The Ed Wood of the 90s?

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That's what he calls himself, at least, himself being David "The Rock" Nelson, an ex-Golden-Gloves boxer turned B-movie-maker. (B-movie may be too kind; Nelson may have single-handedly invented the C-movie.) Inspired by the great old horror movies of the 50s and 60s, Nelson set about creating his own canon in the early 90s, featuring such monsters as The Giant Fly (a rubber fly on a string), The Devil Ant (a rubber ant he would throw at people from his perch behind the camera) and, bafflingly, Saddam Hussein (Nelson himself in a disturbing Saddam mask). Yes, there are plenty of no-budget crapsterpieces out there today thanks to the superabundance of cameras, editing software and DIY distribution channels like YouTube, but for my money, no one does it like "The Rock."

The best part is, he actually makes money doing it, having achieved enough cult status (throughout the Chicagoland area, at least) that people buy videotapes directly from him, via email. So he's not widely available on YouTube -- that would be givin' it away for free -- but a few juicy tidbits do exist, which I can't resist sharing. The first is Happy Fangsgiving, which "The Rock" directs, stars in as the mad scientist character, and introduces (via phone) on the Chicago-area news show that featured his flick. (Yes, that's the newscasters you're hearing over movie's soundtrack -- laughing.)

Happy Fangsgiving

The Giant Fly

Devil Ant 2
OK, here he seems to have updated his moniker to "the Ed Wood of the 21st Century," just to keep current:

February 9, 2007 - 8:27am
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