Joe Dante

Directing

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Biography

Joseph James Dante Jr. (born November 28, 1946) is an American filmmaker, producer, editor and actor. His films—notably Gremlins (1984) alongside its sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)—often mix the 1950s-style B movie genre with 1960s radicalism and cartoon comedy.

Dante's output includes the films Piranha (1978), The Howling (1981), Explorers (1985), Innerspace (1987), The 'Burbs (1989), Matinee (1993), Small Soldiers (1998), and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). His work for television and cable include the social satire The Second Civil War (1997), episodes of the anthology series Masters of Horror ("Homecoming" and "The Screwfly Solution") and Amazing Stories, as well as Police Squad! and Hawaii Five-0.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Joe Dante, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Grandpa Fred Director (uncredited)

Beverly Hills Cop III

Jailer

Innerspace

Vectorscope Employee (uncredited)

Piranha

Scuba Diver #2 (uncredited)

Sleepwalkers

Lab Assistant

Oscar

Face on the Cutting Room Floor

Tales of Halloween

Prof. Milo Gottlieb

The Silence of the Hams

Dying Man

Full Filmography

Year	Title	Role
2025	The Creeps MOVIE	Uncle John
2025	The Vincent Price Legacy MOVIE	Himself
2025	Boorman and the Devil MOVIE	Self
2024	Hammer: Heroes, Legends and Monsters MOVIE	Self
2024	Sharksploitation MOVIE	Self
2024	Ishiro Honda: Memoirs of a Film Director MOVIE	Himself
2024	The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee MOVIE	Self
2022	In Search of Darkness: Part III MOVIE	Self
2022	Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story MOVIE	Self - Interviewee
2022	Razzennest MOVIE	Joe Dante
2022	Soylent Green and Red Alert: When Reality Catches Up with Fiction MOVIE	Self
2022	The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time TV	Self
2022	Charles Band’s Full Moon Freakshow TV	Self
2022	In Search of Tomorrow MOVIE	Self - Interviewee
2021	Blood, Guts and Sunshine: The History of Horror Made in Florida MOVIE	Self [archival]
2021	Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster MOVIE	Self
2021	Roger Corman, the Pope of Pop Cinema MOVIE	Self
2020	Bugs Bunny's 80th What's Up, Doc-umentary! MOVIE	Self (archive footage)
2020	Tales of the Uncanny MOVIE	Self
2020	In Search of Darkness: Part II MOVIE	Self
2020	Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies MOVIE	Self
2020	Time Warp Vol. 3: Comedy and Camp MOVIE	Host
2020	Time Warp Vol. 2: Horror and Sci-Fi MOVIE	Host
2020	Time Warp Vol. 1: Midnight Madness MOVIE	Host
2019	Class of '79: 40 Years of Rock 'N' Roll High School MOVIE	Self
2019	Mark of The Beast: The Legacy of the Universal Werewolf MOVIE	Self
2019	Phil Tippett: Mad Dreams and Monsters MOVIE	Self
2019	Love, Antosha MOVIE	Self
2019	In Search of Darkness MOVIE	Self
2019	Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film MOVIE	Self
2018	Sad Hill Unearthed MOVIE	Self - Filmmaker
2018	The Fear is Real MOVIE	Self
2018	Eli Roth's History of Horror TV	Self
2018	King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen MOVIE	Self
2018	Hammer Horror: The Warner Bros. Years MOVIE	Self
2017	Monstres, l'ennemi de l'intérieur MOVIE	Self
2016	Long Live the King MOVIE	himself
2016	24×36 MOVIE	Self
2016	Unspeakable Horrors: The Plan 9 Conspiracy MOVIE	Himself
2015	Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex MOVIE	Self
2015	Tales of Halloween MOVIE	Prof. Milo Gottlieb
2015	42nd Street Memories: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Notorious Street MOVIE	Self
2015	Eaten Alive! The Rise and Fall of the Italian Cannibal Film MOVIE	Self
2014	From Gizmo to Gremlins: Creating the Creatures MOVIE	Self
2014	Cute. Clever. Mischievous. Intelligent. Dangerous: Making Gremlins MOVIE	Self
2014	There Goes the Neighborhood: The Making of The 'Burbs MOVIE	Self
2014	Out of Print MOVIE	Self
2014	Clawing! A Journey Through the Spanish Horror MOVIE	Self - Director
2014	We Come In Pieces: The Rebirth of the Horror Anthology Film MOVIE	Self
2014	The Real History of Science Fiction TV	Himself
2014	That Guy Dick Miller MOVIE	Self
2013	House of Wax: Unlike Anything You've Seen Before! MOVIE	Self
2013	A Fuller Life MOVIE	Self - Reader (segment "Sicily Black and Blue")
2013	Blast Vegas MOVIE	Salesman #2
2012	Trailer War MOVIE	Himself
