Monte Hellman Filmography

Trapped Ashes

Crew: Director

Actors: Henry Gibson, Jayce Bartok, Lara Harris, Scott Lowell, Michèle-Barbara Pelletier

Synopsis: The traditional horror anthology makes a triumphant comeback in this collection of four frightfully horrific tales from directors Monte Hellman, Ken Russell, Sean S. Cunningham, John Gaeta, and Joe Dante. When seven strangers accept a mysterious invitation to tour a Hollywood studio lot, they Read More

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls

Actors: Dede Allen, Peter Bart, Andrew Cohen, Tony Bill, Karen Black

Synopsis: Based upon Peter Biskind's book of the same name, this BBC-produced documentary traces the rise of a generation of Hollywood filmmakers who briefly changed the face of movies with a more personal approach that pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable onscreen. Influenced by such European Read More

L.A. Without a Map

Actors: David Tennant, Vinessa Shaw, Julie Delpy, Vincent Gallo, Cameron Bancroft

Synopsis: Mika Kaurismaki directed this British-French-Finnish romantic comedy adapted from Richard Rayner's autobiographical novel about a series of Hollywood misadventures. Vacationing in the North of England, aspiring Los Angeles actress Barbara (Vinessa Shaw) stops briefly in a village where she meets Read More

Love, Cheat & Steal

Crew: Editor

Actors: John Lithgow, Eric Roberts, Mädchen Amick, Donald Moffat

Synopsis: A woman's greed wreaks havoc on those in her life in this made-for-cable movie. Madchen Amick stars as Lauren Harrington, the seemingly perfect and beautiful wife of Paul (John Lithgow). What Paul doesn't know is that Lauren set up a former boyfriend (Eric Roberts) and sent him to jail as part of Read More

Grey Knight

Crew: Editor

Synopsis: Night of the Living Dead meets Gone with the Wind, in which the Blue and the Gray have to battle the Ghoulish and the Undead. When the Confederate army accidentally unleashes a supernatural voodoo baddie, the spirit starts organizing an army full of dead soldiers, and soon a take-no-prisoners Read More

Reservoir Dogs

Crew: Executive Producer

Actors: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney

Synopsis: In 1992, Reservoir Dogs transformed Quentin Tarantino practically overnight from an obscure, unproduced screenwriter and part-time actor to the most influential new filmmaker of the 1990s. The story looks at what happens before and after (but not during) a botched jewelry store robbery organized Read More

Warren Oates: Across the Border

Actors: Peter Fonda, Stacy Keach, Harry Dean Stanton, Ben Johnson

Synopsis: Warren Oates was a well-respected American supporting actor who achieved his greatest success during the 1960s and 70s. He chiefly played villains and losers for such innovative directors as Sam Peckinpah. This documentary, narrated by his friend Ned Beatty gives a good picture of the actor as a Read More

Iguana

Crew: Director, Editor, Screenwriter

Actors: Everett McGill, Maru Valdivielso, Fabio Testi, Tim Ryan, Michael Madsen

Synopsis: In this drama, a misshapen sailor with the features of a lizard is tormented all his life for his deformities. When he and others are marooned on an island the tables are turned and he rules them with a ruthless hand. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!

Crew: Director, Editor

Actors: Richard Beymer, Bill Moseley, Samantha Scully, Eric Da Re

Synopsis: It is difficult to believe that this wretched sequel was Monte Hellman's first American film since Cockfighter (1974), and even more difficult to believe that it is the work of the man behind cult classics like Two-Lane Blacktop, The Shooting, and Back Door to Hell. The grown-up Ricky (Bill Read More

Someone to Love

Actors: Orson Welles, Henry Jaglom, Andrea Marcovicci, Michael Emil, Sally Kellerman

Synopsis: Orson Welles made his final screen appearance as, appropriately enough, Orson Welles (or "Danny's Friend") in Henry Jaglom's "emotional vérité" comedy Someone to Love. The film begins as filmmaker Danny (Henry Jaglom) prepares to spend the night at his girlfriend Helen (Andrea Marcovicci)'s Read More

