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James Isaac

{{short description|American film director}}

{{for|the footballer|Jimmy Isaac}}

{{Infobox person

| image =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1960|06|05}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|05|06|1960|06|05}}

| death_place =

| years_active = 1983–2012

| occupation = Film director, producer, special effects

| nationality =

| spouse =

}}

James Isaac (June 5, 1960 – May 6, 2012) was an American film director and visual effects supervisor.

Career

File:David Cronenberg(CannesPhotoCall)-.jpg's films The Fly, Naked Lunch and eXistenz]]

James Isaac was born June 5, 1960.{{sfn|Lentz III|2013|p=138}}

Isaac began work in film in the early 1980s creating the creatures in films such as Return of the Jedi and Gremlins.{{sfn|Lentz III|2013|p=139}} He continued his work into the 1980s with Enemy Mine, House II: The Second Story and DeepStar Six.{{sfn|Lentz III|2013|p=139}} He made his directorial debut on The Horror Show after the original director left the project a week into shooting.{{sfn|Lentz III|2013|p=139}}{{sfn|Stine|2003|p=152}}

He also worked with director David Cronenberg on his films The Fly, Naked Lunch and eXistenz.{{sfn|Lentz III|2013|p=139}} His other 1990s work included being a special effects supervisor for Chris Wales Inc. on Look Who's Talking Too and Virtuosity.{{sfn|Lentz III|2013|p=139}} He returned to directing in the 2000s, working on Jason X, Skinwalkers and Pig Hunt.{{sfn|Lentz III|2013|p=139}}

Isaac died of blood cancer on May 6, 2012.{{sfn|Lentz III|2013|p=138}}

Select filmography

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! width="15%" rowspan="2" scope="col" | Title !! width="4%" rowspan="2" scope="col" | Year!! colspan="3" scope="col" | Credited as !! width="10%" rowspan="2" scope="col" class="unsortable"| Notes !! width="2%" rowspan="2" scope="col" class="unsortable" |{{abbr|Ref(s)|Reference(s)}}

width=3% |Directorwidth=3% | Special effectswidth=3% | Other
scope="row"|Return of the Jedi

|1983

|

| {{yes}}

|

| Credited as Creature tech.

|style="text-align:center;"|{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58057?cxt=filmography|publisher=American Film Institute|title=Return of the Jedi (1983)|access-date=18 December 2017}}

scope="row"|Gremlins

|1984

|

| {{yes}}

|

| Credited as part of the Creature crew

|style="text-align:center;"|{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/68263?cxt=filmography|publisher=American Film Institute|title=Gremlins (1984)|access-date=18 December 2017}}

scope="row"|House II: The Second Story

|1987

|

| {{yes}}

|

|Special effects coordinator

|style="text-align:center;"|{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/57656?cxt=filmography|publisher=American Film Institute|title=House II: The Second Story (1987)|access-date=18 December 2017}}

scope="row"|{{sort|Kiss, The|The Kiss}}

|1988

|

|

| {{yes}}

|Make-up crew

|style="text-align:center;"|{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58817?cxt=filmography|publisher=American Film Institute|title=The Kiss (1988)|access-date=18 December 2017}}

scope="row"|Deepstar Six

|rowspan="2"|1989

|

| {{yes}}

|

| Credited as Visual effects supervisor

|style="text-align:center;"|{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/57971?cxt=filmography|publisher=American Film Institute|title=Deepstar Six (1989)|access-date=18 December 2017}}

scope="row"|{{sort|Horror Show, The|The Horror Show}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

|style="text-align:center;"|{{cite web |url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/v23154 |title=The Horror Show (1989) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast - AllMovie |last=Binion |first=Cavett |publisher=AllMovie |access-date=December 18, 2017}}{{sfn|Stine|2003|p=152}}

scope="row"|Arachnophobia

|rowspan="2"|1990

|

| {{yes}}

|

|

|style="text-align:center;"|{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58398?cxt=filmography|publisher=American Film Institute|title=Arachnophobia (1990)|access-date=18 December 2017}}

scope="row"|Look Who's Talking Too

|

| {{yes}}

|

| Credited as the Project Supervisor

|style="text-align:center;"|{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58599?cxt=filmography|publisher=American Film Institute|title=Look Who's Talking Too (1990)|access-date=18 December 2017}}

scope="row"|eXistenZ

|1999

|

| {{yes}}

|

| Visual and special effects supervisor

|style="text-align:center;"|{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1999/film/reviews/existenz-1200456592/|publisher=Variety|title=eXistenZ|access-date=December 18, 2017|last=Stratton|first=David|date=February 17, 1999}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/canadian-feature-film-database/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=3051&DotsIdNumber=|publisher=Collections Canada|title=eXistenZ|access-date=December 18, 2017}}

scope="row"|Jason X

|2002

| {{yes}}

|

| {{yes}}

| Executive producer

|style="text-align:center;"|{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62437?sid=22b2a3fa-3cd0-4731-99b7-fbc7a835c5ce&sr=4.457115&cp=1&pos=0y|publisher=American Film Institute|title=Jason X (2002)|access-date=18 December 2017}}{{cite book|last=Grove|first=David|title=Making Friday the 13th: The Legend of Camp Blood|publisher=FAB Press|date=February 2005|location=United Kingdom|page=212|isbn=1903254310}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b84355cc0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003154650/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b84355cc0|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 3, 2016|publisher=British Film Institute|title=Jason X|access-date=December 20, 2017}}

scope="row"|Skinwalkers

|2006

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

|style="text-align:center;"|{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/64480?cxt=filmography|publisher=American Film Institute|title=Skinwalkers (2007)|access-date=18 December 2017}}

scope="row"| Pig Hunt

| 2008

| {{yes}}

|

| {{yes}}

| Co-producer; final film

| style="text-align:center;"|

scope="row"| His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th

| 2009

|

|

| {{yes}}

| Documentary film, himself

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.blu-ray.com/His-Name-Was-Jason-30-Years-of-Friday-the-13th/274790/ |title=His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th (2009) |access-date=2024-07-03 |via=www.blu-ray.com}}

scope="row"| Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th

| 2013

|

|

| {{yes}}

| Documentary film, himself, posthumous role

| style="text-align:center;"|{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.blu-ray.com/Crystal-Lake-Memories-The-Complete-History-of-Friday-the-13th/243015/#Castandcrew |title=Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013) |access-date=2025-03-10 |via=www.blu-ray.com}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

{{Refbegin}}

  • {{cite book

|last=Lentz III

|first=Harris M.

|title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2012

|publisher=McFarland

|isbn=9781476603858

|year=2013

}}

  • {{cite book

|last=Stine

|first=Scott Aaron

|title=The Gorehound's Guide to Splatter Films of the 1980s

|publisher=McFarland

|isbn=0786415320

|year=2003

}}

{{Refend}}

External links

  • {{IMDb name|410494}}

{{James Isaac}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaac, James}}

Category:1960 births

Category:2012 deaths

Category:Film directors from Washington, D.C.

Category:Deaths from multiple myeloma in the United States

Category:English-language film directors

Category:American horror film directors