Albert Pyun

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Albert Pyun
Born	1954 Hawaii, U.S.
Years active	1982 - current

Albert Pyun (born 1954) is a American film director best known for having made many low-budget B-movies and direct-to-video action films. He frequently blends kickboxing and hybrid martial arts with science fiction and dystopic or post-apocalyptic themes, which often include cyborgs.

Career

1980s

His career has had a number of different phases. His early work in the early-to-mid-1980s was marked by imaginative, if uneven fantasy films such as The Sword and the Sorcerer, Radioactive Dreams and Vicious Lips. Radioactive Dreams marked a collaboration with John Stockwell (Blue Crush, Into the Blue, Turistas) who would go on to write and act in Dangerously Close (1986) for Pyun. Radioactive Dreams is also notable as the second collaboration with Oscar-winning Special Make Up Effects guru Greg Cannom (Dracula, Van Helsing), with whom Pyun would work steadily into the 1990s, and as the first film editing for Oscar winners David Brenner (Wall Street) and Joe Hutchings (Born on the Fourth of July).

Pyun's career took a slightly more mainstream turn with the acclaimed thriller Dangerously Close, which he followed with a romantic adventure film, Down Twisted, starring Carey Lowell, Charles Rocket, and Courteney Cox.

The late 1980s found Pyun making some of his most interesting if poorly-received movies, such as supermodel Kathy Ireland's acting debut in Alien from LA, a PG children's fairy tale, and Cyborg which starred, "The Muscles from Brussels," Jean-Claude Van Damme, then at the start of his career. During this era, Pyun made his three-day cult classic Deceit for $25,000. It is still consider one of his best experimental efforts. In 1989 he began the ill-fated Captain America which was severely hampered when the financing fell out. The film limped to completion a mere shadow of the film it was intended to be.^{[citation needed]}

1990s

The 1990s found Pyun moving from film to film with very little in the way of personal cinema. The exceptions were his minor sci-fi success Nemesis (film), starring Olivier Gruner, with a young Thomas Jane; his offbeat love story Brainsmasher... A Love Story (1993) with Teri Hatcher and Andrew Dice Clay; and Mean Guns (1997) with Christopher Lambert and Ice-T.

Having trained under the legendary Akira Kurosawa, he has been acknowledged for squeezing dramatic cinematography into otherwise low budget productions. Japanese superstar Toshiro Mifune and Kurosawa's cameraman Takao Saito were among Pyun's mentors. His most successful works include The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982), Cyborg (1989), and Nemesis (1993). His low-profile 1985-movie Radioactive Dreams won The Golden Raven at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film. A few of his films have gained sizeable cult followings.

Pyun founded the Filmwerks production company in 1994, which he left in 1999. Although Pyun has been long considered a direct-to-video king, several of Pyun's films managed to secure release US big-screen cinemas: The Swords and the Sorcerer, Radioactive Dreams, Dangerously Close, Down Twisted, Alien from LA, Cyborg, Kickboxer 2, Nemesis and Adrenalin...Fear the Rush. His work has featured a large number of stars, such as Charlie Sheen, Rutger Hauer, Snoop Dogg, Ice T, Christopher Lambert, Teri Hatcher, Courteney Cox, Thomas Jane, Dennis Hopper, Tom Sizemore, Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, Burt Reynolds, Rob Lowe, Mario Van Peebles, Nas, Natasha Henstridge, Big Pun, Fat Joe and Kris Kristofferson.

2000s

The late 1990s through 2004 found Pyun involved in uninspired films and with a succession of new, but highly dubious producers. The quality of his work plummeted when he parted ways with his longtime producer Tom Karnowski and cinematographer George Mooradian.

In 2004 Pyun went to the US territory of Guam and, along with film producer John Laing, convinced the Guam government to put up a $800,000 loan guarantee to finance their film Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon. In his effort to convince Guam officials to approve the loan guarantee, Pyun told them that he and his producer (Laing) had a "sterling financial record" and that neither he nor John Laing had ever defaulted on a loan. ^[1] In 2006 producer John Laing defaulted on the film's loan, and Guam lost its guarantee. According to a 6/13/07 article in The Los Angeles Times, Laing blamed Pyun for the failure of the film. The case is currently in litigation, both in California and in Guam^[2].

His 2005 film Infection, was praised for its unconventional camera work and cinematography: 68 minutes in length, it is one uninterrupted shot from a surveillance camera mounted inside a police car. The film won Best Picture and Best Director at Spain's 2005 Estepona International Film Festival and was acquired by Lions Gate Films for release on December 18, 2007. It also screened at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film to great acclaim. The film was entered in more than 20 film festivals around the world. The title of the film was changed by Lions Gate Entertainment to Invasion so as not to be confused with an earlier Lions Gate release.

After the success of Invasion Pyun increased his directing activity. The films Cool Air and Bulletface came in 2006 (winner of Best Experimental at the 2006 Northwest Projections Film Festival), followed by Left for Dead and From Beyond in 2007. In 2006, eight of his films were re-released, including his sole romantic comedy, Brainsmasher... A Love Story.

On September 8, 2007, Pyun won Best Director for "Left For Dead" at the 8th Edition of the Estepona International Film festival of Horror and Fantasy. Victoria Maurette won Best Actress honors on November 1, 2007 at the Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre International Film Festival for her lead performance in the film. On November 1, 2007 in Cape Town, Left For Dead received the Audience Award from the 2007 Horrorfest South Africa. The film was acquired for North America distribution in 2008 by Grindstone Entertainment, a division of Mandate Pictures.

