In 1970, an LA Times headline called Monte Hellman
Hollywood’s Best Kept Secret.
More than thirty years later, Hellman and his work are still secrets, his genius recognized only by a small but passionate fan base - folks willing to slip into dark alleys to purchase old copies of his film Back Door to Hell. This work is a biography of Hellman and an extensive study of his films and films he has worked on, including The Wild Ride, The Intruder, Ski Troop Attack, Creature from the Haunted Sea, Last Woman on Earth, The Terror, Dementia 13, Bus Riley’s Back in Town, Flight to Fury, Beach Ball, and lguana, to name just a few. It covers his youth (when he directed his first theatrical performance at the age of ten), his development as a stage actor and director, his break into the film industry after receiving the screenplay for Beast from Haunted Cave, and his involvement with other films and filmmakers. Attention is focused on the hallmarks of Hellman’s work, including his dominant themes; his characters, who always seem to be involved in undefined or questionable activity; and his fusion of form and content to such a degree that they become inseparable.