Joe Dante

Joe Dante
Joe Dante as member of the jury for the 2009 Venice Film Festival
Born	Joseph James Dante Jr.[1] (1946-11-28) November 28, 1946 (age 74) Morristown, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Director, producer, editor, actor
Years active	1968–present
Notable work	Hollywood Boulevard Piranha The Howling Gremlins Explorers Innerspace The 'Burbs Gremlins 2: The New Batch Matinee Small Soldiers
Website	renfieldproductions.com

Joseph James Dante Jr. (/ˈdɑːnteɪ/; born November 28, 1946) is an American film director, producer, editor and actor. His films—notably Gremlins (1984) - often mix 1950s style b-movies with cartoon comedy.

Dante's films also include Piranha (1978), The Howling (1981), Explorers (1985), Innerspace (1987), The 'Burbs (1989), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Matinee (1993), Small Soldiers (1998), and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). His work for television and cable includes immigration satire The Second Civil War (1997) and episodes of anthology series Masters of Horror ("Homecoming" and "The Screwfly Solution") and Amazing Stories, as well as Hawaii Five-0.

Early life and career[]

Dante was born in Morristown, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Livingston. His father, Joseph James Dante, was a professional golfer, though Dante was more interested in becoming a cartoonist.^[2] Dante began his film career working for legendary, low-budget producer Roger Corman, who provided similar opportunities to future directors Francis Ford Coppola and James Cameron. He made The Movie Orgy in 1968. He then worked as an editor on Grand Theft Auto after co-directing Hollywood Boulevard with Allan Arkush.

His next feature film, Roger Corman-produced Piranha, was released in 1978. Inspired by Steven Spielberg's Jaws, the film was written by John Sayles. Dante then invited Sayles to rewrite the script for werewolf tale The Howling, loosely based on the novel by Gary Brandner.

Gremlins and beyond[]

Dante directed episodes of cult television series Police Squad!, before Steven Spielberg invited him to join the directing team on anthology movie Twilight Zone: The Movie. Dante's segment, 'It's a Good Life', featured cartoon-style special effects, and revolved around a woman (played by Kathleen Quinlan) who is 'adopted' by an omnipotent boy.

Gremlins proved one of Dante's biggest hits to date, being the third-highest-grossing film of 1984.^[3] Combining horror and comedy elements, the film revolves around Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan), who is given a strange creature he calls Gizmo as a pet. After Billy fails to follow the rules for looking after Gizmo, the creature spawns other creatures, which transform into destructive monsters who then begin rampaging through the local town. Six years passed before Dante directed the even more anarchic Gremlins 2: The New Batch, set this time in a New York high rise.

Aside from the Gremlins films, Dante also worked with producer Steven Spielberg on comedy adventure Innerspace (1987), in which Dennis Quaid's character is miniaturised and injected inside a human body. His 1985 boys meet alien tale Explorers marked the film debuts of actors River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke. Dante would later work with Tom Hanks on The 'Burbs (1989), a black comedy in which Hanks' character deals with nightmare neighbours.

The 1990s[]

In 1993 Dante directed Matinee, which received positive reviews. Set during the 1960s, the film pays homage to B movies and the showmen who made and promoted them. Matinee has a 91 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In his review for the Chicago Reader, Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote, "At the same time that Dante has a field day brutally satirizing our desire to scare ourselves and others, he also re-creates early-60s clichés with a relish and a feeling for detail that come very close to love". USA Today reviewer Mike Clark wrote "Part spoof, part nostalgia trip and part primer in exploitation-pic ballyhoo, Matinee is a sweetly resonant little movie-lovers' movie".

Dante was creative consultant on short-lived fantasy series Eerie, Indiana (1991–1992), and directed five episodes. He played himself in the series finale. In 1995–1996 he worked on The Phantom. When he was removed from the film, he chose screen credit (as executive producer) rather than pay.

In 1998, he directed the science fiction film Small Soldiers which received mixed reviews and was a moderate box office success.

From 2000[]

Dante directed the 2003 live-action/animation hybrid, Looney Tunes: Back in Action.^[4] A box office bomb,^[5][6] the film received mixed reviews.^[7][8]

In 2007, Dante launched the web series Trailers From Hell,^[9] which provides commentary by directors, producers and screenwriters on trailers for classic and cult movies. He is also a contributor to the website.^[10]

Dante's 2009 film The Hole^[11] received positive reviews, and was awarded the Premio Persol at the 2009 Venice Film Festival. The new award was for the "3-D feature deemed the most creative among those produced globally between September 2008 and August 2009."^[12]

With Roger Corman producing, Dante also directed the interactive web series Splatter for Netflix. The series stars Corey Feldman as a rock star seeking revenge on those he thinks have wronged him.^[13]

Various projects Dante is officially involved in are struggling with funding for years, among them the anthology film "Paris, I'll kill you", the werewolf feature "Monster Love", and the Roger Corman biopic "The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes".^[14]

In 2014, Dante made Burying the Ex, a horror comedy about a young man whose controlling girlfriend suddenly dies in a freak accident but when he tries to move on with his life along with his new partner he discovers that his now undead Ex has come back. The film stars Anton Yelchin and Ashley Greene. It was selected to be screened out of competition at the 71st Venice International Film Festival,^[15][16] and was released in 2015.

