Rolfe Kanefsky
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Rolfe Kanefsky (born 1969) is an American
film writer A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
/
director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...
who specializes in
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...
s."Doing Time With Rolfe Kanefsky", Slammed & Damned: The Modern Day Horror Review, page #0
/ref>


Early life

Kanefsky grew up in the suburbs of New York and attended
Hampshire College Hampshire College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges ...
where he studied Film. He began writing stories at a young age after his childhood dream of becoming a clown took the backseat to his interest in film. By the time he was twenty-one, Rolfe had written and directed the original cult classic horror spoof '' There's Nothing Out There''. Rolfe eventually moved to
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
and has since been making his living writing and directing.


Films

Kanefsky has directed 15 of his own films and been the writer on several others. Kanefsky's first film was the comedy/horror feature '' There's Nothing Out There'' (1991), a parody of the horror film genre. In the film, a character named Mike has seen every horror film made, and "knows the rules". Mike uses his knowledge of horror movies to survive the movie and terrorize the other characters. This resembles the character Randy in the '' Scream'' series of films. Since ''There's Nothing Out There'' predates ''Scream'', much has been made of the common elements. ''There's Nothing Out There'' went on to become a hit at the IFP in New York and the closing film at the Florence Film Festival before getting a theatrical release in New York City and Los Angeles. The ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' was lukewarm, but the ''
L.A. Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', and ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' gave it more favorable press. It recently was re-released as a Special Edition DVD from
Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...
. After ''There's Nothing Out There'', Kanefsky directed '' My Family Treasure'' (1993), starring
Dee Wallace Deanna Wallace (née Bowers), also known as Dee Wallace Stone (born December 14, 1948), is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Mary Taylor in the 1982 Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbuster science-fiction film ''E.T. the E ...
and
Theodore Bikel Theodore Meir Bikel ( ; May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-American actor, singer, musician, composer, unionist, and political activist. He made his stage debut in '' Tevye the Milkman'' in Mandatory Palestine, where he lived as ...
, and co-wrote ''Red Line'' (1996), starring
Michael Madsen Michael Madsen (born September 25, 1957) is an American actor. Alongside his frequent collaborations with Quentin Tarantino—''Reservoir Dogs'' (1992), ''Kill Bill: Volume 2'' (2004), ''The Hateful Eight'' (2015), and ''Once Upon a Time in Hol ...
. Kanefsky teamed up with producer Alain Siritzky, who produced his next few features, including '' Pretty Cool'', a teen comedy in the tradition of '' American Pie'', and '' Tomorrow by Midnight'', a dark comedy thriller starring
Alexis Arquette Alexis Arquette (; July 28, 1969 – September 11, 2016) was an American actress and transgender activist. Born in Los Angeles, she was the fourth of five children to Lewis Arquette, an actor and director, and Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (née Now ...
and
Carol Kane Carolyn Laurie Kane (born June 18, 1952) is an American actress. She gained recognition for her role in '' Hester Street'' (1975), for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She became known in the 1970s and 1980s in ...
. ''TBM'' won much praise in many film festivals, a rave review in the ''
L.A. Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' and was awarded Best Feature in the Rhode Island Film Festival and the L.A. FirstGlance Film Festival. More recently, Kanefsky completed production as both writer and director on the horror/comedy film ''The Hazing'' (2004) starring
Brad Dourif Bradford Claude Dourif (; born March 18, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for voicing Chucky in the ''Child's Play'' franchise (1988–present), portraying Gríma Wormtongue in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film series, and his Academy A ...
,
Brooke Burke Brooke Lisa Burke (born September 8, 1971) is an American television and fitness personality, model, author, actress, and businesswoman. She is known for hosting the E! Network travel show '' Wild On!'' (1999–2002), CBS's ''Rock Star'' (2 ...
and Parry Shen. The film has been covered on the E! Channel,
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,
Fangoria Magazine ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released in ...
, and has received rave reviews from around the world. Kanefsky also completed ''Corpses'', a zombie comedy starring
Jeff Fahey Jeffrey David Fahey (, born November 29, 1952) is an American actor. His notable roles include Duane Duke in ''Psycho III'' (1986), Pete Verill in Clint Eastwood's ''White Hunter Black Heart'' (1990), Jobe Smith in ''The Lawnmower Man'' (1992), ...
and
Tiffany Shepis Tiffany Shepis is an American actress from New York City, who has been involved in film-making since the age of 16. She is popularly known as a "scream queen", having acted in several horror films. Career Shepis got her start playing the part ...
and '' Nightmare Man'', a horror thriller independently produced under his Valkhn Films label, starring Blythe Metz,
Tiffany Shepis Tiffany Shepis is an American actress from New York City, who has been involved in film-making since the age of 16. She is popularly known as a "scream queen", having acted in several horror films. Career Shepis got her start playing the part ...
and
Richard Moll Charles Richard Moll (January 13, 1943 – October 26, 2023) was an American actor known for playing Aristotle Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon, a bailiff on the NBC sitcom ''Night Court'' from 1984 to 1992. Moll also voiced Harvey Dent/Two-Face in t ...
as well as ''Pocket Girl: Pretty Cool Too!'' – a sequel to his teen comedy '' Pretty Cool''. He has also written & directed the film ''The Erotic Misadventures of the Invisible Man'' with
Gabriella Hall Gabriella Hall (born Laura Rosa Saldivar November 11, 1966) is a model and former softcore pornography actress from Los Angeles best known for her appearances in Cinemax TV shows and movies such as ''Erotic Confessions'' and ''Beverly Hills Bor ...
on the lead based on the comic books of
Milo Manara Maurilio Manara (; born 12 September 1945), known professionally as Milo Manara, is an Italian comic book writer and artist. Career After architecture and painting studies, he made his comics debut in 1969 drawing for ''Genius'', a fumetti neri ...
. Kanefsky was both writer and director of the neo-noir thriller, '' One in the Gun'' starring Steven Man, created in 2011. Reviewers all remarked heavily on the inter-woven and deliberately confusing plot lines. This was the primary factor for the reviews given - with ratings ranging from poor, "more often than not making any sense.", fair, "Very little of what you see is meant to be taken at face value" and excellent " tveers off into the Twilight Zone for a surreal trip on the wild side".


References


External links

*
Official Rolfe Kanefsky website

Rolfe Kanefsky
at
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Rolfe “BillWaff” Kanefsky
at
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanefsky, Rolfe American horror film directors Film directors from New York (state) Hampshire College alumni 1969 births Living people