Mick Garris

Mick Garris
Mick Garris during the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike
Born (1951-12-04) December 4, 1951 (age 72)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Director, producer, writer

Mick Garris (born December 4, 1951) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter and novelist born in Santa Monica, California. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, as well as making Stephen King adaptations.[1]

Early life

Garris was born in Santa Monica, California and raised in Van Nuys.

Career

He is known for his work in the horror genre. He has worked with Stephen King several times, such as directing the horror film Sleepwalkers, written by King and starring Mädchen Amick[2] and is the creator of the Showtime series Masters of Horror[3] and the NBC series Fear Itself. Garris won a 1986 Edgar Award for an episode he wrote for the Steven Spielberg-produced television series Amazing Stories. Garris directed the FEARnet web series Post Mortem.[4] He contributes to the web series Trailers From Hell. Garris was also the co-screenwriter and executive producer of Hocus Pocus.[5] Garris directed the 2011 miniseries adaption of Stephen King's novel Bag of Bones[6] and the documentary film Pure in Heart: The Life and Legacy of Lon Chaney Jr., about the life and work of Legend actor Lon Chaney Jr.,[7] which screened on the Horror-Rama 2015 in October 2015.[8] He has a role, as Himself in the biography horror film Digging Up the Marrow, from indie director Adam Green.[9]

As of 2015, he is also a member of the board of advisers for the Hollywood Horror Museum.

On January 16, 2018 it was announced that Mick Garris’ horror podcast Post Mortem would be joining Blumhouse's podcast network.[10]

Awards

Filmography

Film

Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes
1987 Batteries Not Included No Story No
1988 Critters 2: The Main Course Yes Yes No
1989 The Fly II No Yes No
1992 Sleepwalkers Yes No No
1993 Hocus Pocus No Yes Co-Executive
1997 Michael Jackson's Ghosts No Yes No Musical short
2004 Riding the Bullet Yes Yes Yes
2014 Unbroken No No Executive
2018 Nightmare Cinema Yes Yes Yes Segments "The Projectionist", "Dead"

Acting roles

Year Title Role Notes
1981 The Howling Man with TV Guide
1983 Michael Jackson's Thriller Zombie Musical short
1988 Critters 2: The Main Course Critters (voice)
1995 The Quick and the Dead Young Herod's Man
1996 The Stupids Reporter #2
2004 Riding the Bullet Dr. Higgins
2005 Gotham Cafe Father Callahan Short
2007 Brutal Massacre: A Comedy Himself
2010 The Man Who Saw Frankenstein Cry Host Documentary
2014 Digging Up the Marrow Himself
2015 Tales of Halloween The Phantom Segment "Grim Grinning Ghost"
2016 The Rift: Dark Side of the Moon Martin
2020 Sky Sharks Dr. Gage Creed

Television

Year Title Director Producer Writer Creator Notes
1979–1981 Fantasy Film Festival No Co-Producer No No Talk show
1985–1987 Amazing Stories Yes No Yes No Wrote teleplays for 8 episodes
Directed and wrote story episode "Life on Death Row"
Story editor in 22 episodes
1986 Disneyland Yes Yes Yes No Episode: "Fuzzbucket"
1988 Freddy's Nightmares Yes No No No Episode: "Killer Instinct"
1990–1991 She-Wolf of London No No Yes Yes Wrote episode "She-Wolf of London"
Also executive consultant for 20 episodes
1994 The Stand Yes No No No 4 episodes
Tales from the Crypt Yes No No No Episode: "Whirlpool"
1995 New York Undercover Yes No No No Episode: "The Smoking Section"
1997 The Shining Yes No No No 3 episodes
2000 The Others Yes Supervising Yes No Wrote episode "Don't Dream It's Over"
Director and supervising producer of 3 episodes
2001 The Judge Yes No No No Episode: "Part One"
2005–2007 Masters of Horror No Executive Yes Yes Wrote 4 episodes
2007 Masters of Science Fiction Yes Co-Executive No No Directed 2 episodes
2008–2009 Fear Itself No No Yes Yes Wrote episode "The Sacrifice"
2010 Happy Town Yes No No No Episode: "Polly Wants a Crack at Her"
2010–2016 Post Mortem with Mick Garris No Executive No Yes
2011 Bag of Bones Yes Executive No No 2 episodes
2013 Pretty Little Liars Yes No No No Episode: "Gamma Zeta Die!"
2014 Ravenswood Yes No No No 2 episodes
Witches of East End Yes No No No Episode: "The Fall of the House of Beauchamp"
2016 Shadowhunters Yes No No No Episode: "The Descent Into Hell Isn't Easy"
Dead of Summer Yes No No No 2 episodes
2017–2018 Once Upon a Time Yes No No No 2 episodes