On December 18, 2007 Invasion AKA Infection was released in the United States on DVD by Lions Gate Films. The film received these initial following reviews (from December 19 to December 26):

1. http://www.dreadcentral.com/node/25678 2. http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_reviews_3240.htm 3. http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=dvd&id=13043 4. http://joblo.com/arrow/dvd_reviews.php?id=1806

"Invasion" opened at number four on the Rentrack rankings of direct to dvd releases for the week Dec 18-23. It was number seven the following week.

"Left For Dead" will be released in North America on March 4, 2008 via Lions Gate Films. Initial reviews of the film:

1. http://hometheaterinfo.com/left_for_dead.htm 2. http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/left-for-dead-review 3. http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/film/1901

"Left For Dead" opened at number 6 in North America (DVD non-theatrical rental).

In July 2008 Pyun directed "Road to Hell" starring Michael Pare', Clare Kramer, Courtney Peldon and Deborah Van Valkenburgh. Official website is www.roadtohellmovie.com. Film is currently in post production. It is screening as a work in progress at 2008's Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.

In September 2008, Pyun began production on his long delayed "Tales of an Ancient Empire". Shooting began on October 12, 2008 with Christopher Lambert and Kevin Sorbo. Information and stills from the film can be found at: www.talesofanancientempire.com.

He is reported to have begun pre-production on his sequel to his 1997 cult film "Mean Guns". No cast has been announced but it is suppose to begin shooting in November 2009 in South Africa.

On 02 January 2010 begin the screening in New York of his Upcoming 3D Vampire film "Tales of an Ancient Empire".^[3] and stars Val Kilmer, Kevin Sorbo and Christopher Lambert.^[4]

Selected filmography

• The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982) [Director] [Writer]
• Radioactive Dreams (1985) [Director] [Writer]
• Dangerously Close (1986) [Director]
• Vicious Lips (1987) [Director] [Writer]
• Down Twisted (1987) [Director]
• Alien from L.A. (1988) [Director] [Writer]
• Journey to the Center of the Earth (1989) [Director]
• Deceit (1989) [Director]
• Cyborg (1989) [Director]
• Bloodmatch (1991) [Director]
• Captain America (1990) [Director]
• Kickboxer 2: The Road Back (1991) [Director]
• Dollman (1991) [Director]
• Nemesis (1993) [Director]
• Arcade (1993) (V) [Director]
• Knights (1993) [Director] [Writer] (written by)
• Brain Smasher... A Love Story (1993) (V) [Director] [Writer]
• Spitfire (1994) [Director] [Writer]
• Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor (1994) [Director] [Writer]
• Hong Kong 97 (1994) [Director]
• Heatseeker (1995) [Director] [Writer] (screenplay)
• Nemesis 2: Nebula (1995) (V) [Director] [Writer]
• Nemesis III: Prey Harder (1995) (V) [Director] [Writer]
• Nemesis 4: Death Angel (1995) (V) [Director] [Writer]
• Raven Hawk (1996) (TV) [Director]
• Adrenalin: Fear the Rush (1996) [Director] [Writer]
• Blast (1997) [Director]
• Omega Doom (1997) [Director] [Writer]
• Mean Guns (1997) [Director]
• Crazy Six (1998) [Director]
• Postmortem (1998/I) [Director]
• The Wrecking Crew (1999) [Director]
• Urban Menace (1999) [Director]
• Corrupt (1999) [Director]
• Ticker (2001) [Director] [Producer]
• More Mercy (2003) (V) [Director] (uncredited) [Producer]
• Final Examination (2003) (V) [Producer]
• Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon (2004) [Co-Director]
• Invasion AKA Infection (2005) [Director]
• Left for Dead (2007) (theatrical) (complete) [Director]
• From Beyond (2007) (theatrical) (complete) (Director)
• "Anomaly (2008) (theatrical) (in development) [Director]
• Sweating Bullets (2010) (theatrical) (in development) [Director]
• La Matanza (2009) (theatrical) (in pre-prep for March 2010) [Director]
• Left for Dead 2 (2010) (theatrical) (announced) [Director]
• "How I Ripped Off The Island of Guam: The Making of Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon (straight to DVD) [Director/Producer]
• Devil Girl (released November 2009) [Albert Pyun Presentation]
• Bulletface (2010) (complete - worldwide release date January 26, 2010) [Director]
• "Road To Hell (2010) (theatrical) (post production) [Director]
• Tales of an Ancient Empire (AKA The Princess) (2010) (theatrical) (post-production) [Director]
• H. P. Lovecraft's Cool Air (2010) [Director]
• "Sorcerers (2011) (filming) [Director]
• Untitled 3D Vampire Movie (2010) (in pre-production) [Director]
• "Mean Guns 2 (2011) (in development) [Director]
• "Bite! (2011) (in development) [Director]

References

• Albert Pyun interview about INVASION
• Retrospective of ALBERT PYUN'S CAREER
• LATEST NEWS ON ALBERT PYUN FILMS
• PYUN'S LATEST FILM
• (http://www.twitchfilm.net ALBERT PYUN RETROSPECTIVES AND REVIEWS]
• ALBERT PYUN FILM'S 1992 to 2005
• Interview with Albert Pyun on his current film ROAD TO HELL and how it is an homage to STREETS OF FIRE
• Honolulu Star Bulletin article on ALBERT SHOOTING IN KAILUA KONA
• "Los Angeles Times article: "CAMERA, LEGAL ACTION! - The making of a Kung-Fu flick on Guam turns into court battles on both sides of the sea"
• REVIEWS OF ALBERT PYUN'S LEFT FOR DEAD (2008)
• REVIEW OF ALBERT PYUN'S LEFT FOR DEAD (2008)

External links

• Tales of An Ancient Empire Clip
• Tales of An Ancient Empire
• Albert Pyun at the Internet Movie Database
• Sofia film Group
• Road to Hell the Movie