Room 666

Actors: Jean-Luc Godard, Steven Spielberg, Michelangelo Antonioni, Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Synopsis: In this unusual documentary based on a series of identical questions addressed to world-famous directors such as Werner Herzog, Steven Spielberg, and Jean-Luc Godard, director Wim Wenders placed each of his colleagues one-by-one in a single room, gave them one reel (11 minutes) of time to look Read More

China 9, Liberty 37

Crew: Director, Producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Fabio Testi, Warren Oates, Jenny Agutter, Sam Peckinpah, Isabel Mestres

Synopsis: China 9, Liberty 37 falls halfway between the Hollywood backlot-western school and the Italian "spaghetti" western genre, borrowing the best elements from both. Fabio Testi plays a gunfighter who is saved at the last moment from a hangman's noose. His liberators are a cartel of railroad men who Read More

The Greatest

Crew: Director

Actors: Muhammad Ali, Ernest Borgnine, John Marley, Lloyd Haynes, Robert Duvall, James Earl Jones

Synopsis: With Muhammad Ali cast as himself, The Greatest covers Ali's life from his "Cassius Clay" days to the celebrated Ali/George Foreman bout. Along the way, the film focuses on Ali's conversion to Islam and his potentially career-breaking decision not to serve in the Army. Ernest Borgnine palys Ali's Read More

Fighting Mad

Crew: Editor

Actors: Peter Fonda, Lynn Lowry, John Doucette, Philip Carey, Scott Glenn

Synopsis: Peter Fonda here gives a studied performance of a man alone against the odds. When he discovers that members of his family are going to be killed because they are standing in the way of a corporate master plan which involves their land, and the local sheriff seems unconcerned about the threat, he Read More

The Killer Elite

Crew: Editor

Actors: James Caan, Robert Duvall, Arthur Hill, Bo Hopkins, Mako

Synopsis: This second-string Sam Peckinpah action film features James Caan as ex-CIA agent Mike Locken, who has retired due to injuries received at the hands of his ex-partner George Hansen (Robert Duvall). But Mike is lured out of retirement to protect Yuen Chung (Mako), an Asian political leader. There's Read More

Cockfighter

Crew: Director

Actors: Warren Oates, Richard B. Shull, Harry Dean Stanton, Troy Donahue, Millie Perkins

Synopsis: Frank Mansfield (Warren Oates) is a game cock trainer who has taken a vow of silence; he once bragged too loudly about his cockfighting prowess and ended up losing his best fowl in a drunken, late-night match before an important tournament. To regain his pride after such hubris, Frank refuses to Read More

Two-Lane Blacktop

Crew: Director, Editor

Actors: James Taylor, Warren Oates, Laurie Bird, Dennis Wilson, David Drake, Harry Dean Stanton

Synopsis: A '55 Chevy takes on a '70 GTO in a race across the Southwest in Monte Hellman's cult favorite. The Driver (James Taylor) and the Mechanic (Dennis Wilson) phlegmatically slouch from race to race, pitting their gray Chevy against any and all gearheads in order to make money for gas and food. They Read More

The Christian Licorice Store

Actors: Dawn Cleary, Louis DeFarra, Rusty Durrell, Bruce Graziano, Dido Renoir, Gary Rose

Synopsis: In this comedy a golden-boy tennis player in search of Life's meaning is corrupted by Hollywood, too much praise, and the temptation to sell out. His life therefore, becomes a metaphor for the morals of Hollywood society. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Target: Harry

Crew: Editor

Actors: Vic Morrow, Suzanne Pleshette, Victor Buono, Cesar Romero, Stanley Holloway

Synopsis: Set up like a version of the Maltese Falcon, this routine detective yarn by Roger Corman features Vic Morrow as Harry Black, a hard-living, tough-skinned American in trouble. Two dangerous factions want to get their hands on some engraving plates stolen from the British mint, and Harry is trapped Read More