TV movies

Year Title Director Producer Writer
1982 Take One: Fear on Film No Yes No
1984 Cheeseball Presents No Associate No
1990 Psycho IV: The Beginning Yes No No
1997 Quicksilver Highway Yes Yes Yes
1998 Virtual Obsession Yes Yes Yes
2002 Lost in Oz Yes No No
2006 Desperation Yes Executive No

Acting roles

Year Title Role Notes
1979–1981 Fantasy Film Festival Host Talk show
1982 Take One: Fear on Film Television film
1994 The Stand Henry Dunbarton Episode: "The Plague"
1997 Quicksilver Highway Surgeon in Hospital Hallway Television film
The Shining AA Hartwell Episode #1.2
2010–2016 Post Mortem with Mick Garris Host 11 episodes
2018–2020 Eli Roth's History of Horror Self 9 episodes
2021 The Stand Boulder Partygoer Cameo

Documentary works

Direct-to-video

Year Title Writer Producer
1982 Coming Soon Yes Yes

TV documentary films

Year Title Director Producer Writer
1980 Fear on Film: Inside "The Fog" No Yes No
1982 The Making of a Chilling Tale Yes No No
The Making of "The Thing" Yes Yes Yes

TV shorts

Year Title Director Producer Writer
1981 Making a Monster Movie: Inside "The Howling" Yes Yes No
1983 The Making of "Videodrome" Yes Yes Yes
1985 The Making of "The Goonies" Yes Yes No

Consulting producer

Year Title Notes
2018 History of Horror 7 episodes

Bibliography

Collections

Year Title
2000 A Life in the Cinema
2020 These Evil Things We Do

Novels

Year Title
2011 Development Hell
2014 Salome

Novellas

Year Title
2013 Snow Shadows
2013 Tyler’s Third Act
2014 Ugly

References

  1. ^ "Movies". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  2. ^ Holden, Stephen (April 11, 1992). "Review/Film; Fiends With Nasty Feeding Habits". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  3. ^ Moore, Debi (8 July 2012). "The Walking Dead Season 3: Take a Zombie Studio Tour with Greg Nicotero". dreadcentral.com. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  4. ^ Dyar, Amanda (24 July 2012). "Hotel Transylvania Making Its Way to Nintendo DS/3DS". dreadcentral.com. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  5. ^ Maslin, Janet (July 16, 1993). "Review/Film; Bette Midler, Queen Witch in Heavy Makeup". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  6. ^ Moore, Debi (11 September 2012). "Edgar Allan Poe Says "Boo!" in This New Collectible Bust from Tim Bruckner". dreadcentral.com. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  7. ^ Gambin, Lee (10 March 2015). "Q&A: Horror Maestro Mick Garris Revisits "PSYCHO IV: THE BEGINNING"". Fangoria. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  8. ^ "HORROR-RAMA 2015 Welcomes Rochon & The Soska Twins to Toronto!". Fangoria. 25 March 2015. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  9. ^ Barton, Steve (26 March 2015). "Digging Up the Marrow - Play Chicken With this Exclusive Clip". dreadcentral.com. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  10. ^ "Episode 79: Post Mortem with Mick Garris!". Blumhouse. BH Digital LLC. 16 January 2018. Archived from the original on 2 May 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
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