DON COSCARELLI, OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY

Independent filmmaker Don Coscarelli is best known for the PHANTASM

films. Phantasm and its successful sequels spawned a rabid cult of fans around

the world. The original PHANTASM was a worldwide critical and box-office

success and won the Special Jury Prize at the Festival du Cinema Fantastique at

Avoriaz, France. Coscarelli subsequently wrote and directed three award-winning

sequels.

One of Coscarelli’s more celebrated films is BUBBA HO-TEP, which he

wrote for the screen and directed. Starring horror-icon Bruce Campbell and the

legendary actor, writer and social activist, Ossie Davis, Bubba Ho-tep was a

critical success, box-office hit and also a festival favorite, invited to prestigious

film festivals around the world including the Toronto International Film Festival,

SXSW, Brussels International Festival, and the Hong Kong International Film

Festival. At HBO's U.S. Comedy Arts Film Festival, Coscarelli was the recipient

of the Best Screenplay Award and also subsequently received a Bram Stoker

Award for his screenplay of BUBBA HO-TEP.

Coscarelli also co-wrote and directed, THE BEASTMASTER, described by

Entertainment Weekly as being one of the most popular films of all time on cable

television. THE BEASTMASTER has generated two sequels, a television series

and a Saturday Night Live joke by Billy Crystal when he commented that HBO

stood for “Hey Beastmaster’s On.” Coscarelli has also written and directed Kenny

& Company, a warm comedy about children distributed by Twentieth Century

Fox, and the wilderness adventure, Survival Quest, starring Lance Henriksen,

Catherine Keener and Dermot Mulroney.

For television, Don Coscarelli co-wrote and directed the well-received

premiere episode of Showtime Networks, MASTERS OF HORROR cable series.

More recently Coscarelli wrote for the screen and directed JOHN DIES AT

THE END starring Paul Giamatti and Clancy Brown. Another festival favorite,

JOHN DIES AT THE END premiered at the Sundance International Film Festival

and then played at both the Toronto International Film Festival and SXSW. Coscarelli’s well-received memoir entitled TRUE INDIE: Life and Death in Filmmaking was published by St. Martin’s Press. In 2024 his latest book PHICTION: Tales From The World of Phantasm was released worldwide with Kirkus Reviews calling it “Electrifyingly tense and gruesome.. a rare treat.”