Book Review: True Indie- Life and Death in Filmmaking
DON COSCARELLI Proves He Still Plays a Good Game with His Wildly Entertaining Memoir, “TRUE INDIE”
True Indie (2018, St. Martin’s Press) book jacket photo-illustration by Bob Grom and James Iacobelli; Phantasm (1979, AVCO Embassy Pictures) poster created by Tom Chantrell; Beastmaster (1982, MGM/UA) poster created by Craig Nelson; Bubba Ho-Tep (2002, Vitagraph Films) created by Graham Humphreys; John Dies at the End (2012, Magnet Releasing) poster created by Jay Shaw.
Review originally published on January 12, 2020
The finale of PHANTASM: RAVAGER (2016), the fifth film in the over four-decade PHANTASM series, ends with a bittersweet reunion.
Protagonists since the original 1979 film, brothers Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) and Jody (Bill Thornbury), and their best friend Reggie (Reggie Bannister), sit inside the trademark black Plymouth Barracuda. The battle against the otherworldly Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) pushed them in different directions (and dimensions), but in the end, all their paths led to this spot.
Age weathers their features, and there's weariness in their eyes. Sitting in the muscle car, they exchange wordless looks, and their exhaustion turns to contented smiles. The 'Cuda burns rubber towards a city under siege by swarms of silver spheres and hordes of the undead. Like the aging outlaws in Sam Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH, these old friends defiantly face overpowering forces and impossible odds. And, like the Wild Bunch, they wouldn’t have it any other way.
As you read legendary horror director Don Coscarelli's memoir, TRUE INDIE: LIFE AND DEATH IN FILMMAKING (St. Martin's Press-ISBN 1250193249), you might think of that final scene from The Wild Bunch every time Coscarelli and his film crew head out to make movies, odds be damned.
"He (Tarantino) made it look so damn easy, but all those wannabes quickly found out it's not. Indie filmmaking is damn hard." - Don Coscarelli
He dreams of demons for you: Don Coscarelli on the set of PHANTASM (1979). Photo: Copyright ©1978 Starway International Inc.
From his first independently produced feature film at the age of 19 to his breakthrough horror classic PHANTASM and the cult hits BUBBA HO-TEP and JOHN DIES AT THE END, Don Coscarelli overcame snubs from the major studios, clueless film distributors, and even disinterest from the Sundance Film Festival, to make his movies his way.
How Coscarelli beat the odds repeatedly (and occasionally had the odds beat him) is a surprisingly warmhearted story of lifelong friendships, loyal film crews and actors, hard lessons, dumb luck, and the talent to adapt to the challenges inherent to low-budget independent filmmaking.
Coscarelli wastes no time scuffing up the shiny veneer of the hip, slick, cool indie filmmaker epitomized by Quentin Tarantino. On page one, he recounts a cold night on a dead-end road on the outskirts of LA where he shot a high-speed car chase from the trunk of one of the vehicles while an actor fired a shotgun blast right over the director's head. By the way, there were no permits or stunt drivers; film students operated the vehicles, and Coscarelli's only protection from the shotgun blast was tin foil and a camera pad on his face, which the gunpowder sparks set on fire. On the subject of fire, they rigged one of the cars to explode. Did I mention there were no permits?
As Coscarelli states, "He (Tarantino) made it look so damn easy, but all those wannabes quickly found out it's not. Indie filmmaking is damn hard."
The Drill Heard ‘Round The World: the first glimpse of the iconic Silver Sphere in all its gory glory. Photo: Copyright ©1978 Starway International Inc.
When it comes to the hard-knock, hard-luck world of indie cinema, Don Coscarelli knows what he speaks. By the time he was 16, he blew a chance to work with Disney and had his work ripped off by the YMCA, believe it or not. He even interviewed visual effects legend Douglas Trumbull for a proposed magazine under the American Zoetrope umbrella (guided by August Coppola, Francis' older brother), only to have the project dissolve mysteriously.
"Would it dash your dreams if I report that we never heard a word back from August Coppola…or anybody from American Zoetrope ever again?" writes Coscarelli.
Ah, showbiz.
