Rick Sloane
Encyclopedia
Rick Sloane is an American
cult
film maker. He is credited as writer
, director
, producer
, editor and cinematographer
of much of his own work. He is perhaps best known for his B-movie
-grade, camp horror film Hobgoblins
; which was revived during its television airing on Mystery Science Theatre 3000, where the hosts were as critical of Sloane as a director as they were to the film itself.
in Hollywood California. While in film school at Los Angeles City College, Sloane was singled out among his peers by a number of instructors and deemed the least talented student in the bunch. His directing teacher dropped him from the class on the first day, weeding out people that didn't belong in film making. He waited a year for another teacher to take the course.
At the age of 18, Sloane was inspired by the ultra-low budget film Hollywood Boulevard which heavily inspired the look of his future films. Ironically, Hollywood Boulevard was the directorial debut for Gremlins
director Joe Dante
, another of Sloane's inspirations. Mary Woronov
, one of the stars of Hollywood Blvd agreed to take the lead in Sloane's first feature, Blood Theatre
, made when he was only 21 years old.
Sloane had cultivated his taste for satire by producing fake trailers for non-existent Grindhouse style films such as Chainsaw Chicks, Amputee Hookers, Nightmare of the Lost Whores and Clown Whores of Hollywood. Sloane was working with 20th Century Fox to promote Rocky Horror Picture Show
and these short films were first shown at The "Third Annual Transylvanian Convention" held in Anaheim, California . It was also the launching of the Rocky Horror sequel "Shock Treatment". Sloane himself having organized and produced one of the earliest of these cult conventions himself in 1981. The event which was video taped and aired on syndicated television that same summer as part of the syndicated special "Rocky Horror Treatment" and later that fall in a segment on NBC, in one of televisions original reality shows, "Real People".
, Ed Wood and Uwe Boll
, Sloane prides himself as a creator of B-movies and wants his films to be appreciated for the "Classics of Trash" that they are.
His lesser known, but bigger budget films include Marked for Murder and Good Girls Don't. Many of his films were top rated when they aired on cable television
.
Sloane still does practically everything in all areas of his film making; he is a writer, director, producer, editor and cinematographer. Rick retains creative control over his films by self-producing them. He has never directed a film that he didn't write the script himself. By 25 years old, he directed his first three feature films, Blood Theatre
, The Visitants and Hobgoblins
.
is in the genre of such films as Gremlins
and Critters
, albeit on a far lesser budget. The plot consists of a young security guard who must track down diminutive creatures who kill people while making their fantasies come true. The bargain basement puppets were anything but frightening and gave the film its cheesy camp appeal.
Hobgoblins primarily received attention when it was later shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000
. The episode, as usual, made unrelenting fun of the movie and of Sloane in particular, with Tom Servo
attempting to use time travel
to assault Sloane for making the film—only to give Sloane inspiration for making the movie—at the episode's conclusion. MST3K writer Paul Chaplin later commented on Hobgoblins, saying, “It shoots right to the top of the list of the worst movies we’ve ever done."
Critics lambasted the film, with efilmcritic.com calling it "Jim Henson's worst nightmare.".
Happily for fans of low-brow satire comedy-horror films, Hobgoblins now seems destined to be a series, as Hobgoblins 2
has been completed and will be released by Shout Factory in June 2009. Sloane has kept the sequel
faithful to the original: the same puppets and costumes are reused from the first film, and the cast is composed of new actors who resemble the original cast.
The original Hobgoblins is simultaneously being re-released on DVD in widescreen, including director's commentary, and a new documentary, "Hobgoblins: The Making of A DisasterPiece." The documentary includes interviews with original cast members Tom Bartlett, (Kevin), Kelley Palmer, (Daphne), Steven Boggs, (Kyle), Billy Frank, (Nick), Tami Clatterbuck, (Fantazia), Darran Norris, (Club Scum M.C.), Kenneth J. Hall (puppet fabricator), and Rick Sloane, (writer and director).
series, which aired on the USA Network
throughout the 1990s, was intended as a sexy spoof-on-a-spoof of the popular Police Academy
movie series. Sloane replaced the usual mixed group of odd-ball characters
with a sexy cast of females, including Ginger Lynn Allen, Linnea Quigley
and Elizabeth Kaitan
. The plot features female police
cadets in training to join the Hollywood vice squad. Their assignments include infiltrating a child porn
operation, and going undercover
to join and break up a prostitution
ring.
