Jeff Lieberman (born October 16, 1947) is an American film director and screenwriter, known for his

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

horror and thriller films ''

Squirm ''Squirm'' is a 1976 American natural horror film written and directed by Jeff Lieberman, starring Don Scardino, Patricia Pearcy, R. A. Dow, Jean Sullivan, Peter MacLean, Fran Higgins and William Newman. The film takes place in the fictiona ...

'' (1976), '' Blue Sunshine'' (1978) and '' Just Before Dawn'' (1981).

Biography

Jeff Lieberman was born in 1947 in the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

borough of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He made his feature film debut as the writer and director of the nature horror film ''

'' (1976), about

earthworm An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. Th ...

s inundating a small Southern town and wreaking havoc. His following film, '' Blue Sunshine'' (1978), followed a series of murders in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, connected to the killers' use of a certain strain of

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

. ''Blue Sunshine'' screened at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

, as well as the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

and

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

. In 1981, Lieberman wrote and directed the slasher film '' Just Before Dawn'', about a group of campers stalked by a killer in the backwoods of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. In 1988, Lieberman wrote and directed ''

Remote Control In electronics, a remote control (also known as a remote or clicker) is an electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operate devices such as ...

'', a science fiction film following a video store clerk who discovers a videotape circulating in his store is

brainwashing Brainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and forced re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwash ...

its viewers. He subsequently wrote the screenplay for ''

The NeverEnding Story III ''The NeverEnding Story III: Escape from Fantasia'' (also known as: ''The NeverEnding Story III: Return to Fantasia'') is a 1994 fantasy-adventure film. It is the third and final film in the franchise. It stars Jason James Richter as Bastian Balth ...

'' (1994). He later wrote and directed the satirical

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three ty ...

film ''

Satan's Little Helper ''Satan's Little Helper'' is a 2004 American black comedy slasher film directed and written by Jeff Lieberman. The film stars Alexander Brickel as Dougie, a nine-year-old video gamer. On Halloween, Dougie meets a serial killer and unknowingly as ...

'' (2004).

Filmography

;As director ;As screenwriter

References

Sources

External links

* 1947 births Horror film directors Film directors from New York City People from Brooklyn Screenwriters from New York (state) Living people {{US-film-director-1940s-stub