Posted on 01/09/2009 9:03:47 AM PST by EveningStar
Here's to Ray Dennis Steckler, the independent filmmaker who wrote, starred (as Cash Flagg) and directed influential films including The Thrill Killers, Rat Pfink a Boo Boo, and his masterpice The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies. A visionary artist whose influnce is clearly seen in contemporary cinema, Steckler was prolific (producing movies from 1963 until last year), economical (his films were self-produced, shot on 16mm film and later Hi-8 video), and brilliant (as clearly evidenced in this dance sequence from Creatures, "The First Monster Musical"). It hasn't been widely reported yet, but fans are mourning his passing. He died in his sleep yesterday, January 7th, aged 70.
(Excerpt) Read more at metafilter.com ...
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RIP.
Beatnik Horror has lost its greatest star! RIP!
Yeah. There's a soundtrack.
I finally caught up with “Rat Pfink” after decades of hearing about it, when Turner Classics aired it a few months back. Weird silliness.
Ah, well. At least we still have Arch Hall, Jr.
ARCH HALL, JR. AND THE ARCHERS WILD GUITAR! (Norton 307) The Sadist / Dune Buggy / Buzzola / Konga Joe / Theme From Wild Guitar / Termites / Steak's Theme / Monkey In My Hatband / Back In Business* / Run Vickie Run / Mike Calls The Shots* / Guitar Twist / A Date With Eegah / Theme From Eegah / I'm Growin' Taller / Wild Guitar Trailer / Stairfall / Twist Fever / Publicity / Money And Records / Steak / Eegah Crashes The Party / Brownsville Road / Vickie / Girl Bait / Daisy Dance / The Kidnappers / Judy Poody / Organ Twist / Bud Smells A Rat / Bud And Steak Square Off / Pep Talk / Archers Theme* / If A Man Answers* / Further On Up The Road* / Stop Sneakin' Around* / Nancy Czar Interview* / Teenage Idol* / Good Golly Miss Molly* / Wild Guitar* / Hello Mary Lou* / Susie Q* / Yes I Will* / Archers Theme Outro* / You Little Punk / Watch Your Step** / Big Boy Pete** / The Choppers (*Live 1962 Pensacola Florida / **Live 1964 Pasadena, California)FINALLY! Gargantuan set heralds the mega-cool collected works 1959-1964 of ARCH HALL, JR.-- star of stage, screen and records! This first time ever soundtrack collection is culled largely from newly found master tapes and features Archs earliest solo recordings plus the Archers live in 62 at a Pensacola drive in theatre and in 64 at a Pasadena night club! Massive illustrated bio-booklet includes interviews with Arch Jr.and the Amazing Archers, filmmaker Ray Dennis Steckler, movie star Liz Renay, plus various cast and crew from Fairway International Pictures. Arch has long been a film fan favorite with his starring roles in WILD GUITAR, EEGAH, THE SADIST and others, but his musical career has been a total mystery for forty years! Now, the entire story unfolds as the world is takes a frantic foray into the incredible world of Mr. Wild Guitar himself ARCH HALL, JR!
APSARA JET (2001) Face it, people. Arch Hall, Jr. is unstoppable! Here is his first novel 287 pages packed with action, action, action drawn from his intimate knowledge of the Far East and his thousands of hours clocked in as a commercial pilot! Move into the midnight heat of Cambodia, the mystery of the Khmer people, one man's torridly detailed immersion into a culture as ancient as the ruins of Ankor Watt. Arch used the pen name Nicolas Merriweather for his first novel a tip of the hat to his genius Dad! Limited stock autographed by the author! Paperbound. $25
Liz Renay, star of Ray Dennis Steckler (and John Waters) movies, died last year.
Lester Bangs wrote a lengthy piece about Ray Dennis Steckler's Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Suddenly Stopped Living And Became Mixed Up Zombies that was reprinted in this book.
Lester Bangs wrote a lengthy piece about Ray Dennis Steckler's Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Suddenly Stopped Living And Became Mixed Up Zombies that was reprinted in this book.
ping
One of the best MST3K’s was his Incredibly Mixed Up Zombies. TCM has recently played his Wild Guitar, Sadist, and Rat Phink a Boo Boo.
RIP>
A sad day for all MSTies out there.
We also recently lost our beloved Beverly Garland.
I think the cinematographer on The Sadist later was cinematographer for The Deer Hunter.
From Wikipedia on The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies:
“The cinematography/camera operating was done by three men who would go on to become major figures in cinematography: Joseph V. Mascelli, author of The Five Cs of Cinematography; Vilmos Zsigmond (listed as William Zsigmond), who won an Academy Award for his work on Close Encounters of the Third Kind; and László Kovács (listed as Leslie Kovacs).”
Lazlo Kovacs worked on a number of low budget films (Mondo Mod among them) in the 1960s. Even Easy Rider (the film that made his name) wasn’t considered to be a big film during production.
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