Jack Sholder (born June 8, 1945 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a director, best known for his work in the horror film genre, notably Alone in the Dark, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, The Hidden, and Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies.In the DVD commentary of The Hidden, Jack Sholder states that his favorite film director is Jean Renoir.He currently works as a teacher at Western Carolina University in the department of stage and screen.During his interview for Behind the Curtain Part II (2012), he confessed that of all the films he had made, Arachnid (2001) was his least favorite. In the same interview, he cited Alone in the Dark (1982), The Hidden (1987), By Dawn's Early Light (1990), and 12:01 (1993) as his favorite films of his own.
Exposition always feels like exposition. The best exposition is when you learn something important about a character on page 90.
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[Describing his state of mind before making 1982's "Alone in the Dark"] At that point I was getting into my early thirties, and when 25 came and passed and I hadn't made Citizen Kane yet, I was getting worried. I was really starting to wonder if I was ever going to get to make my feature. I'd worked as a film editor but I never really approached it as seriously as other people because I always felt I was going to direct a movie.
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[Talking about working with Robert Englund on "A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge"] One of the most brilliant things Wes did was cast Robert Englund because people always cast some lunk to play the killer ... whereas Robert Englund is not a big scary guy. He's a guy with an interesting, almost funny face, but he's a terrific actor. And Wes made that choice; it was a brilliant choice.
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I've always had a cynical outlook on life. Odd things strike me as funny. I'm the sort of person who'd laugh at a funeral under the right circumstances.
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[Talking about his attitude towards violence in horror movies] I was never a hard-core slasher kind of guy...I never wanted to humiliate people or inflict pain just for the sake of inflicting pain, or do horrible effects just to see how gross I could possibly be. That never really interested me that much.
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(speaking about his film-making influences) I never set out to be Wes Craven, I set out to be Jean Renoir.
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Currently directs the Motion Picture and Television Program at Western Carolina University. [February 2008]
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