Head

Crew: Editor

Actors: Peter Tork, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Annette Funicello

Synopsis: The Monkees -- Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith, Davy Jones and Peter Tork -- didn't really enjoy being labelled the Prefab Four back when their TV series was all the rage in 1966. With the help and support of Bob Rafaelson (co-producer, co-writer and director) and Jack Nicholson (co-producer Read More

Ride in the Whirlwind

Crew: Director, Editor, Producer

Actors: Cameron Mitchell, Jack Nicholson, Millie Perkins, Tom Filer, Katherine Squire, George Mitchell

Synopsis: Director Monte Hellman and writer-star Jack Nicholson filmed this western simultaneously with The Shooting (1967). Nicholson stars as Wes, cowpuncher pal to Vern (Cameron Mitchell) and Otis (Tom Filer), who have all been hired as hands for a cattle roundup. En route to their new jobs, the men come Read More

The Shooting

Crew: Director, Editor, Producer

Actors: Warren Oates, Will Hutchins, Millie Perkins, Jack Nicholson

Synopsis: Director Monte Hellman used his beloved "hunter as hunted" theme for his near-existential western The Shooting. Jack Nicholson and Warren Oates are starred in this bare-bones tale of an ex-bounty hunter (Oates) with a price on his head and the cocky young gun (Nicholson) who hopes to collect. The Read More

The Wild Rebels

Crew: Editor

Actors: Steve Alaimo, Willie Pastrano, John Vella, Bobbie Byers, Jeff Gillen

Synopsis: In this routine biker film, Rod (Steve Alaimo) is a former stock-car racer who joins the police department. He infiltrates the Satan's Angels motorcycle gang to stop a bank robbery by the malevolent trio of bikers bent on terrorizing South Florida. Watch for former boxing champ Willie Pastrano as Read More

The Wild Angels

Crew: Editor

Actors: Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, Lou Procopio, Michael J. Pollard, Coby Denton

Synopsis: This biker gang exploitation picture from director Roger Corman and co-writer and editor Peter Bogdanovich earned critical respect in Europe for its gritty documentary style. Peter Fonda stars as Heavenly Blues, the leader of a wild, roving band of leather-clad bikers. When his best friend Loser (Bruce Dern Read More

Flight to Fury

Crew: Director

Synopsis: This adventure is set in the Philippines and chronicles the exploits of two men who survive a plane crash in the jungle. One of the men is an avaricious killer who has come to the islands to search for a fortune in diamonds. The other is an international adventurer. Now they must somehow overcome Read More

Back Door to Hell

Crew: Director

Synopsis: In this WW II actioner, three soldiers are assigned to gather desperately needed information about Japanese occupation in the Philippines as the US prepares a major attack. During their arduous jungle journey, the soldiers lose their radio transmitter. Now totally on their own, the two not only Read More

Creature from the Haunted Sea

Crew: Director

Synopsis: This early bit of "B"-movie fluff from Roger Corman and company is a hastily slapped-together melange of crime thriller and monster flick, laced with enough ham-fisted satire to make the entire mess enjoyable. The plot centers on a two-bit crook (Antony Carbone) who offers to transport a band of Read More

Beast from Haunted Cave

Crew: Director

Actors: Michael Forest, Sheila Carol, Frank Wolff, Richard Sinatra, Wally Campo

Synopsis: Director Monte Hellman (who would later direct a young Jack Nicholson on two low-budget westerns) earned his low-budget wings on Filmgroup's bizarre fusion of hostage/crime thriller and big-rubber-monster flick -- a quirky juxtaposition employed to similar effect 35 years later in From Dusk Till Dawn Read More

The Wild Ride

Crew: Editor

Synopsis: When an immoral hot-rodder, Johnny Varron (Jack Nicholson), is embittered by his friend Dave's (Robert Bean) betrayal of their wild and reckless life, he kidnaps Dave's girlfriend Nancy (Georgianne Carter) and takes her on a dangerous, high-speed romp while attempting to evade capture by the local Read More