Rolfe Kanefsky
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Rolfe Kanefsky (born 1969) is an American
film writer A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...
/
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 * ''Di ...
who specializes in
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
s."Doing Time With Rolfe Kanefsky", Slammed & Damned: The Modern Day Horror Review, page #0
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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
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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'' (1989), 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 ''
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'' 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 ''
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'' was lukewarm, but the ''
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'', ''
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'', and ''
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'' gave it more favorable press. It recently was re-released as a Special Edition DVD from
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. After ''There's Nothing Out There'', Kanefsky directed ''
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'', starring
Dee Wallace Deanna Wallace (née Bowers; born December 14, 1948), also known as Dee Wallace Stone, is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Mary Taylor, the mother in the 1982 blockbuster film ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. She is ...
and
Theodore Bikel Theodore Meir Bikel ( ; May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-American actor, folk singer, musician, composer, unionist, and political activist. He appeared in films, including '' The African Queen'' (1951), ''Moulin Rouge'' (1952), ' ...
, and co-wrote ''Red Line'', starring
Michael Madsen Michael Søren Madsen (born September 25, 1957) is an American actor. He has starred in many films and television series, frequently collaborating with director Quentin Tarantino, most famously in the latter's debut film ''Reservoir Dogs'' (19 ...
. Kanefsky teamed up with producer
Alain Siritzky Alain Siritzky was a French-American film producer and film distributor in softcore pornography, foremost known as the owner of the ''Emmanuelle'' franchise from the 1980s to 2010s. Early life Siritzky was born in New York City in 1942 where hi ...
, 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 (born Robert Arquette; July 28, 1969 – September 11, 2016) was an American actress. Early life Arquette was born in Los Angeles, the fourth of five children of Lewis Arquette, an actor and director, and Brenda Olivia "Mardi ...
and
Carol Kane Carolyn Laurie Kane (born June 18, 1952) is an American actress. She became known in the 1970s and 1980s in films such as '' Hester Street'' (for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress), ''Dog Day Afternoon'', ''Annie ...
. ''TBM'' won much praise in many film festivals, a rave review in the ''
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'' 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'' starring
Brad Dourif Bradford Claude Dourif (; born March 18, 1950) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Oscar, and won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for his film debut role as Billy Bibbit in '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975). He is also kn ...
,
Brooke Burke Brooke Lisa Burke (born September 8, 1971) is an American television personality, fitness personality, author, actress, and businesswoman. She is known for hosting the E! Network travel show ''Wild On!'' (1999–2002), CBS' ''Rock Star'' (2 ...
and
Parry Shen Parry Shen (born June 26, 1973) is an American actor, author, screenwriter, and producer. Shen's first major acting role was in '' Better Luck Tomorrow'' as Ben Manibag, the film's leading character. He also starred in another Asian American film, ...
. The film has been covered on the
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,
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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 i ...
, 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 film and television actor. He has portrayed Captain Frank Lapidus on the ABC series ''Lost'' and the title role of Deputy Marshal Winston MacBride on ''The Marshal''. Early life and ...
and
Tiffany Shepis Tiffany Shepis (born September 11, 1979) 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" in several horror films. Career Shepis got her start playi ...
and '' Nightmare Man'', a horror thriller independently produced under his Valkhn Films label, starring
Blythe Metz Blythe Laura Metz (born 1977), also known as Blythe Metz-Mändmets, is an American actress, writer, natural lifestyle expert, and motivational speaker. Life Metz was educated at Arizona State University, graduating BA in performing arts in 2000. ...
,
Tiffany Shepis Tiffany Shepis (born September 11, 1979) 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" in several horror films. Career Shepis got her start playi ...
and
Richard Moll Charles Richard Moll (born January 13, 1943) is an American actor. He played the role of Aristotle Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon, a bailiff on the NBC sitcom ''Night Court'' from 1984 to 1992. He has also done extensive work as a voice actor, typical ...
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 s ...
. 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 film directors Hampshire College alumni 1969 births Living people