
Directing
Joe Dante
Born 1946-11-28 · Morristown, New Jersey, USA
Joseph James Dante Jr. (born November 28, 1946) is an American filmmaker, producer, editor and actor. His films—notably Gremlins (1984) alongside its sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)—often mix the 1950s-style B movie genre with 1960s radicalism and cartoon comedy. Dante's output includes the films Piranha (1978), The Howling (1981), Explorers (1985), Innerspace (1987), The 'Burbs (1989), Matinee (1993), Small Soldiers (1998), and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). His work for television and cable include the social satire The Second Civil War (1997), episodes of the anthology series Masters of Horror ("Homecoming" and "The Screwfly Solution") and Amazing Stories, as well as Police Squad! and Hawaii Five-0. Description above from the Wikipedia article Joe Dante, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Acting credits
7.1After receiving an exotic small animal as a Christmas gift, a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet, which unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous creatures on a small town.
Gremlins
1984
6.5Young sweethearts Billy and Kate move to the Big Apple, land jobs in a high-tech office park and soon reunite with the friendly and lovable Gizmo. But a series of accidents creates a whole new generation of Gremlins. The situation worsens when the devilish green creatures invade a top-secret laboratory and develop genetically altered powers, making them even harder to destroy!
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
1990
5.9When his boss is killed, Detroit cop Axel Foley finds evidence that the murderer had ties to a California amusement park called Wonder World. Returning to sunny Beverly Hills once more, Foley reunites with Detective Billy Rosewood to solve the case. Along with Billy's new partner, Detective Jon Flint, they discover that Wonder World is being used as a front for a massive counterfeiting ring.
Beverly Hills Cop III
1994
6.8Test pilot Tuck Pendleton volunteers to test a special vessel for a miniaturization experiment. Accidentally injected into a neurotic hypochondriac, Jack Putter, Tuck must convince Jack to find his ex-girlfriend, Lydia Maxwell, to help him extract Tuck and his ship and re-enlarge them before his oxygen runs out.
Innerspace
1987
6.4Angelo "Snaps" Provolone made his dying father a promise on his deathbed: he would leave the world of crime and become an honest businessman. Despite having no experience in making money in a legal fashion, Snaps sets about to keep his promise.
Oscar
1991
6.1Charles Brady and his mother, Mary, are the last of a dying breed whose needs are not of this world. They are Sleepwalkers - able to stay alive only by feeding on the life-force of the innocent, but destined to roam the earth, avoiding discovery while searching for their next victim. That search takes them to the sleepy little town of Travis, Indiana, where beautiful teenager Tanya Robertson is about to become an unwilling pawn in their nightmarish fight for survival.
Sleepwalkers
1992
5.9When flesh-eating piranhas are accidentally released into a summer resort's rivers, the guests become their next meal.
Piranha
1978
7.2A documentary detailing the making of the cult favorite "Plan 9 from Outer Space," featuring interviews with cast members and prominent filmmakers about the film, its lasting legacy, and its creator, Edward D. Wood Jr.
Flying Saucers Over Hollywood: The 'Plan 9' Companion
1992
7.4From a prolific career in film and television, Anton Yelchin left an indelible legacy as an actor. Through his journals and other writings, his photography, the original music he wrote, and interviews with his family, friends, and colleagues, this film looks not just at Anton's impressive career, but at a broader portrait of the man.
Love, Antosha
2019
4.5When a mysterious gateway between dimensions unleashes a horde of nasty little creatures into Vuokatti Ski Resort, Zach and his friends’ dream holiday takes a turn for the terrifying. What was supposed to be an epic party—filled with sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll, and Hollywood legend Christopher Lambert—spirals into pure chaos as the Creeps run wild. Now, Zach must rise to the occasion, battle the pint-sized terrors, and prove that being a hero isn’t so different from the ‘80s movies he worships.
The Creeps
2025
6.5The definitive documentary on the history of nudity in feature films from the early silent days to the present, studying the changes in morality that led to the use of nudity in films while emphasizing the political, sociological and artistic changes that shaped that history. Skin will also study the gender inequality in presenting nude images in motion pictures and will follow the revolution that has created nude gender equality in feature films today.
Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies
2020
4.9Rookie FBI agent Jo Dee Foster has been assigned to work on the case of the Psycho Killer, a psycho killer who has psycho-killed over 120 people. But to learn more about his target, he's forced to meet Dr. Animal Cannibal Pizza, a famous doctor turned cannibal who ate pizzas with human body parts. Meanwhile, Jo's girlfriend, Jane Wine, has just stolen $400,000 in cash from her money-hungry boss, Mr. Laurel, so she and Jo can be happy, but gets lost in a horrible storm and stops at the Cemetery Motel, where the owner, Antonio Motel, is dominated by his insane mother.
