LA GAZETTE DU CLUB DES MONSTRES |
NUMÉRO 16
David The Rock Nelson, Only Slightly in Focus
by Avery Battles
David THE ROCK Nelson, the infamous Z-grade, zero[no] budget backyard filmmaker from Des Plaines, Illinois, is at it again! As stated in the title of a 2007 documentary about him, Cant Stop the Rock!, there seems to be no stopping this insane and out-of-control madman. He has been dubbed The Ed Wood Of The 90s And Beyond That, Even and Americas Two-Fisted Filmmaker. Many see him as a nuisance. To others he is an inspiration. Then, of course, theres the majority of us, who dont know exactly what to make of him. Whatever the case, hes here and he doesnt seem to be going away anytime soon. So who is this one-man filmmaking machine? In the early 1960s, at the ripe young age of just 7 years old, David Nelson had big dreams of becoming a monster movie filmmaker. He asked his parents to buy him an 8mm camera, but at the time they couldnt afford one. However, they did manage to purchase him a Kodak 120 photo camera, in front of which he would pose in his Halloween costumes and masks. Later in the mid 60s, after forming a monster club with some other neighborhood kids one of whoms father owned a super 8 mm movie camera with which he would shoot short monster films featuring his mates he made his acting debut. It was in a 3-minute short called The Ant Devil. Looking at the film now, no one could have predicted that one of these young boys would eventually grow up to become an infamous filmmaker nor that the title creature of the short, a 6-inch plastic toy ant, would later be revived to star in films from that future filmmaker.
In high school Nelson would take two years of photography, which would later help his filmmaking career tremendously. In the early 1970s he would become fascinated with boxing and bodybuilding and would train furiously after school with his boxing coach. Subsequently he would join the marines, serving from 1976 to 1980, where he was given the nickname Corporal Oo-Rah. There he joined the boxing team and then found God and, as he puts it, was saved. It was also in the marines while stationed in the Philippines that he finally purchased his first dual-8 movie camera. After the marines he would join a bible college and major in evangelism. While there he also took up wrestling. Upon graduating with a BA degree, he would start preaching at any given opportunity anywhere, from missionary churches to street corners. To make a living he became a door-to-door salesman selling encyclopedias, dictionaries, and medical books. The whole time, whenever given the opportunity, hed film daily events with his video camera. This material is often incorporated into his films alongside other stock footage.
Finally in the early 1990s his love of Monsta movies, as he loves to call them, would take center stage as he began filming a series of short films and features starring such famous monster icons as Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, the Werewolf, and others. These sport such insane titles as Frankenstein And Dracula vs. Sodom Insane, The Giant Fly, Dracula From Space, Miss Werewolf, Mummy A.D. 1993? and of course the Pumkinman and Devil Ant series.à
All up, he has produced 33 features and shorts so far. He films them on 8/8mm. film and edits them to VHS, then transfers them to DVD. In his career he has befriend many famous B-movie celebrities, including actor Conrad Brooks (pictured with Rock on the right), director Roger Corman, gore-splattered FX wizard Tom Savini, horror host Svengoolie, Forrest J. Ackerman and others, some of whom would appear and act in films such as Conrad Brooks vs. The Werewolf and his personal favorite Demon Monster From Outerspace.
Even innocent bystanders can unknowingly become victims in his films as hes always on the look-out for unsuspecting celebrities and civilians to attack with his notorious plastic Devil Ant prop (see below), while catching it all on film to incorporate into his next feature. Nelson has been known to tape public footage of just about anybody and edit it into his films. Just ask Hilary Clinton, Fred Olen Ray, Harou Nakajima and Kenpachiro Satsuma, among others.
Nelsons personality is quite explosive and unpredictable as he has been regularly known to rip off his shirt and break into an air-boxing match or to flex his muscles for the cameras during live public appearances. Hes been the subject of two documentaries: the aforementioned Cant Stop The Rock and Baby Food And Monstas. He is also an annual Guest Of Honor at the Monster Bash that takes place each June in Butler, PA, and has appeared on WGN TV News out of Chicago several times, as well as on Wild Chicago, Comedy Centrals Daily Show and the Jon Stewart Show. He will be making a special return appearance on WGN TV News, his 13th to date, this Halloween October 31st, between 7 and 9 in the morning. There he will be presenting footage of his latest Monsta movies in segments during the 2-hour broadcast. You can expect The Giant Horny Toad Monster [a.k.a. "Son Of Gila Monster"], the double bill Killer Cicadas and Attack of the Giant Cicadas [a.k.a. "Oo-Rah vs. The Cicadas"], and the short vids The Giant Grasshopper Monster and The Giant Cricket Monster. Is this something you can afford to miss?
Information on The Rock and his films, including how to get copies, can be obtained through the links below as well as contacting the man himself.
Reference Info: www.journal-topics.com/dp/08/dp081015.19.html www.bleedingskull.com/features/rocknelson.html www.psychotronic.info/ioam/rock/index.htm www.anxietyfilms.com/filmmakers_nelson.html More YouTube Videos on The Rock: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG3iUcnP_vo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-3gi82x3MU
See the original article on the Undead Brain Blog http://roberthood.net/blog/index.php/2008/10/19/rock-n-reels/ |
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