Hellman, Monte Filmography

• Road to Nowhere (2010)
• Road to Nowhere (2010)
• Untitled Roger Corman Documentary (2010)
• Stanley's Girlfriend (2006)
• Trapped Ashes (2006)
• Wanderlust (2006)
• There Is No Direction (2005)
• 'Reservoir Dogs' Revisited (2005)
• A Decade Under the Influence (2003)
• Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)
• L.A. Without a Map (1998)
• Monte Hellman: American Auteur (1997)
• Warren Oates: Across the Border (1993)
• Grey Knight (1993)
• Sam Peckinpah: Man of Iron (1992)
• Reservoir Dogs (1992)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out! (1989)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out! (1989)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out! (1989)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out! (1989)
• Iguana (1988)
• Iguana (1988)
• Iguana (1988)
• Hellman Rider (1988)
• Someone to Love (1987)
• Someone to Love (1987)
• Chambre 666 (1982)
• Inside the Coppola Personality (1981)
• Avalanche Express (1979)
• Avalanche Express (1979)
• Amore, piombo e furore (1978)
• Amore, piombo e furore (1978)
• Amore, piombo e furore (1978)
• The Greatest (1977)
• Sudden Death (1977)
• The Killer Elite (1975)
• Cockfighter (1974)
• Shatter (1974)
• Cockfighter (1974)
• Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
• Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
• The Christian Licorice Store (1971)
• Target: Harry (1969)
• Head (1968)
• The Shooting (1967)
• The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)
• The Shooting (1967)
• The Shooting (1967)
• The Wild Angels (1966)
• Ride in the Whirlwind (1965)
• Ride in the Whirlwind (1965)
• Ride in the Whirlwind (1965)
• Flight to Fury (1964)
• Back Door to Hell (1964)
• Flight to Fury (1964)
• Back Door to Hell (1964)
• Flight to Fury (1964)
• Per un pugno di dollari (1964)
• The Terror (1963)
• The Terror (1963)
• The Wild Ride (1960)
• Ski Troop Attack (1960)
• Beast from Haunted Cave (1959)

Cult director Monte Hellman has made a handful of offbeat, inventive and intriguing low-budget independent features throughout the years. His movies are distinguished by slow pacing, vague, but compelling plots, and often obsessive characters. Hellman was born on July 12, 1932 in New York City. Monte studied drama at Stanford University and film at UCLA. Hellman hooked up with legendary exploitation movie producer Roger Corman in the late 50s. He made his film debut as director with the enjoyable creature feature "The Beast from Haunted Cave." Monte also directed portions of the notorious Corman fright flick fiasco "The Terror." Hellman joined forces with frequent collaborator Jack Nicholson for two pictures that were shot back-to-back on shoestring budgets in the Philippines: the exciting World War II potboiler "Back Door to Hell" and the entertaining action thriller "Flight to Fury" (Nicholson also penned the screenplay for this latter film). Monte then reteamed with Nicholson for two outstanding and enigmatic existential Westerns that were filmed in Utah under similar conditions: "Ride in The Whirlwind" -- Nicholson once again also wrote the script -- and the especially striking "The Shooting," which was the first of four features Hellman did with scruffy character actor supreme Warren Oates. "Two-Lane Blacktop" rates highly as Monte's most remarkable cinematic achievement to date: it's a fascinatingly bleak and oblique road movie that perfectly nails the bummed-out malaise of the early 70s, boasts musicians James Taylor and Dennis Wilson in their sole acting efforts, and showcases an amazing central performance by Oates as mysterious motorist "GTO." "Two-Lane Blacktop" received favorable reviews from most critics, but alas bombed at the box office. Luckily, it has since garnered a well-deserved avid fan following. "Cockfighter" was an excellent adaptation of Charles Willeford's gritty novel with another mesmerizing lead performance by the incomparable Oates. Hellman began the Hammer crime action yarn "Shatter," but was replaced by Michael Carreras halfway through the production and directed an episode of "Baretta." "China 9, Liberty 37" was a typically quirky revisionist spaghetti Western. "Iguana" offered a brutal and provocative allegory on the darkest aspects of human nature, but unfortunately suffered from poor distribution. "Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!" qualifies as Hellman's worst movie; it's a run-of-the-mill slasher sequel that's totally unworthy of his considerable talents. Monte was the dialogue director for Corman's "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre." He handled second unit director chores on Samuel Fuller's stirring World War II epic "The Big Red One" and the fantastic science fiction smash hit "RoboCop." Hellman finished two pictures in post-production that were started by other directors who died after the movies were shot: the failed Muhammed Ali bio "The Greatest" and the dismal spy saga "Avalanche Express." He shot extra footage for the television versions of "Ski Troop Attack," "The Last Woman on Earth," "Creature from the Haunted Sea," and Sergio Leone's magnificent spaghetti Western landmark "A Fistful of Dollars." Among the movies Hellman has served as an editor on are Corman's "The Wild Angels," Bob Rafelson's "Head," Sam Peckinpah's "The Killer Elite," and Jonathan Demme's "Fighting Mad." Monte was an executive producer on Quentin Tarantino's explosive debut feature "Reservoir Dogs." After a regrettably lengthy absence from directing, Monte Hellman made a welcome comeback with the "Stanley's Girlfriend" segment of the horror anthology "Trapped Ashes."