone.

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