Photo: McDwmont / CC BY 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
What I admire about Don Coscarelli is his refusal to play by Hollywood's rules. Born in Tripoli and raised stateside, he built the Phantasm franchise almost single-handedly, wearing the hats of director, cinematographer, writer and editor. That kind of total authorship is rare, and it gives his horror a handmade, dream-logic strangeness you can't manufacture with a big budget. Bubba Ho-Tep proves he had range and a wicked sense of humor too. He's a cult figure for good reason, and I think filmmakers who guard their personal vision this fiercely tend to outlast the trend-chasers.
Overview
Don Coscarelli Jr. (born February 17, 1954) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in horror films. His directing credits include the first four films in the Phantasm franchise, as well as The Beastmaster (1982) and Bubba Ho-Tep (2002).
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Don Coscarelli
- Name (Japanese)
- ドン・コスカレリ
- Reading
- どん・こすかれり
- Born
- February 17, 1954 (age 72)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aquarius / Horse
- Origin
- Tripoli, Tripoli District, Libya
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- film director / cinematographer / screenwriter / film editor / film producer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Woodrow Wilson Classical High School
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- Bram Stoker Awards
- 2012 Time Machine Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Film director — see all → · Cinematographer — see all →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.