“Phantasm,” “The Beastmaster,” “Bubba Ho-Tep” and “John Dies at the End” director Don Coscarelli is Raising Hell on e-mail!
“I’m writing to tell you how much I loved your book. What a treat to get a window into the making and marketing of The Devils! Thank you so much for writing this book… it’s a simply terrific work.”
The Walking Dead season three executive producer Glen Mazzara is Raising Hell on twitter!
“Just read this fascinating book by @RichardCrouse on Ken Russell’s incredibly controversial film, The Devils.”
Rupert Russell is Raising Hell!
“Richard Crouse’s Raising Hell is a chillingly accurate portrait of a man through his most chilling and accomplished film,The Devils.”
– Rupert Russell, April 7, 2013
Screenwriter and director Chris Donaldson is Raising Hell!
“I just wanted to drop you a quick message and tell you how much I adore your ‘Devils’ book. I finished it and thought ‘damn’ it’s done. I want more— No, I NEED more! Now you have to write an entire series like this on other great and powerful films. I am hooked. A book a month for the rest of your, no… My life.
Could you make that happen?
Joking aside, it was a wonderful read and I am pushing it on all my film friends.”
– Chris Donaldson, screenwriter of a sequel to ‘Judge Dredd’, ‘Bloodrayne 2’, ‘Act Of War’ and ‘Preacher’
What did “Gothic” and “The Awakening” screenwriter Stephen Volk say after reading “Raising Hell: Ken Russell and the Unmaking of The Devils”? Well, let me tell you…
“The book is a wonderful evocation of the madness and creative integrity that made The Devils a life-changing movie experience for me. It also rekindled fond memories of working with Ken. It is without doubt one of the most incendiary films ever made, and should be compulsory viewing for schools in our age of fear and fundamentalism. What is great is that Crouse goes further than a fascination behind-the-scenes peek at the “Making of”, and does a great job of reminding us of the bigots who dismissed the movie at the time and the cowards who still prevent us from seeing it in its full glory.”
What did Guillermo Del Toro say after reading “Raising Hell: Ken Russell and the Unmaking of The Devils”? Well, let me tell you…
“An exhaustive, vivd and passionate account of one of the most powerful and transgressive films ever made. This is not only a great book, it’s a necessary book.”
What did Jerry Ciccoritti say after reading Raising Hell: Ken Russell and the Unmaking of The Devils? Well, let me tell you…
“I devoured Raising hell as soon as it fell into my hands. Loved it. Written as both a scholar and a fan – hard to pull off, but Crouse pulls it off with style.”
– Jerry Ciccoritti, director Psycho Girls and The Lives of Saints
Quentin Tarantino was in town today to promote his movie “Django Unchained” and I was lucky enough to grab an interview. Many cool things happened in the brief time I got my geek on with him.
First he remembered my Son of the 100 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen book, which I gave him the last time we met. So, of course I gave him a copy of my new one, Raising Hell: Ken Russell and the Unmaking of The Devils. “I’ve heard about this,” he said. “I actually saw it in Fangoria; they had a piece on it. I’m really looking forward to reading this!”
At the end I asked him this question:
RC: “How do you expect people to react to the film? It’s visceral. It’s funny. It’s gritty. It’s fun. It’s all those things, but some of the whipping scenes are brutal.”
QT: “It’s brutal. It’s going to be interesting. Right now you can call it a controversial movie. But it’s controversial because it is coming out right now and there’s a magnifying glass on it. You wrote a book about The Devils, alright. There is a point when Ken Russell makes The Devils, and it’s released and EVERYBODY’s talking about it. And EVERYBODY’s writing about it, but then you get past that and then it just exists and from here on in you live in a world where The Devils already exists. Then people take it and accept it or reject it or whatever.”
Wrapping up we chatted about my favorite parts of “Django Unchained” and he added that I have “the coolest socks in Canada, always.”
It was a good day to be a film geek.
