Tom Holland (director)

Tom Holland
Born (1943-07-11) July 11, 1943
Poughkeepsie, New York
Nationality American
Education Worcester Academy
Alma mater University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation Film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, model
Years active 1964-present
Notable work Fright Night, Fatal Beauty, Child's Play, The Stranger Within, The Temp, The Langoliers, Thinner
Children 1; Josh Holland
Parent(s) Lee Holland
(mother, deceased)
Tom Holland
(father, deceased)

Tom Holland (born July 11, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter and actor. He is best known for directing and writing horror movies like Psycho II (1983), Fright Night (1985), Child's Play (1988), and Thinner (1996).

Early life

Holland, the son of Lee and Tom Holland, was born in Poughkeepsie, New York. Holland attended Ossining Public High School before transferring to Worcester Academy, where he graduated in 1962. He is the father of American actor Josh Holland.

Education

Holland attended UCLA, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He also received his Juris Doctorate from the UCLA School of Law.

In explaining why he chose not to pursue a promising legal career Holland states:

"I had just taken the Bar Exam and I was waiting for my results, which at the time took three months to post. At the same time I received word that a treatment I had written had been optioned. As a struggling actor I had become used to being poor, so I decided to pursue my passion to create rather than litigate. And I've never really looked back."

Holland did pass the Bar Exam on his first attempt and has been a member of the California Bar Association since 1973.

Career

During his early career in New York and Hollywood, Holland worked on over 200 commercials to learn film making and support his family.

"In the beginning I did everything, worked as a Grip, Loader, PA, what have you. In my mind I was always working toward directing feature films and so I decided early on that any job I could take on a working set would give me the tools to make my own films."

Acting career

Holland trained as an actor at the Actor's Studio under the tutelage of Lee Strasberg. Throughout the 60's and early 70's 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.

In December 2009 Holland was cast for Adam Green's Hatchet 2,[1] to star alongside Danielle Harris, Tony Todd, Kane Hodder, and R.A. Mihailoff.[2] He narrated the film Hatchet II alongside Adam Green on San Diego Comic-Con International 2010.[3] In an interview published in January 2011 with mondo-video.com, Holland shared some stories about his acting days, which included working with legendary actress Ingrid Bergman and martial arts expert, Bruce Lee.

Dead Rabbit Films/Directing

He and David Chackler founded the horror film company Dead Rabbit Films;.[4] Their first feature film was the remake of Fright Night.[5] Holland is also reportedly scheduled to be writing and directing a feature-length anthology of horror shorts titled Twisted Tales.[6] Currently, they and others are interviewing for a film documentary that will tell their story behind the scenes.

Holland is famous for writing and directing twisted tales of ordinary people facing the unknown in addition to evil beings from beyond. He began by writing the scripts of the films The Beast Within and Psycho II, followed later by directing Fright Night, Child's Play, and the TV films The Stranger Within and The Langoliers. His only non horror film is the crime comedy-drama Fatal Beauty.

As of 2015, he is also a member of the board of advisers for the Hollywood Horror Museum.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Director Writer Actor Role Notes
1969 Changes Yes Roommate
Model Shop Yes Gerry
1970 A Walk in the Spring Rain Yes Boy
1972 Josie's Castle Yes Leonard Robbins
1982 The Beast Within Yes
Class of 1984 Yes
1983 Psycho II YesYes Deputy Norris
1984 Scream for Help Yes
Cloak & Dagger Yes
1985 Fright Night YesYes
1987 Fatal Beauty Yes
1988 Child's Play YesYes
Fright Night II Yes
1993 The Temp Yes
1996 Thinner YesYes
2010 Hatchet II Yes Bob Uncredited
2011 Fright Night Yes
2015 Digging Up the Marrow Yes Tom Holland
2015 Killing Frank YesYes pre-production
Cessation YesYes pre-production

