By MICHAEL GINGOLD
You’ll soon be able to learn a lot more about a familiar face from ’80s cult cinema.
The latest documentary project from director/co-writer John Campopiano (HOLLYWOOD DREAMS & NIGHTMARES: THE ROBERT ENGLUND STORY, PENNYWISE: THE STORY OF “IT”) is HE CAME FROM RIDLEY PARK: THE RL RYAN STORY, which covers the life and career of the titular actor (a.k.a. Pat Ryan Jr.). A familiar face from Troma’s THE TOXIC AVENGER (as Mayor Belgoody) and CLASS OF NUKE ’EM HIGH (as Mr. Finley), along with Jim Muro’s STREET TRASH (as Frank Schnizer), Ryan also played a people-devouring alien in the sci-fi comedy EAT AND RUN and had mainstream roles in BIRDY and MANNEQUIN. He was also very active in Philadelphia-area theater before his untimely death in 1991 at the age of just 44.
“During my formative years of watching cult and horror films,” Campopiano tells RUE MORGUE, “I stumbled upon EAT AND RUN. I rented it thinking it was a sci-fi horror film, but quickly realized it was actually an amalgamation of sci-fi and comedy. I was captivated by the man playing ‘Murray Creature,’ and it would take several more years for me to start connecting the dots: This man was also in STREET TRASH!…and THE TOXIC AVENGER!…and CLASS OF NUKE ’EM HIGH! He appeared in so many films that I loved watching, so R.L. Ryan seems to have always been nestled just under the surface of my subconscious movie-watching life.
“Last year,” he continues, “I began seriously wondering about this guy and his story. There’s so little information about him on-line, which only fueled my curiosity. Hence, development on this project began three or four months ago, and blossomed into a true documentary film with production starting earlier this month.
“We have a full slate of interviews scheduled over the next two months,” he adds. “Thus far, we’ve sat down with Troma legend Lloyd Kaufman, Frank Farel [pictured below] of STREET TRASH and SPOOKIES fame and several of Bob’s family members. By the end, we’ll have a wonderful cast of interviews that encompass almost every corner of Bob’s life.”
Campopiano’s co-writers on HE CAME FROM RIDLEY PARK are Joseph La Scola (also the DP, and producing with Campopiano) and Matthew Spry. We’ll keep you posted on the doc’s progress!