As usual, critics were savage
: Sandra Brennan of Allmovie said, "This tale wavers on the fine line between erotic comedy
and soft-core porn with a definite leaning toward the latter." However, Sloane contends that there is no actual sex
and only ten seconds of nudity
in the entire film.
Critic Nathan Shumate commented, "Knowingly insipid to the point of being grotesque... It's a bad, bad, stupid movie, but somehow it fails to grossly offend, mainly because it doesn't try that hard." Critics and fans don't always agree, since the Vice Academy series ran for nine consecutive years on USA Network with excellent ratings.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cult
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
film maker. He is credited as writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, editor and cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
of much of his own work. He is perhaps best known for his B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
-grade, camp horror film Hobgoblins
Hobgoblins (film)
Hobgoblins is a 1988 low-budget B-movie directed by Rick Sloane, often seen as a rip-off of Gremlins. It earned infamy after it was shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000 and is often regarded as one of the worst films ever made.- Plot :...
; which was revived during its television airing on Mystery Science Theatre 3000, where the hosts were as critical of Sloane as a director as they were to the film itself.
Early life
Rick attended Hollywood High SchoolHollywood High School
Hollywood High School is a Los Angeles Unified School District high school located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California.-History:...
in Hollywood California. While in film school at Los Angeles City College, Sloane was singled out among his peers by a number of instructors and deemed the least talented student in the bunch. His directing teacher dropped him from the class on the first day, weeding out people that didn't belong in film making. He waited a year for another teacher to take the course.
At the age of 18, Sloane was inspired by the ultra-low budget film Hollywood Boulevard which heavily inspired the look of his future films. Ironically, Hollywood Boulevard was the directorial debut for Gremlins
Gremlins
Gremlins is a 1984 American horror comedy film directed by Joe Dante, released by Warner Bros. The film is about a young man who receives a strange creature—called a Mogwai—as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, evil monsters. It was followed by a sequel,...
director Joe Dante
Joe Dante
Joseph "Joe" Dante, Jr. is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and science fiction content....
, another of Sloane's inspirations. Mary Woronov
Mary Woronov
Mary Woronov is an American actress and writer. She is primarily known for her roles in independent and cult films. Woronov has appeared in over 80 movies, as well as numerous appearances in mainstream television series, such as Charlie's Angels and Knight Rider.-Early life:Woronov was born in the...
, one of the stars of Hollywood Blvd agreed to take the lead in Sloane's first feature, Blood Theatre
Blood Theatre
Blood Theater is an Independent Film Slasher/Horror Comedy that doesn't take itself seriously and is often thought of as a spoof. It was the first feature for director Rick Sloane who was 21 at the time of its making....
, made when he was only 21 years old.
Sloane had cultivated his taste for satire by producing fake trailers for non-existent Grindhouse style films such as Chainsaw Chicks, Amputee Hookers, Nightmare of the Lost Whores and Clown Whores of Hollywood. Sloane was working with 20th Century Fox to promote Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the 1975 film adaptation of the British rock musical stageplay, The Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien. The film is a parody of B-movie, science fiction and horror films of the late 1940s through early 1970s. Director Jim Sharman collaborated on the...
and these short films were first shown at The "Third Annual Transylvanian Convention" held in Anaheim, California . It was also the launching of the Rocky Horror sequel "Shock Treatment". Sloane himself having organized and produced one of the earliest of these cult conventions himself in 1981. The event which was video taped and aired on syndicated television that same summer as part of the syndicated special "Rocky Horror Treatment" and later that fall in a segment on NBC, in one of televisions original reality shows, "Real People".
Career
Compared by various film reviewers to other cult directors such as John WatersJohn Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
, Ed Wood and Uwe Boll
Uwe Boll
Uwe Boll is a German director, producer and screenwriter, whose work includes several films adapted from video games. He finances his own films through his Boll KG production company. He is often cited as the worst director of all time.-Early life:...
, Sloane prides himself as a creator of B-movies and wants his films to be appreciated for the "Classics of Trash" that they are.
