By MICHAEL GINGOLD
He was behind both major movies and cult favorites, from PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE to CHRISTMAS EVIL to THE CROW and beyond.
Variety reports that veteran producer Edward R. Pressman died yesterday in Los Angeles at age 79. Two of his earliest credits were Brian De Palma’s SISTERS (1973) and PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (1974), both of which he shepherded into successful follow-up releases after their initial runs proved disappointing. He began a longtime working relationship with Oliver Stone on the 1981 psychological horror film THE HAND, and was also involved with Lewis Jackson’s CHRISTMAS EVIL (1980, partially shot at his family’s Pressman Toy Company) and Sam Raimi’s CRIMEWAVE (1985).
In the ’90s, Pressman produced Kathryn Bigelow’s Jamie Lee Curtis-starrer BLUE STEEL (1990), Alex Proyas’ THE CROW (1994), its sequels THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS (1996), THE CROW: SALVATION (2000) and THE CROW: WICKED PRAYER (2005) and TV-series spinoff THE CROW: STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN (1998-99), the much-troubled THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (1996) and Mary Harron’s AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000) and THE MOTH DIARIES (2011), among others, and backed the release of Larry Fessenden’s WENDIGO (2001). His many credits outside the fright genre include CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982), WALL STREET (1987), BAD LIEUTENANT (1992) and numerous other Abel Ferrara films. Pressman was one of the true independents of cinema history and a longtime supporter of distinctive directorial talents, and will be deeply missed.
