Uwe Boll is 61 years old today. He was born on 22 June 1965.
Boll is a solid low-budget filmmaker. I think of him as the German version of Jim Wynorski or Fred Olen Ray. And as with them, I like a number of his films. But I’m not exactly a fan either. I haven’t run out and watched everything he’s done.
It’s mostly a question of worldview. I’m attracted to the worldview of Lucio Fulci and Tobe Hooper. But not really of Boll and the other men. I find it harsh in its view of humans. And I know that sounds odd with what I said about Fulci and Hooper. But you can put very violent things on the screen (like drilling through a young man’s head or mounting a young woman on a meat hook) and still be very positive in my mind!
Consider my favorite Uwe Boll film, Blubberella. When Boll was making BloodRayne: The Third Reich, he decided to make a parody of it at the same time. That was Blubberella. That isn’t an entirely new idea but I like it. Let’s keep production costs down!
But the third BloodRayne is a pretty standard film. It works. But I would never watch it again. Blubberella is as funny as it is offensive. And it features a great lead performance by Lindsay Hollister. What doesn’t really work in the film is the cruel child tone of the whole thing. You can’t watch it without concluding that the filmmakers are mocking (or at least expecting their audience to mock) the main character.
I still think you should watch it. It is a lot of fun.
Of course, none of this is why I’m highlighting Uwe Boll. I most admire him for his boxing. For a while, he paid critics (with free trips) to box him in the ring. Now, on one level, this is exactly the kind of childishness that I don’t like in much of Boll’s work. On the other hand, the world would be a much better place if film critics were punched and punched often.
But let’s forget about that and watch Blubberella, which I consider a Lindsay Hollister film more than a Uwe Boll film.
Other 22 June Anniversaries
Filmmakers
- Billy Wilder (1906-2002): Director known for many classics but also The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.
- Paul Frees (1920-1986): Voice actor known for a lot but especially Boris Badenov.
- Lindsay Wagner (1949-): The Bionic Woman!
- Graham Greene (1952-2025): Actor known for a lot of films but I’m especially taken with Medicine River.
- Freddie Prinze (1954-1977): Actor known for Chico and the Man.
- Bruce Campbell (1958-): Actor known for The Evil Dead, Bubba Ho-Tep, and so much more. I would have focused on him but I figure everyone knows him.
Films
- The Lost World (1925): Humans discover an island with dinosaurs.
- Scared Stiff (1945): A chess editor gets involved with some bad people.
- Alien (1979): A monster gets on board a space freighter.
- Nightwing (1979): Killer bats.
- Karate Kid (1984): Kid learns karate, right?
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988): Chinatown but with cartoon characters.
- Robocop 2 (1990): He fights a drug lord — then more.
- Witchhouse (1999): A young woman tries to resurrect her dead witch ancestor and gets everyone killed. This was the first of three rather good low-budget films.
- Ancient Evil: Scream of the Mummy (2000): Students unleash an evil god.
- The Fast and the Furious (2001): A cop goes undercover in the illegal street racing culture.
- 1408 (2007): “It’s an evil fucking room.”
- The Wizard of Gore (2007): Remake of the Herschell Gordon Lewis film.
- Fish Bait: The Movie (2009): Fishing trip goes wrong.
- Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012): As usual with these, not nearly as much fun as you’d think.
Image from Uwe Boll, der Regisseur spricht über RAMPAGE 3 by Martin Carter Production under CC BY 3.0.