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(1952– ). American director and producer.
Produced or co-produced: Tales
from the Crypt (tv series) (1989–1996); Demon Knight (Gilbert Adler
and Ernest R. Dickerson 1995); W.E.I.R.D. World (tv movie) (William
Malone 1995); Bordello of Blood (Adler 1996); The Frighteners
(Peter Jackson 1996); Perversions of Science (tv series) (1997); House
on Haunted Hill (Malone 1999); Thirteen Ghosts (Steve Beck 2001); Ghost
Ship (Beck 2002).
Wrote: "Chopper" (story with Gale;
script Steve Fisher and David Case) (1975), episode of Kolchack: The Night
Stalker.
Created: Back to the Future
(animated tv series) (1991).
As a director, Zemeckis is all right,
as long as you're not looking for depth. He first attracted attention, and
deservedly so, for co-writing and directing the charming Back to the Future,
a well-constructed and diverting time-travel adventure marred only by the
annoying shtick of mad scientist Christopher LLOYD. Then came Who Framed
Roger Rabbit, an energetic blend of live-action and animation perfectly
recreating the spirit of the classic Warner Brothers cartoons of the 1940s.
Teen comedies and cartoons Zemeckis can handle, and handle very well indeed. It
is his subsequent efforts to broaden his horizons and diversify his output that
suggest an inability to go beyond those genres.
His two sequels to Back to the
Future had their moments, but subtly shifting the focus of the story from
the capable Michael J. FOX to the inept Lloyd was an early indication that he
wasn't always going to be making the best decisions. Death Becomes Her
was largely an embarrassing misfire, suggesting that Zemeckis couldn't deal
with comedy which had even a hint of sophistication. Contact further
proved that he was clueless when it came to science fiction: completely unable
to relate in any meaningful fashion to the cosmic vision behind Carl Sagan's
stimulating but flawed novel, which manifestly required dramatic revisions in
order to work on the screen, Zemeckis cautiously followed precisely in Sagan's
clunky footsteps, did nothing to inspire a talented cast to extend themselves
beyond the perfunctory in their performances, and ended up presiding over the
most stunningly dull and vapid film about alien contact ever crafted.
So, with the Back to the Future
franchise exhausted and the projected sequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit
now lost in development hell, what is Zemeckis to do? One of his answers is to
increasingly focus on his second career as a producer, where he has specialized
in another genre he can't quite master, horror. While The Frighteners, helmed
by the unusually talented Peter JACKSON, was passably entertaining, Demon
Knight, Bordello of Blood, House on Haunted Hill, Thirteen
Ghosts, and Ghost Ship were all ghastly in ways that were not
intended. His one directorial venture in this arena, What Lies Beneath,
was better than the horror films he produced, though still crippled by a
foundational absence of conviction and an inability to extract outstanding work
from decent actors. His only recent success, Cast Away, was another
clumsy project heroically rescued by Tom Hanks, who must be realizing by now
that, despite his expressed affection for this director, he always has to work
a lot harder than usual whenever Zemeckis is in the director's chair. Please,
can someone dig up one of those rejected scripts for Roger Rabbit Part 2
and once again give Zemeckis a job he can handle?
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