Norman J. Warren

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Norman J. Warren
editor
  • producer
    • Years active1959–2021
    Notable workSatan's Slave (1976)
    Prey (1977)
    Terror (1978)
    Outer Touch (1979)
    Inseminoid (1981)
    Style

    Norman John Warren (25 June 1942 – 11 March 2021) was an English film director best known for such 1970s horror films as Satan's Slave (1976), Prey (1977) and Terror (1978).[1] Warren is also known for sex comedies such as Outer Touch (also known as Outer Spaced and Spaced Out, 1979).[2][3][4][5]

    Along with the films of

    Amicus
    productions that dominated the genre in UK cinema up to the early 1970s.

    Life and career

    An avid film fan from childhood, Warren entered the film industry as a runner on The Millionairess (1960) and as an assistant director (The Dock Brief, 1962) before directing the short film Fragment (1965). Calcutta-born Bachoo Sen (1934–2002), owner of the Astral Cinema in Brewer Street, London, who had an interest in film production, saw Fragment and subsequently hired Warren to direct two feature-length sex films, Her Private Hell (1968) and Loving Feeling (1969). Both were successes, but Warren saw little of the profits.

    Not wanting to be

    typecast as a director of sex films, Warren turned down a third directing offer from Sen (Love Is a Splendid Illusion, 1970) and had to wait several years to raise the money required to make Satan's Slave (1976), the first of a series of horror films that he directed. Warren's final two films, Bloody New Year and Gunpowder (both 1987), were hampered by low budgets imposed by producer Maxine Julius
    .

    Although Warren did not release a feature film between 1987 and 2016, he continued to work in the industry directing music videos and educational

    students of English
    . His horror films developed a following, culminating in the making of Evil Heritage, a 1999 documentary about his work, and the release of a DVD box set in 2004.

    In 2007, Warren worked on the supplementary features for the Region 1 DVD releases of Corridors of Blood (1958), The Haunted Strangler (1958) and First Man into Space (1959). He was a regular guest at Manchester's Festival of Fantastic Films.

    In 2016, Warren announced whilst being interviewed by journalist Steve Green[6] that he was in post-production on a new feature film, a thriller set in London's Chinatown. The completion of Susu was confirmed at Birmingham FearFest in May 2017, at which Warren was a guest of honour.[7]

    Death

    Warren died on 11 March 2021, aged 78. His manager said he had been in poor health for a year prior.[8]

    Filmography

    Year Title Notes
    1968 Her Private Hell Directorial Debut
    1968 Loving Feeling
    1976 Satan's Slave
    1977 Prey Alternative title: Alien Prey
    1978 Terror
    1979 Outer Touch Alternative titles: Spaced Out, Outer Reach and Outer Spaced
    1981 Inseminoid Alternative title: Horror Planet
    1986 Gunpowder
    1987 Bloody New Year Alternative titles: Time Warp Terror and Horror Hotel

    References

    1. ^ "The New York Times Profile". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2012. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
    2. ^ "Spaced Out, a Comedy". The New York Times. 12 December 1981. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
    3. ISBN 1-903111-92-7
    4. McGillivray, David
      (1992). Doing Rude Things: the History of the British Sex Film, 1957-1981 (Sun Tavern Fields).
    5. ^ Fenton, Harvey (2001). Ten Years of Terror: British Horror Films of the 1970s (FAB Press, Guildford).
    6. ^ Rose of Eibon (10 December 2016). "Birmingham News, 2016-12-03: Norman J Warren, 27th Festival of Fantastic Films". YouTube. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
    7. ^ "Birmingham FearFest – Celebrating All That is Spooky in the Second City". Birmingham-fearfest.co.uk. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
    8. RTÉ News and Current Affairs
      . 12 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.

    Bibliography

    External links
    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norman_J._Warren&oldid=1219631881"