2012	The Birds: Hitchcock's Monster Movie MOVIE	Self
2012	Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan MOVIE	Self
2012	The Butterfly Room MOVIE	Cab Driver
2012	The Flesh and the Fury: X-posing Twins of Evil MOVIE	Self
2012	To Be... A Film Favorite MOVIE	Self
2011	Corman's World MOVIE	Self - Filmmaker
2011	A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas! MOVIE	Self - Interviewee
2011	The Future of Fear MOVIE	Self
2011	Produce Your Own Damn Movie! MOVIE	Self
2011	American Grindhouse MOVIE	Himself
2010	The Bloodiest Show on Earth: Making Vampire Circus MOVIE	Self
2010	Machete Maidens Unleashed! MOVIE	Self
2010	The Man Who Saw Frankenstein Cry MOVIE	Self
2010	RKO, A Story made in Hollywood MOVIE	Himself
2010	The Wolf Man: From Ancient Curse to Modern Myth MOVIE	Self
2010	Pure in Heart: The Life and Legacy of Lon Chaney, Jr. MOVIE	Self
2009	Nightmares in Red, White and Blue MOVIE	Self
2009	Fulci in the House: The Italian Master of Splatter MOVIE	Self
2009	Direct Your Own Damn Movie! MOVIE	Self
2009	Monsterland MOVIE	Self
2009	Coming Attractions: The History of the Movie Trailer MOVIE	Self
2008	RKO Production 601: The Making of “Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World” MOVIE	Self
2008	Fantastic Flesh: The Art of Make-Up EFX MOVIE	Self
2007	Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story MOVIE	Self
2007	Spider Stravinsky: The Cinema Sounds of Ronald Stein MOVIE	Himself
2007	The Return of the Living Dead: The Decade of Darkness MOVIE	Self
2007	Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman MOVIE	Self
2007	The Hatching of Spider Baby MOVIE	Himself
2006	Robby the Robot: Engineering a Sci-Fi Icon MOVIE	Self
2006	Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet MOVIE	Self
2006	Lugosi: The Dark Prince MOVIE	Self
2006	Hitchcocked! MOVIE	Self
2006	Karloff: The Gentle Monster MOVIE	Self
2005	The Perfect Scary Movie MOVIE	Self
2005	Behind the Tunes: Tish Tash - The Animated World of Frank Tashlin MOVIE	Himself
2005	Behind the Tunes: Looney Tunes Go to War! MOVIE	Himself
2005	Behind the Tunes: Bosko, Buddy and the Best of Black and White MOVIE	Himself
2005	Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy MOVIE	Self
2005	Ray Harryhausen: The Early Years Collection MOVIE	Self
2004	Männer im Trenchcoat, Frauen im Pelz MOVIE	Self
2004	100 Scariest Movie Moments TV	Self
2004	The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing MOVIE	Self
2004	Edgar G. Ulmer: The Man Off-Screen MOVIE	Self
2004	The Art of Crime MOVIE	Himself
2004	Mario Bava: Operazione paura MOVIE	Self / Host
2004	Welcome to Werewolfland MOVIE	Self
2004	Leçon de Cinéma TV	Self
2003	Unleashing the Beast: Making ‘The Howling’ MOVIE	Self
2002	Cinerama Adventure MOVIE	Self
2001	Making The Earth Stand Still MOVIE	Self
2001	It Conquered Hollywood! The Story of American International Pictures MOVIE	Self
2000	Chuck Jones: Extremes and In-Betweens - A Life in Animation MOVIE	Self
2000	Mario Bava: Maestro of the Macabre MOVIE	Self
1999	Ray Harryhausen: Working with Dinosaurs MOVIE	Self
1999	She's Alive! Creating 'The Bride of Frankenstein' MOVIE	Self / Host
1997	Hollywood Rated 'R' MOVIE	Self
1994	Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror MOVIE	Self
1994	Beverly Hills Cop III MOVIE	Jailer
1994	The Silence of the Hams MOVIE	Dying Man
1994	A Century of Cinema MOVIE	Self
1992	The Magical World of Chuck Jones MOVIE	Self
1992	Sleepwalkers MOVIE	Lab Assistant
1992	Flying Saucers Over Hollywood: The 'Plan 9' Companion MOVIE	Himself
1991	Eerie, Indiana TV	Director
1991	Oscar MOVIE	Face on the Cutting Room Floor
1990	Gremlins 2: The New Batch MOVIE	Grandpa Fred Director (uncredited)
1987	Innerspace MOVIE	Vectorscope Employee (uncredited)
1986	The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal MOVIE	Self
1982	Eating Raoul MOVIE	Busboy (uncredited)
1981	Making a Monster Movie: Inside 'the Howling' MOVIE	Self
1978	Piranha MOVIE	Scuba Diver #2 (uncredited)
1978	Roger Corman: Hollywood's Wild Angel MOVIE	Self
1976	Cannonball MOVIE	Kid
1976	Hollywood Boulevard MOVIE	Party Waiter (uncredited)
1975	Tidal Wave MOVIE	Self
1971	Great Performances TV	Self
	Mary Woronov: Cult Queen MOVIE	Self
	The AckerMonster Chronicles! MOVIE	Self
	Mamie Exposed! The Life and Loves of the Last Blonde Bombshell MOVIE	Self

Quick Facts

Joe Dante

The MovieWise Take

Biography

Known For

Full Filmography

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