Hell-Bent for Hollywood

Prolific writer-director/producer/ex-wrestler and self described "Monster Kid" Fred Olen Ray's bio-book immediately grabbed my attention since he begins it by recounting a near death experience caused by the same botched medical malpractice operation that killed my own father! His uninhibited, frank recounting of his colorful journey from fringe filmmaking to a long-running movie career which he describes as "swimming upstream" and "making something out of nothing" is a fascinating journey through a bumpy career initially carved from remnants of other movies, with a stellar supporting cast of psychotronic icons ranging from Ed Wood and Peter Cushing to Sybil Danning and Aldo Ray. And where else can you find out why he abandoned his remake of The Indestructible Man or how many movies he actually squeezed out of his hours spent shooting all-purpose footage of John Carradine?-- Joe Dante - Director of GREMLINS, THE HOWLING and PIRANHA --