Dante Tomaselli
Dante Tomaselli (born October 29, 1969, in Paterson, New Jersey) is an Italian-American horror screenwriter, director, and score composer.
Biography
Directing career
Dante studied filmmaking at Brooklyn's Pratt Institute, then transferred to the New York School of Visual Arts, receiving a B.F.A. degree in Advertising there.[1] His first film was a 23-minute short called, Desecration, which was screened at a variety of horror and mainstream film festivals and venues. Tomaselli later expanded Desecration, which he also wrote, to feature-length. In 1999, the film received its world premiere to a standing-room-only audience at the Fantafestival in Rome, Italy.[2]
Tomaselli has been a lifelong supernatural/horror aficionado and is also the cousin of film director Alfred Sole, whose Alice, Sweet Alice (1976), made its own mark in the world of Catholic-themed horror films twenty-eight years prior. Desecration was distributed on DVD and VHS by Image Entertainment.[3]
His second feature film, Horror (2002), began principal photography January 15, 2001, in Warwick, New York. It was his first commercially successful film, as well as the first to receive a wide DVD release. Horror charted # 7 out of all movies on the IMDb for the week of September 21, 2003.
Tomaselli then made Satan's Playground (2006), his first linear film (as opposed to the extreme surrealism of his previous features). It starred 70's and early-80's cult-horror icons Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Ellen Sandweiss (The Evil Dead), and Edwin Neal (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre). The film is set, and was filmed in, New Jersey's infamous Pine Barrens Forest.[1] Satan's Playground was distributed on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment.
Dante's new feature, Torture Chamber (2013), the fourth installment in his nightmarish journey exploring the imaginations of Hell and damnation, made its World Premiere at Sitges 2012 Festival in Spain. Torture Chamber is set for release on DVD/Blu-ray & VOD by Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment January 28, 2014.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Director | Producer | Writer | Composer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Desecration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2002 | Horror | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2006 | Satan's Playground | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | |
| 2012 | Torture Chamber | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Notes
- ^ a b Davies Brown, Phil: "Dante Tomaselli interview" Horror-Asylum.com. July 23, 2004.
- ^ Gencarelli, Mike: "Interview with Dante Tomaselli" Moviemikes.com. April 11, 2010.
- ^ Dante Tomaselli's interview with Dai Green HorrorNews.net. January 18, 2009.
- ^ First Stills – Dante Tomaselli's Torture Chamber DreadCentral.com. July 14, 2010.
- ^ [1]Dante Tomaselli Interview FEARnet.com. April 27, 2013.