Dante served as executive producer on the independent feature length thriller Dark, starring Whitney Able and Alexandra Breckenridge, directed by Nick Basile. The film is set in New York City during the 2003 blackout. The film was released by Screen Media Films on June 7, 2016.^[17]

In 2019, Dante released Nightmare Cinema, a horror anthology film starring Mickey Rourke and featuring shorts directed by Dante, Alejandro Brugués, Mick Garris, Ryūhei Kitamura, and David Slade.^[18]

In 2020, Dante returned to the world of Gremlins serving as a consultant on the HBO Max prequel series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.^[19]

Dante's actors[]

Like most directors, Dante has developed a stock company of actors who have worked with him over a long period of time.

Dante's long time friend and business associate, Sylvia, played one of the nuns at the concert in Allan Arkush's Rock 'n' Roll High School. Dante co-wrote and directed five scenes of the film when Arkush became ill.

Dante's filmmaking[]

Dante's films are well known for their many references to other movies and for their special effects.^[20] Dante's garage is frequently mentioned in audio commentaries as holding many of the props from his various films, including the Peltzer Peeler Juicer from Gremlins, and where the mock-pornographic scene in The Howling was shot.

His respect for the screenwriter extends to the point where, in order to make sure Dante can confer with the writer on-set and provide some minor, additional remuneration, he always casts the writer in a small part of the production itself. The studio is normally unwilling to pay to have the writer on-set in any other way.^[21]

Dante has cited among his major influences Roger Corman, Chuck Jones, Frank Tashlin, James Whale and Jean Cocteau, as well as an admiration for the film Hellzapoppin', from which he frequently borrows jokes because of how difficult the film is to see in the United States.^[22]

Archive[]

The moving image collection of Joe Dante and Jon Davison is held at the Academy Film Archive. The joint collection includes feature films, pre-production elements, and theatrical trailer reels.^[23]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Director

Year	Title	Notes
1976	Hollywood Boulevard	Also editor Co-directed with Allan Arkush
1978	Piranha	Also editor
1979	Rock 'n' Roll High School	Co-directed with Allan Arkush, uncredited
1981	The Howling	Also editor
1984	Gremlins
1985	Explorers
1987	Innerspace
1989	The 'Burbs
1990	Gremlins 2: The New Batch
1993	Matinee
1998	Small Soldiers
2003	Looney Tunes: Back in Action
2009	The Hole
2014	Burying the Ex

Producer

• Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror (1994) (Documentary)
• The Phantom (1996) (Executive Producer)
• Trail of Blood (2011)
• Dark (2015)
• Camp Cold Brook (2018)

Short films[]

Year	Title	Notes
1983	It's a Good Life	Segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie
1987	Hairlooming; Bullshit or Not; Critics' Corner; Roast Your Loved One; French Ventriloquist's Dummy; Reckless Youth	Segments of Amazon Women on the Moon
2006	Wraparound	Segment of Trapped Ashes
2018	Mirare	Segment of Nightmare Cinema

Television[]

Director

Year	Title	Notes
1968	The Movie Orgy	Compilation of preexisting clips
1982	Police Squad!	Episodes "Ring of Fear" and "Testimony of Evil"
1985	The Twilight Zone	Episode "The Shadow Man"
1986	Amazing Stories	Episodes "Boo!" and "The Greibble"
1991–1992	Eerie, Indiana	5 episodes
1994	Rebel Highway	Episode "Runaway Daughters"
	Picture Windows	Episode "Lightning"
1997	The Second Civil War	Television film
1998	The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy	Television film, also producer
2001	Night Visions	Episodes "Quiet Please" and "The Occupant"
2005–2006	Masters of Horror	Episodes "Homecoming" and "The Screwfly Solution"
2007	CSI: NY	Episode "Boo"
2011–2017	Hawaii Five-0	10 episodes
2014	Witches of East End	Episodes "When a Mandragora Loves a Woman" and "Poe Way Out"
2015–2016	Salem	Episodes "The Beckoning Fair One" and "Night's Black Agents"
2016	Legends of Tomorrow	Episode "Night of the Hawk"
	MacGyver	Episode "Wire Cutter"

Producer

• Jeremiah (2002–2003)
• Trailers from Hell (2007) (Web series)

Miscellaneous[]

Year	Title	Notes
1994	The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror	Theme park pre-show film.
2003	Haunted Lighthouse	Theme park film
2009	Splatter	Web series

Other credits[]

Year	Title	Notes
2019	In Search of Darkness	Documentary film; appears as himself
	Love, Antosha
2020	In Search of Darkness: Part II
2021	Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster[24]

References[]

Further reading[]

• Nil Baskar, Gabe Klinger (Ed.): Joe Dante, FilmmuseumSynemaPublikationen Vol. 19, Vienna: SYNEMA - Gesellschaft für Film und Medien, 2013, ISBN 978-3-901644-52-8

External links[]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Joe Dante

• Interview with Joe Dante, Part 1, MUBI
• Interview with Joe Dante, Part 2, MUBI
• Joe Dante at IMDb
• Joe Dante at AllMovie
• Interview with Joe Dante from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image