Mick Garris

American filmmaker and screenwriter

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[edit]

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

## Career[edit]

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[edit]

* Garris received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2006 New York City Horror Film Festival. He received the award in person after a screening of his Masters of Horror episode "Valerie on the Stairs".

## Filmography[edit]

### Films[edit]

Year  | Title  | Director  | Writer  | Producer  | Notes

|
|
|
|
|

1982  | Coming Soon | No  | Yes  | Yes  | Direct-to-video documentary
1987  | Batteries Not Included | No  | Story  | No  |
1988  | Critters 2: The Main Course | Yes  | Yes  | No  | Directorial debut
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[edit]

Year  | Title  | Director  | Producer  | Writer  | Creator  | Notes

|
|
|
|
|
|

1979–1981  | Fantasy Film Festival | No  | Co-Producer  | No  | No  | Talk show
1980  | Fear on Film: Inside "The Fog" | No  | Yes  | No  | No  | TV movie documentary
1981  | Making a Monster Movie: Inside "The Howling" | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No  | TV short documentary
1982  | The Making of a Chilling Tale | Yes  | No  | No  | No  | TV movie documentary
The Making of "The Thing" | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | TV movie documentary
Take One: Fear on Film | No  | Yes  | No  | No  | TV movie
1983  | The Making of "Videodrome" | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | TV short documentary
1984  | Cheeseball Presents | No  | Associate  | No  | No  | TV movie
1985  | The Making of "The Goonies" | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No  | TV short documentary
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  | Psycho IV: The Beginning | Yes  | No  | No  | No  | TV movie
1990–1991  | She-Wolf of London | No  | No  | Yes  | Yes  | Wrote episode "She-Wolf of London"
Creator and 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  | Quicksilver Highway | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | TV movie
The Shining | Yes  | No  | No  | No  | 3 episodes
1998  | Virtual Obsession | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | TV movie
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"
2002  | Lost in Oz | Yes  | No  | No  | No  | TV movie
2005–2007  | Masters of Horror | No  | Executive  | Yes  | Yes  | Wrote 4 episodes
Created and executive produced 26 episodes
2006  | Desperation | Yes  | Executive  | No  | No  | TV movie
2007  | Masters of Science Fiction | Yes  | Co-Executive  | No  | No  | Directed 2 episodes
Co-executive produced 4 episodes
2008–2009  | Fear Itself | No  | No  | Yes  | Yes  | Wrote episode "The Sacrifice"
Created 11 episodes
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  | Created 11 episodes
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
2018  | History of Horror | No  | Consulting  | No  | No  | Documentary series
7 episodes
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

## Bibliography[edit]

### Collections[edit]

Year  | Title

|

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

### Novels[edit]

Year  | Title

|

2011  | Development Hell
2014  | Salome

### Novellas[edit]

Year  | Title

|

2013  | Snow Shadows
2013  | Tyler’s Third Act
2014  | Ugly

## References[edit]

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.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mick Garris.

* Mick Garris at IMDb
* Mick Garris at AllMovie
* Mick Garris on FEARnet
* Interview

* v
* t
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Mick Garris

Films directed|

* Fuzzbucket (1986)
* Critters 2: The Main Course (1988)
* Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990)
* Sleepwalkers (1992)
* The Stand (1994)
* The Shining (1997)
* Quicksilver Highway (1997)
* Virtual Obsession (1998)
* Lost in Oz (2002)
* Riding the Bullet (2004)
* Stephen King's Desperation (2006)
* Stephen King's Bag of Bones (2011)
* Nightmare Cinema (2018)

TV series created|

* Masters of Horror (2005–07)
* Fear Itself (2008)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* Spain
* France
* BnF data
* Germany
* Israel
* United States
* Czech Republic
* Netherlands
* Poland

People|

* Deutsche Biographie

Other|

* SNAC
* IdRef

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