His lesser known, but bigger budget films include Marked for Murder and Good Girls Don't. Many of his films were top rated when they aired on cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
.
Sloane still does practically everything in all areas of his film making; he is a writer, director, producer, editor and cinematographer. Rick retains creative control over his films by self-producing them. He has never directed a film that he didn't write the script himself. By 25 years old, he directed his first three feature films, Blood Theatre
Blood Theatre
Blood Theater is an Independent Film Slasher/Horror Comedy that doesn't take itself seriously and is often thought of as a spoof. It was the first feature for director Rick Sloane who was 21 at the time of its making....
, The Visitants and Hobgoblins
Hobgoblins (film)
Hobgoblins is a 1988 low-budget B-movie directed by Rick Sloane, often seen as a rip-off of Gremlins. It earned infamy after it was shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000 and is often regarded as one of the worst films ever made.- Plot :...
.
Hobgoblins
Sloane third feature HobgoblinsHobgoblins (film)
Hobgoblins is a 1988 low-budget B-movie directed by Rick Sloane, often seen as a rip-off of Gremlins. It earned infamy after it was shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000 and is often regarded as one of the worst films ever made.- Plot :...
is in the genre of such films as Gremlins
Gremlins
Gremlins is a 1984 American horror comedy film directed by Joe Dante, released by Warner Bros. The film is about a young man who receives a strange creature—called a Mogwai—as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, evil monsters. It was followed by a sequel,...
and Critters
Critters (film series)
The Critters film series, from New Line Cinema, comprises four movies that combine elements of horror, science fiction and comedy. The first film, called simply Critters, was released in 1986 and received "two thumbs up" from Siskel and Ebert....
, albeit on a far lesser budget. The plot consists of a young security guard who must track down diminutive creatures who kill people while making their fantasies come true. The bargain basement puppets were anything but frightening and gave the film its cheesy camp appeal.
Hobgoblins primarily received attention when it was later shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
. The episode, as usual, made unrelenting fun of the movie and of Sloane in particular, with Tom Servo
Tom Servo
Tom Servo is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Tom is one of two wise-cracking, robotic main characters of the show, built by Joel Robinson to act as a companion and help stave off space madness as Joel was forced to watch...
attempting to use time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
to assault Sloane for making the film—only to give Sloane inspiration for making the movie—at the episode's conclusion. MST3K writer Paul Chaplin later commented on Hobgoblins, saying, “It shoots right to the top of the list of the worst movies we’ve ever done."
Critics lambasted the film, with efilmcritic.com calling it "Jim Henson's worst nightmare.".
Happily for fans of low-brow satire comedy-horror films, Hobgoblins now seems destined to be a series, as Hobgoblins 2
Hobgoblins 2
Hobgoblins 2 is a 2009 direct-to-DVD sequel to the 1988 science-fiction film, Hobgoblins. Written and directed by Rick Sloane, the film was released on DVD by Shout! Factory on June 23, 2009...
has been completed and will be released by Shout Factory in June 2009. Sloane has kept the sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
faithful to the original: the same puppets and costumes are reused from the first film, and the cast is composed of new actors who resemble the original cast.
The original Hobgoblins is simultaneously being re-released on DVD in widescreen, including director's commentary, and a new documentary, "Hobgoblins: The Making of A DisasterPiece." The documentary includes interviews with original cast members Tom Bartlett, (Kevin), Kelley Palmer, (Daphne), Steven Boggs, (Kyle), Billy Frank, (Nick), Tami Clatterbuck, (Fantazia), Darran Norris, (Club Scum M.C.), Kenneth J. Hall (puppet fabricator), and Rick Sloane, (writer and director).
Vice Academy
The 6-part Vice AcademyVice Academy
Vice Academy was a series of six feature films, which aired on the USA Network throughout the 1990s. It was created by director Rick Sloane of Hobgoblins fame and starred a sexy cast of females, including former porn star Ginger Lynn, scream queen Linnea Quigley, Elizabeth Kaitan and Julia...
series, which aired on the USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
throughout the 1990s, was intended as a sexy spoof-on-a-spoof of the popular Police Academy
Police Academy
Police Academy is a series of American comedy films, the first six of which were made in the 1980s. The seventh and to date last installment, Mission to Moscow, was released in 1994. The series opened with Police Academy which started with the premise that a new mayor had announced a policy...