Television

Year Title Director Producer Writer Actor Role Notes
1964 77 Sunset Strip Yes Episode: "Lover's Lane"
Theatre of Stars Yes Vic Burns Episode: "Out on the Outskirts of Town"
1965-1966 A Flame in the Wind Yes Steve Reynolds #2 "American Soap Opera"
1967 Combat! Yes Pfc. Tommy Bishop Episode: "Entombed"
1968 Felony Squad Yes LeRoy Baker Episode: "Epitaph for a Cop"
1969 My Friend Tony Yes Episode: "The Hazing"
The Young Lawyers Yes David Harrison Episode: "Pilot"
Medical Center Yes Jess Yarnaby Episode: "24 Hours"
1978 The Initiation of Sarah Yes TV movie
The Incredible Hulk Yes Steve Silva Episode: "Another Path"
1983 The Winds of War Yes Devilfish Sub Captain Episode: "Into the Maelstrom"
1986 Amazing Stories Yes Episode: "Miscalculation"
1989-1992 Tales from the Crypt Yes Yes Episodes: "Lover Come Hack to Me"
"Four-Sided Triangle"
"King of the Road"
1990 The Stranger Within Yes TV movie
1991 The Owl YesYesYesYes Mugger TV Pilot, appears uncredited in extended international version
1994 The Stand Yes Carl HoughTV miniseries
1995 The Langoliers Yes YesYes British assassin's employer
2006 The Initiation of Sarah Yes
2007 Masters of Horror Yes Episode: "We All Scream for Ice Cream"
2008 Driven YesYesYes Web short
5 or Die YesYesYes Web short
2010 Team Unicorn Yes Grandpa Episode: "A Very Zombie Holiday"
2012–present Twisted Tales YesYesYes Web series

Critical reception

Film Rotten Tomatoes IMDb
Overall
The Beast Within (1982) N/A 5.1[7]
Class of 1984 (1982) 60%[8] 6.4[9]
Psycho II (1983) 59%[10] 6.4[11]
Scream for Help (1984) N/A 5.0[12]
Cloak & Dagger (1984) 67%[13] 6.2[14]
Fright Night (1985) 93%[15] 6.9[16]
Fatal Beauty (1987) 25%[17] 4.8[18]
Child's Play (1988) 68%[19] 6.4[20]
Fright Night II (1988) 29%[21] 5.5[22]
The Temp (1993) 30%[23] 4.9[24]
Thinner (1996) 16%[25] 5.4[26]
Fright Night (2011) 72%[27] 6.4[28]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Film Result
1984 Edgar Award Best Motion Picture Psycho II Nominated
1986 Dario Argento Award Best Film Fright Night Won
Critics' Award Special Mention Won
International Fantasy Film Award Best Film Nominated
Saturn Award Best Director Nominated
Best Horror Film Won
Best Writing Won
1990 Best Horror Film Child's Play Nominated
Best Writing
Shared with Don Mancini and John Lafia		Nominated
1996 Best Television Presentation The Langoliers Nominated

References

  1. ↑ "A.J. Bowen and Tom Holland Join Cast of Hatchet 2".
  2. ↑ "'Hatchet 2' Picked Up By Dark Sky Films, Plans to Build Franchise!".
  3. ↑ "First Look: Tom Holland in Hatchet II".
  4. ↑ "Dead Rabit Films – Official". Deadrabbitent.com. Retrieved 2012-06-07.
  5. ↑ "Tom Holland and David Chackler Bring Horror Fans Dead Rabbit Films". DreadCentral.
  6. ↑ "Tom Holland INCORRECT INFORMATION - HE IS NOT BRYAN'S UNCLE to Unleash His New Brand of Twisted Tales".
  7. ↑ "The Beast Within (1982) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  8. ↑ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of ''Class of 1984''". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  9. ↑ "Class of 1984 (1982) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  10. ↑ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of ''Psycho II''". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  11. ↑ "Psycho II (1983) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  12. ↑ "Scream for Help (1984) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  13. ↑ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of ''Cloak & Dagger''". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  14. ↑ "Cloak & Dagger (1984) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  15. ↑ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of ''Fright Night''". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  16. ↑ "Fright Night (1985) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  17. ↑ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of ''Fatal Beauty''". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  18. ↑ "Fatal Beauty (1987) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  19. ↑ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of ''Child's Play''". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  20. ↑ "Child's Play (1988) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  21. ↑ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of ''Fright Night II''". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  22. ↑ "Fright Night Part 2 (1988) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  23. ↑ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of ''The Temp''". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  24. ↑ "The Temp (1993) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  25. ↑ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of ''Thinner''". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  26. ↑ "Thinner (1996) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  27. ↑ "Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of ''Fright Night''". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  28. ↑ "Fright Night (2011) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2013-02-16.

External links

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