Yet, by the time Coscarelli turned 19, he had made his first full-length feature (1975's JIM, THE WORLD'S GREATEST), had an office on the Universal Studios lot, had a second movie, KENNY AND COMPANY (1976), in production, and had the ear of one of the most influential people in Hollywood: Sid Sheinberg, then President of Universal Pictures. It's not a bad resume for someone not yet of legal drinking age.
Sadly, all of that was short-lived. Poor box office reception and studio confusion on how to market his films led to a parting of ways between the director and Universal. However, Hollywood executives' corporate indifference and the politics of ineptitude lit a fire under Coscarelli to make his next movie on his own terms. With the help of family, friends, and some luck from the movie gods that nobody got killed, his third film became an unlikely smash hit that combined sci-fi and horror and expanded the narrative possibilities of both genres. That film was PHANTASM, and its success propels Coscarelli through an eccentric career full of twists and turns and makes this book a fun and captivating page-turner. There is a more unexpected reason that the book is so compelling: the amount of heart there is in Coscarelli’s story.
Paul Giamatti and Don Coscarelli on the set of JOHN DIES AT THE END (2012) Photo: Courtesy of Magnet Releasing.
Despite their penchant for flying silver spheres, reanimated corpses, and fountains of yellow and red blood, the Phantasm movies have always been about friendship, loyalty, and family at their core. While TRUE INDIE is a wildly entertaining look at independent cinema's technical, artistic, and political battlefields, it is also a heartfelt love letter to family, friendship, and personal integrity.
Coscarelli entertains us with personal stories about his 40-plus-year career making movies. Still, he also allows us to glimpse his formative years as a boy growing up in Orange County, California.
The author devotes as much time to his childhood and his first movie experiments as he gives to his more famous work. It's a wise choice because Coscarelli's youthful enthusiasm and ambition are contagious. It also shows how friends, teachers, and family inspired him in ways he took to heart. Coscarelli gratefully acknowledges the people who taught him life lessons, which speaks volumes about his values.
Phantasm Phamily Phorever: Coscarelli’s loyalty to cast and crew crated lifetime friendships and collaborations. L to R: Daryn Okada (Phantasm II cinematographer), Don Coscarelli, Paul Pepperman, Kathy Lester, Reggie Bannister, Angus Scrimm. Photo: Copyright © 2008 Clark Perry (Clarkblog)
Of course, TRUE INDIE bursts with anecdotal stories about the long, strange campaigns to make his films, including the financial roadblocks, the hardships of picking the wrong actor or crew, and the missed opportunities (or dodged bullets) of potential films left unmade. There are sobering passages where the director chooses loyalty to his cast and crew over bowing to potential backers and takes a career hit.
Coscarelli also gives the reader a crash course on navigating and surviving their own low-budget independent movie-making. The chapter "Don Coscarelli's Five-Minute Film School" is worth the book's price alone. Pragmatic and inventive ways to make the most of limited time and resources pepper the book, and you can almost feel the director’s endless hustle and sweat rising from the pages.
The book is most assuredly the author's story, but you may be surprised how much time he devotes throughout the book to honoring his friends, family, and the actors and crew of his films. Coscarelli believes in cinema as a collaborative art and quickly praises those he works with. There is real love and admiration for the late actor Angus Scrimm, and the chapters that feature their friendship are poignant and respectful.
Coscarelli's mixture of sincerity, humor, blunt self-reflection, and an egalitarian mindset reveals a genuine love for making movies, the people who make them, and the people who help the people who make them. His style elevates this book into emotionally engaging and satisfying territory. TRUE INDIE has the rare misfit glee and personality of books like John Waters' SHOCK VALUE and David F. Friedman's A YOUTH IN BABYLON.
Don Coscarelli's TRUE INDIE is the work of a true believer in cinema, a true fan of the horror genre, and a true lover of the art of making movies. Coscarelli shows that independent filmmaking both thrills his soul and breaks his heart, and he wouldn't have it any other way.
TRUE INDIE: LIFE AND DEATH IN FILMMAKING by Don Coscarelli
Release Date: October 2, 2018
Publisher : St. Martin's Press; Illustrated edition
Language : English
Hardcover : 352 pages
ISBN-10 : 9781250193247
ISBN-13 : 978-1250193247