’THE BEASTMASTER’: FROM HOME FLICKS TO HOLLYWOOD by Bob Thomas

’THE BEASTMASTER’: FROM HOME FLICKS TO HOLLYWOOD
Miami Herald, The (FL) - September 8, 1982
Author: BOB THOMAS Associated Press


A late entry in the summer movie sweepstakes is The Beastmaster, a new film by Don Coscarelli, who is accustomed to playing catch-up.

Coscarelli is the prodigy whose homemade movie was released by a major studio when he was not yet 21. He also gave the movie world Phantasm, which reportedly sold $25 million worth of tickets in the U.S.

Coscarelli is now an oldtimer of 28, and he is dealing in big chips with The Beastmaster, a $10-million fantasy-adventure that MGM is releasing. That’s a hundred times more than what his first movie cost.

As with their other three films, Coscarelli and his producer, Paul Pepperman, also 28, financed The Beastmaster privately, then sold it to a major releasing company.

"The title turned some potential investors off. They thought it sounded like a low-budget horror picture," Coscarelli related. "The story takes place in the Bronze Age and deals with a hero who has a rare ability to communicate with animals. In his quest for his origins and for revenge, he is helped by an eagle, a black tiger and two ferrets, with whom he has a telepathic capacity."

In searching for a new project, Coscarelli remembered a book he had enjoyed in the sixth grade. In rereading The Beastmaster, he discovered it wasn’t as good as he remembered. But he used the title and fashioned his own story, drawing from extensive research in primitive cultures. The backing came from two investors and foreign distributors who had profited from Phantasm. David Begelman, then president of MGM, agreed to distribution on the basis of a 20-minute presentation reel.

Coscarelli and Pepperman didn’t go crazy with their first big budget. They found a cheap rental for property owned by an oil company in the Simi Valley and built a prehistoric settlement, including a huge pyramid. John Alcott, Oscar-winner for Barry Lyndon, was cinematographer. The cast includes Marc Singer (If You Could See What I Hear), Rip Torn, John Amos and Tanya Roberts, last of "Charlie’s Angels."

"It was my first time dealing with professional actors," said the director, "and there is a difference. Before, the actors were motivated by the love of the project. This time the motivation was the paycheck: ’Do this or you’re fired.’

"Another revelation was working with animals. The only direction you can give them is a buzzer for food. It takes a lot of time to get a performance on that basis. Still, we finished principal photography in 12 weeks."

Coscarelli and Peppermen were college roommates in Long Beach, Calif., eight years ago. Too young to enter UCLA’s film school, they decided to make their own movie . Coscarelli’s father helped put together the $100,000 to make Jim, The World’s Greatest with an unknown actor, Gregory Harrison, now of "Trapper John, M.D."

Universal paid $250,000 to release the film, much to father Coscarelli’s relief. Next came Kenny and Company, filmed for $150,000 and bought by Fox for $250,000. Phantasm was another step upward; it cost $500,000 and made millions for Avco Embassy.

"After that I was deluged with horror scripts," said Coscarelli. "Things like Ghost Ship, The Beast Within, Claws and Rats. I decided I wanted to do something entirely different instead."