David DeCoteau is 64 years old today. He was born on 5 January 1962.
DeCoteau has directed well over 100 feature films. All the films are low-budget. But what is amazing is, he makes shockingly good films. I don’t really know why. He is more or less the US version of Japan’s Takashi Miike. Although I think Miike gets lager budgets.
Of course, he doesn’t always create gems. Consider: Bigfoot vs DB Cooper. No one has ever come up with a better film title. When I saw the title, I immediately found the film and watched it. It is little more than gay porn. No sex. Just beautiful young men posing. And as such, it’s well made. Because DeCoteau is a great director. But come on! I could write a dozen screenplays for that title that would be better.
But that was 2014. That was the time when lots of psychotronic directors (eg, Fred Olen Ray, Jim Wynorski) were making softcore porn. I don’t blame DeCoteau. I just wish he hadn’t wasted that title!
David DeCoteau made the Puppet Master franchise. It was okay before him. But Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge set the bar. And he directed the best films in the series.
Generally, he directs many films each year. He’s done a dozen or more some years. And as much as I like his work, I haven’t watched much of it. You see, I am not the target audience for most of his films. But that’s true of everyone. His output is varied. He’ll make softcore porn one day and a children’s film the next. (Check out A Talking Cat!?! — it’s adorable.)
His first big success was Creepozoids. It is an excellent Alien rip-off. So, it seems a fitting film to highlight David DeCoteau’s birthday!
David DeCoteau via Absolute Horror under Fair Use.