The Silence of the Hams
1994
6.5An exploration of the appeal of horror films, with interviews of many legendary directors in the genre.
Nightmares in Red, White and Blue
2009
5.6Coy "Cannonball" Buckman and his blazing red Pontiac enter the Trans-America Grand Prix, an underground road race spanning the continent in which there are no rules, no speed limits and no heed for the law. En route, Buckman jockeys with an international ensemble of racers for a $100,000 purse. But there are none more important than Cade Redman, his direct competition for a guaranteed spot on the elite Modern Motors racing team.
Cannonball
1976
5.7Ten stories from horror's top directors. Ghosts, ghouls, monsters, and the devil delight in terrorizing unsuspecting residents of a suburban neighborhood on Halloween night. This creepy anthology combines classic Halloween tales with the stuff of nightmares.
Tales of Halloween
2015
5.2A feature documentary about the enduring appeal of the character King Kong, and how he has inspired so many of the great filmmakers and artists since 1933.
Long Live the King
2016
6.5A prudish married couple feel put upon by the swingers living in their apartment building. One night, by accident, they discover a way to both rid themselves of the “perverts” down the hall and simultaneously realize their dream of opening a restaurant.
Eating Raoul
1982
6.7A nostalgic journey through ’80s Sci-Fi-films, exploring their impact and relevance today, told by the artists who made them and by those who were inspired to turn their visions into reality.
In Search of Tomorrow
2022
7.0Documentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles.
The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
2004
7.2The Frankenstein Complex takes a historical as well as a creative perspective, with a mix of fascinating scenes behind the camera, film clips, and dozens of interviews with all the big names in the industry. In addition to the many wonderful anecdotes, the film also offers a wealth of beautiful test material, while along the way showing how the art of filmmaking has changed over the years. An affectionate ode to monster makers throughout history.
Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex
2015
5.6A Midwestern ingenue arrives in Hollywood to try her luck as an actress. An incompetent agent hooks her up with a production company which specializes in low budget B-movie fare, which starts being plagued by strange, deadly accidents.
Hollywood Boulevard
1976
7.7The ultimate ‘80s Horror retrospective just got BIGGER. In Search of Darkness: Part II is a four-hour-plus sequel to the Rondo Hatton-nominated In Search of Darkness, adding 15 new interviewees and 40+ returning favorites for the biggest and most comprehensive ‘80s Horror documentary cast ever assembled.
In Search of Darkness: Part II
2020
7.0A chronicle of the long career of American filmmaker Roger Corman, the most tenacious and ingenious low-budget producer and director in the US film industry, a pioneer of independent filmmaking and discoverer of new talent.
Corman's World
2011
7.4There’s only one person who so accurately personifies movie magic in the history of film, and that man is special effects maestro Ray Harryhausen. Focusing on the man behind the landmark effects on films like Clash Of The Titans, One Million Years B.C., Jason And The Argonauts and many more, this in-depth film features interviews with the great man himself, and with an array of animators and directors influenced by his work including Guillermo del Toro, Peter Jackson, Nick Park, Terry Gilliam, James Cameron and Steven Spielberg. The film also features unseen footage of tests and experiments recently uncovered.
Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan
2012
Behind the camera
7.1After receiving an exotic small animal as a Christmas gift, a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet, which unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous creatures on a small town.
Gremlins
1984
6.4Fed up with all the attention going to Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck quits Hollywood, teams up with recently-fired stuntman Damien Drake Jr. and embarks on a round-the-world adventure, along with Bugs and The VP of Warner Bros. Their mission? Find Damien's father, and the missing blue diamond... and stay one step ahead of The Acme Corp., who wants the diamond for their own purposes.
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
2003
6.5An anthology film presenting remakes of three episodes from the "Twilight Zone" TV series—"Kick the Can", "It's a Good Life" and "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"—and one original story, "Time Out."
Twilight Zone: The Movie
1983
6.5Young sweethearts Billy and Kate move to the Big Apple, land jobs in a high-tech office park and soon reunite with the friendly and lovable Gizmo. But a series of accidents creates a whole new generation of Gremlins. The situation worsens when the devilish green creatures invade a top-secret laboratory and develop genetically altered powers, making them even harder to destroy!
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
1990
6.6When missile technology is used to enhance toy action figures, the toys soon begin to take their battle programming too seriously.
Small Soldiers
1998
6.6After a bizarre and near fatal encounter with a serial killer, a newswoman is sent to a rehabilitation center whose inhabitants may not be what they seem.
