Norman J. Warren

Cult horror movie director Norman J. Warren was born on June 25, 1942, in London, England. His fright features are distinguished by their cold, grim tones, modern-day settings (this was a radical departure from the period Gothic horror movies made by Hammer), young adult main characters, and startling outbursts of hideously graphic violence. Warren suffered from polio as a child and hence had only one functioning arm. An avid film buff since he was a kid, he got his start working as a runner on The Millionairess (1960) and handled assistant director chores on the feature Trial and Error (1962). Norman made his debut as a filmmaker with the 15-minute short Fragment (1965). Warren then directed the immensely successful softcore sex pictures Her Private Hell (1968) and Loving Feeling (1968). He next did the grisly devil-worship horror entry Satan's Slave (1976) starring Michael Gough. This was followed by the nifty supernatural shocker Terror (1978), the twisted sci-fi/horror item Prey (1977), the smutty softcore sci-fi sex comedy romp Spaced Out (1979), and the nasty sci-fi/horror Alien (1979) cash-in Inseminoid (1981). Warren took a break from the horror genre by directing the exciting spy action outing Gunpowder (1986). His last feature was the dreary horror clunker Bloody New Year (1987). He went gone on to direct music videos and educational shorts, worked as a cinematographer on the retrospective documentary shorts Corridor Gossip (2007), Haunted Memories (2007) and Making Space (2007) and was interviewed in the documentary Doing Rude Things (1995). Warren was also a regular guest at Manchester's Festival of Fantastic Films. He died at age 78 on March 11, 2021.