- Born
- Died
- Birth nameNorman John Warren
- Cult horror movie director Norman J. Warren's fright features are distinguished by their cold, grim tones, modern-day settings (this was a radical departure from the period Gothic horror movies made by Hammer), young adult main characters, and startling outbursts of hideously graphic violence.
Warren suffered from polio as a child and hence had only one functioning arm. An avid film buff since he was a kid, he got his start working as a runner on The Millionairess (1960) and handled assistant director chores on the feature Trial and Error (1962). Norman made his debut as a filmmaker with the 15-minute short Fragment (1965). Warren then directed the immensely successful softcore sex pictures Her Private Hell (1968) and Loving Feeling (1968). He next did the grisly devil-worship horror entry Satan's Slave (1976) starring Michael Gough. This was followed by the nifty supernatural shocker Terror (1978), the twisted sci-fi/horror item Prey (1977), the smutty softcore sci-fi sex comedy romp Spaced Out (1979), and the nasty sci-fi/horror Alien (1979) cash-in Inseminoid (1981).
Warren took a break from the horror genre by directing the exciting spy action outing Gunpowder (1986). His last feature was the dreary horror clunker Bloody New Year (1987). He went gone on to direct music videos and educational shorts, worked as a cinematographer on the retrospective documentary shorts Corridor Gossip (2007), Haunted Memories (2007) and Making Space (2007) and was interviewed in the documentary Doing Rude Things (1995). Warren was also a regular guest at Manchester's Festival of Fantastic Films. He died at age 78 on March 11, 2021.
- IMDb mini biography by: woodyanders (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)
- Started his career in the late 60s making sex films. But after two movies, he decided to change directions because he hated making them. It wasn't the sex and nudity that bothered him (he continued to include sex and nudity in his horror films later), he just found them to be very restricting creatively. He said the story lines and shots just revolved around people taking their clothes off and going to bed, and after a while you run out of things to do with a bed.
- Filmmaking for me is like a powerful drug, for no matter how difficult a production is, when it's over I can't wait to start the process all over again.
- The horror genre allows you to explore situations and emotions which would not be possible with a drama set in the world of reality.
- For me, two of the most important factors for any film is a good script and a good cast. You can have the best script ever, but if you don't have good actors you can never hope to make a good film.
- [low-budget movie producers] The one lesson I did learn is that you've got to have a producer who loves what you're doing as much as you do, who's not just an accountant.
- [British sex films] They were never sexy because they were British. I have to be honest: I just don't think the British are capable of making a sexy film. It's just not in our nature. We still have that Victorian repressive thing about sex.
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