The Howling
1981
6.8Test pilot Tuck Pendleton volunteers to test a special vessel for a miniaturization experiment. Accidentally injected into a neurotic hypochondriac, Jack Putter, Tuck must convince Jack to find his ex-girlfriend, Lydia Maxwell, to help him extract Tuck and his ship and re-enlarge them before his oxygen runs out.
Innerspace
1987
6.8When secretive new neighbors move in next door, suburbanite Ray Peterson and his friends let their paranoia get the best of them as they start to suspect the newcomers of evildoings and commence an investigation. But it's hardly how Ray, who much prefers drinking beer, reading his newspaper and watching a ball game on the tube expected to spend his vacation.
The 'Burbs
1989
5.9When flesh-eating piranhas are accidentally released into a summer resort's rivers, the guests become their next meal.
Piranha
1978
5.8After moving into a new neighbourhood, brothers Dane & Lucas and their neighbour Julie discover a bottomless hole in the basement of their home. They find that once the hole is exposed, evil is unleashed. With strange shadows lurking around every corner and nightmares coming to life, they are forced to come face to face with their darkest fears to put an end to the mystery of THE HOLE.
The Hole
2009
6.8Clips from assorted television programs, B-movies, commercials, music performances, newsreels, bloopers, satirical short films and promotional and government films of the 1950s and 1960s are intercut together to tell a single story of various creatures and societal ills attacking American cities.
The Movie Orgy
1968
5.9Centered on a television station which features a 1950s-style sci-fi movie interspersed with a series of wild commercials, wacky shorts and weird specials, this lampoon of contemporary life and pop culture skewers some of the silliest spectacles ever created in the name of entertainment.
Amazon Women on the Moon
1987
5.6Before horror enthusiast Max can break things off with his girlfriend Evelyn she dies in a bus accident. In time, Max meets another woman only to have Evelyn resurface as a zombie ready to resume their relationship.
Burying the Ex
2014
6.3Middle schooler Ben spends his free time watching sci-fi films, playing video games and reading comic books. Surprisingly, his affinity for all things fantastical yields a real result – when he has a vivid dream about technology, his prodigy best friend Wolfgang manages to create a working spacecraft. Joined by their buddy Darren, the boys take off into outer space and encounter some very odd extraterrestrial life.
Explorers
1985
6.7A showman introduces a small coastal town to a unique movie experience and capitalizes on the Cuban Missile crisis hysteria with a kitschy horror extravaganza combining film effects, stage props and actors in rubber suits in this salute to the B-movie.
Matinee
1993
5.8A series of down-on-their-luck individuals enter the decrepit and spine-chilling Rialto theater, only to have their deepest and darkest fears brought to life on the silver screen by The Projectionist – a mysterious, ghostly figure who holds the nightmarish futures of all who attend his screenings.
Nightmare Cinema
2018
5.6A Midwestern ingenue arrives in Hollywood to try her luck as an actress. An incompetent agent hooks her up with a production company which specializes in low budget B-movie fare, which starts being plagued by strange, deadly accidents.
Hollywood Boulevard
1976
5.1Trapped in a house of horror, seven people discover that the only way they'll get out alive is to tell their scariest stories.
Trapped Ashes
2006
6.1When a planeload of Pakistani orphans are shipped to his state for permanent relocation, the governor of Idaho defies the president and closes the state's border. News Net Television, a cable news program that makes hay by reporting on political scandals, quickly spins the racist act into an overnight media sensation, creating a divide in national opinion over the issue.
The Second Civil War
1997
5.3Two ghosts that are children are forced to stay on a haunted beach and 100 years later find two children on the same beach trying to turn them into ghosts too.
Haunted Lighthouse 4-D
2003
A crew enters a mysterious maze buried underneath an abandoned Soviet research facility where supernatural disturbances occur.
Labrintus
—
2.9After self-righteous rockstar Johnny Splatter puts a bullet in his own head, only five people are chosen to attend the reading of his will: the manager, the shrink, the guitarist, the lover, and the groupie. Will they get what they came for, or what Splatter thinks they deserve?
Splatter
2009
2.0Part of the anthology series "Picture Windows," Joe Dante’s "Lightning" is a Gold Rush tale marking Brian Keith’s final screen role. As an aging prospector strikes it rich with the help of a quick-witted mule, two schemers move in—only to find the animal has the last laugh.
Picture Windows: Lightning
1995
5.9A hotshot White House speech writer deals with the publicity nightmare of his life when recently deceased soldiers return from beyond the grave.
Homecoming
2005