movie series. Sloane replaced the usual mixed group of odd-ball characters
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
with a sexy cast of females, including Ginger Lynn Allen, Linnea Quigley
Linnea Quigley
Linnea Barbara Quigley is an American scream queen, B movie actress, and film producer.-Early life:Quigley was born in Davenport, Iowa, the daughter of Dorothy and W. Heath Quigley, a chiropractor and psychologist. She moved to Los Angeles in the late 1970s to pursue her dreams of acting...
and Elizabeth Kaitan
Elizabeth Kaitan
-Career:Elizabeth Kaitan was a model for the Bonnie Kay Agency in New York City in the early 1980s. Kaitan is perhaps best known for her roles in movies such as Savage Dawn , Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 as Jennifer, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood as Robin, and in Vice Academy Parts...
. The plot features female police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
cadets in training to join the Hollywood vice squad. Their assignments include infiltrating a child porn
PORN
Porn is a common short form for pornography. It may also refer to:* Progressive outer retinal necrosis, a disease of the retina* PORN, a French industrial rock band...
operation, and going undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
to join and break up a prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
ring.
As usual, critics were savage
Savage
- Places :Canada* Lower Savage Islands, Nunavut* Middle Savage Islands, NunavutSlovenia* Savage Lake, a karst lakeUnited States* Savage, Maryland* Savage, Minnesota...
: Sandra Brennan of Allmovie said, "This tale wavers on the fine line between erotic comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
and soft-core porn with a definite leaning toward the latter." However, Sloane contends that there is no actual sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
and only ten seconds of nudity
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
in the entire film.
Critic Nathan Shumate commented, "Knowingly insipid to the point of being grotesque... It's a bad, bad, stupid movie, but somehow it fails to grossly offend, mainly because it doesn't try that hard." Critics and fans don't always agree, since the Vice Academy series ran for nine consecutive years on USA Network with excellent ratings.
Reviews
Reviewers have been ruthless in their criticism of both Sloane and his films. Some tongue-in-cheek and some rather harsh comments. J.P. Harris writes in is review of Hobgoblins;"Aside from the no talent acting, everything else in Hobgoblins can be blamed on Rick Sloane, who wrote, produced, directed, edited and photographed this weak comedy."
Filmography
- Blood TheatreBlood TheatreBlood Theater is an Independent Film Slasher/Horror Comedy that doesn't take itself seriously and is often thought of as a spoof. It was the first feature for director Rick Sloane who was 21 at the time of its making....
(1984) - The Visitants (1987)
- Vice AcademyVice AcademyVice Academy was a series of six feature films, which aired on the USA Network throughout the 1990s. It was created by director Rick Sloane of Hobgoblins fame and starred a sexy cast of females, including former porn star Ginger Lynn, scream queen Linnea Quigley, Elizabeth Kaitan and Julia...
(1988) - HobgoblinsHobgoblins (film)Hobgoblins is a 1988 low-budget B-movie directed by Rick Sloane, often seen as a rip-off of Gremlins. It earned infamy after it was shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000 and is often regarded as one of the worst films ever made.- Plot :...
(1988) - Marked for MurderMarked for Murder- Cast :*Tex Ritter as Tex Haines*Dave O'Brien as Texas Ranger Dave Wyatt*Guy Wilkerson as Texas Ranger Panhandle Perkins*Marilyn McConnell as Ruth Lane*Ed Cassidy as Dick Vernon*Henry Hall as Sheriff Jim Whitlock*Charles King as Henchman Pete Magoo...
(1989) - Vice Academy Part 2 (1990)
- Vice Academy Part 3 (1991)
- Mind, Body & Soul (1992)
- Good Girls Don't (1993)
- Vice Academy 4 (1994)
- Vice Academy 5 (1996)
- Babe Watch: Forbidden Parody (1996)
- Vice Academy Part 6 (1998)
- Hobgoblins 2Hobgoblins 2Hobgoblins 2 is a 2009 direct-to-DVD sequel to the 1988 science-fiction film, Hobgoblins. Written and directed by Rick Sloane, the film was released on DVD by Shout! Factory on June 23, 2009...
(2009) - Hobgoblins: The Making of A DisasterPiece (2009)