Monte Hellman

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Monte Hellman (born July 12, 1932) is an American film director, producer, writer, and editor.

Hellman began his career as an editor's apprentice at ABC TV, and made his directorial debut with the horror film Beast from Haunted Cave (1959), produced by Roger Corman. He would later gain critical recognition for the Westerns The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind (both 1966) starring Jack Nicholson, and the independent road movie Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) starring James Taylor and Dennis Wilson.

His later directorial work has included the 1989 slasher film Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! and the independent thriller Road to Nowhere (2010).

Early life

Monte Hellman was born on July 12, 1929, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, to Gertrude (née Edelstein) and Fred Himmelbaum, who were vacationing in New York at the time of his birth. The family ended up settling in Albany, New York, before relocating to Los Angeles, California, when Hellman was 5 years old.

Hellman graduated from Los Angeles High School, and attended Stanford University, graduating in 1951. He then attended graduate school at the University of California, Los Angeles, but did not complete his studies.

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Career

Hellman was one of a group of directing talent mentored by Roger Corman, who directed several of the director's early films. Hellman began working on "low budget exploitation films with a personal touch," but he learned from Corman how to produce commercially viable films on a tight budget while keeping true to a personal mission. Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), Hellman's first film, is considered to be a box-office flop at the time of its initial release, but, according to Danny Peary in 1981, it has since become a perennial cult favorite. Both Jack Nicholson, Ride in the Whirlwind and The Shooting, were shot in 1965 and premiered at festivals in 1966 before being widely distributed on television in 1968. In the 2018 documentary Danger God aka Love and Other Stunts, Hellman and his stuntman, Gary Kent, discuss the westerns' making. Liberty 37 (1978), a third western city, was much less successful financially, although it does have its supporters, as does Cockfighter (1974) and Irma (1988). Silent Night, a straight-to-video slasher film that premiered in 1989, is a documentary film by Tony Abbott.

Hellman was also the script director for Corman's The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) and second-unit producer on Paul Verhoeven's RoboCop (1987). Hellman finished two photos in post-production that were started by other artists who died after the film had been shot, including Tom Gries (1977) and Avalanche Express (1979). He shot additional footage for Ski Troop Attack (1960), Last Woman on Earth (1960), Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961), and Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (1964). The Wild Angels (1966), Bob Rafelson's Head (1968), Sam Peckinpah's The Killer Elite (1975), and Jonathan Demme's Battle Mad (1976). He was also a producer on Quentin Tarantino's debut feature Reservoir Dogs (1992).

He directed "Stanley's Girlfriend," a segment of the omnibus horror film Trapped Ashes in 2006. The film was entered by the Cannes Film Festival as a "Official Selection" for the festival, and Hellman was named president of the festival's "Uncertain Regard" jury.

He made the romantic noir thriller Road to Nowhere, a new feature film that competed for the Golden Lion at the 67th Venice International Film Festival in 2010.

He received a special career award at the 2010 Venice Film Festival.

He worked with the California Institute of the Arts' Film Directing Program as of 2011.

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