Dante Tomaselli

Birthday: 29 October 1969, Paterson, New Jersey, USA

Dante Tomaselli, an Italian-American writer/director/score composer, studied filmmaking at Brooklyn's Pratt Institute, then transferred to the New York School of Visual Arts, receiving a B.F.A. degree there. His first film was a 23-minute short called, Desecration, which was screened at a variety of horror and mainstream film festivals and venues. Tomaselli expanded Desecration, which he also wrote, to feature length. And in 1999, the film received its world premiere to a standing-room-only audience at the Fantafestival in Rome. The release of Desecration (1999) on DVD by Image Entertainment resulted in laudatory notices unique for an independent horror production. Made on the minuscule budget of $150,000, Desecration received instantaneous acclaim for its nightmarish visuals. The supernatural chiller quickly established itself as a modern horror cult favorite and became an Amazon.com Top 10 Best Seller under the category of Horror & Suspense. Tomaselli has been a lifelong supernatural/horror aficionado and is also the cousin of film director Alfred Sole, whose Alice Sweet Alice (1976), made its own mark in the world of Catholic-themed horror films 28 years ago.His second feature film, Horror (2003), began principle photography January 15, 2001, in Warwick, upstate New York. Final cost of production and post production: $250,000. Horror, a visually arresting chiller, had a group of runaway teens escape from a drug rehab and encounter demonic forces in a rural farmhouse. In a bizarre casting stunt, the film starred celebrity mentalist/magician, Kreskin. Dante Tomaselli's Horror was released on DVD in the United States and Canada by Elite Entertainment.Tomaselli then directed his third feature, Satan's Playground (2006). Distributed by Anchor Bay Entertainment, Satan's Playground starred 70s & early 80s cult-horror icons Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Ellen Sandweiss (The Evil Dead), and Edwin Neal (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre).Torture Chamber (2013), the fourth installment in his nightmarish journey exploring the imaginations of Hell and damnation, made its World Premiere at Sitges 2012 Festival in Spain. Torture Chamber was released by Cinedigm January 28, 2014.The director/composer's first audio CD of electronic horror music, ''Scream in the Dark'' (2014) was released by Elite Entertainment & MVD Audio January 14, 2014. Its follow-up, ''The Doll'' (2014) described as "a ghoulish experiment in fear," was released on CD and Digital download by Elite Entertainment & MVD Audio April 15, 2014. Tomaselli's third dark ambient album, "Nightmare" was released by the same label January 13, 2015. Hide

I love performers from horror classics; I can't help myself. I've been lucky in that I've been given Show more I love performers from horror classics; I can't help myself. I've been lucky in that I've been given the opportunity to work with actors from landmark horror films. The trend needs to continue with me...and the possibilities are endless. Jamie Lee Curtis, can you hear me? Hide

I'm just this guy from New Jersey who has odd visions. I do have an obsession with replicating child Show more I'm just this guy from New Jersey who has odd visions. I do have an obsession with replicating childhood nightmares, fears, anxieties. With my films, I'm trying to construct some kind of nightmare where we experience the protagonist's damnation. Hide

I know my films reflect the fear of the end of the world or the end of my world. I know my films reflect the fear of the end of the world or the end of my world.

It's ambient filmmaking...told through a series of dreams, flashbacks and hallucinations. I was goin Show more It's ambient filmmaking...told through a series of dreams, flashbacks and hallucinations. I was going for something completely out-there...not censoring myself...allowing my imagination to run wild. Hide

I starting writing it right around the end of 1999, when there was all that end-of-the-world talk go Show more I starting writing it right around the end of 1999, when there was all that end-of-the-world talk going on. I wanted to harness that feeling...that we all could be predestined for a horrible, violent death. The idea that the threat of violence can strike at any moment. Hide

I am not a Satanist. I am a Supernaturalist! I am not a Satanist. I am a Supernaturalist!

I'd see multicolored streaks in the atmosphere. And I didn't do drugs. Sometimes I could see sounds. Show more I'd see multicolored streaks in the atmosphere. And I didn't do drugs. Sometimes I could see sounds. They were different colors. I could taste color and touch sound. Hide

I think I pulled the images from the dark pit of my childhood, my nightmares. Growing up, I had so m Show more I think I pulled the images from the dark pit of my childhood, my nightmares. Growing up, I had so many nightmares and was always wondering if what was happening was actually true. Or was it a dream? I didn't use drugs. I know...that's a shock. If anything, I was repressed and probably needed drugs to open me up. Everything I kept bottled up in the day would explode out of me at night. All of the negative debris of the day...it would all come popping up, so strongly in my nightmares. Hide

In 1975, I was 5. In 83, I was 13. So, I got to see all these great horror movies, the golden age of Show more In 1975, I was 5. In 83, I was 13. So, I got to see all these great horror movies, the golden age of true horror, while I was a little kid growing up. It was an incredible time to be a horror fanatic. I was like the boy in Romero's Creepshow. My mother actually took me to see these 70's, early 80's movies because she knew how much I loved them. She enjoyed horror films too, actually. I'd cut out Ads from the newspaper, for movies like...It Lives Again, Prophecy, Phantasm, Invasion of The Body Snatchers and just...stare at them. I was in love with all of this stuff from early on. Hide

I guess it has something to do with how I grew up, my background being Italian American and having t Show more I guess it has something to do with how I grew up, my background being Italian American and having two very religious grandmothers. But, really...I just think organized religion is a very scary thing. It gives me a feeling of paranoia. One group against another, thinking the other one is wrong and they are better, holier. Religion causes wars. It has a dark force that can't be denied. Also, as you know, my cousin, Alfred Sole, directed "Alice, Sweet Alice," the infamous Catholic slasher. I saw it at a very early age and it is forever embedded in my psyche. Hide

Dante Tomaselli's FILMOGRAPHY

as Director (1) as Creator (1)

Torture Chamber