| Fred Olen Ray | |
| Birth Date: | 10 September 1954 |
| Birth Place: | Wellston, Ohio, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Film producer, director, screenwriter, actor |
| Years Active: | 1971–present |
| Spouse: |
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Fred Olen Ray (born September 10, 1954) is an American Emmy winning film producer, director, and screenwriter of more than 200 low-to-medium-quality feature films in many genres,[1] including horror, science fiction, action/adventure, erotic thrillers, crime dramas, and holiday films.[2]
Ray is the head of Retromedia, which releases DVDs of both his own productions and archival films.[3] He has also worked for other well-known independent studios and on a few occasions for major Hollywood studios. He has been cited as an inspiration for many independent filmmakers. He loaned a 16 mm camera to Quentin Tarantino so he could make My Best Friend's Birthday.[4]
Aside from his work in the film industry, Ray was also a professional wrestler. His wrestling name was Fabulous Freddie Valentine.[5]
Ray was born September 10, 1954, in Wellston, Ohio, to a family originally from West Virginia. As a teenager, he regularly read Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. Being a fan of horror and science fiction films such as Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and the AIP movies of the 1950s and 1960s, Ray started making his own movies at the age of fourteen. At age seventeen, he self-published three issues of the amateur fantasy-film fanzine, Dagon in 1972.
After serving in the United States Navy, Ray began working at a local television station in Orlando, Florida. He first appeared in a small role in the 1975 film Shock Waves, which starred Peter Cushing and John Carradine.[6] Ray then began directing independent films during his free time using station equipment, starting with The Brain Leeches (1978) produced on a budget of $298.[7] [8] Ray also co-wrote the screenplay with political essayist Brad Linaweaver, and the two later collaborated on additional films.[9]
Ray's next film was shot on a budget of $15,000. Lessons learned from The Brain Leeches allowed Ray to keep production cost to a minimum, while using the bulk of the budget to attract a recognized Hollywood name to the project. Alien Dead was shot featuring an elderly Buster Crabbe, cinema action hero of the 1930s and 1940s, and star of three Flash Gordon serials from 1936 to 1940. With the success of that film, Ray decided to move to Hollywood to be close to the film industry. He was interested in working in make-up and special effects, "probably from all of those years of reading Famous Monsters magazine", he later said. He found out "it soon became apparent that you would always be between jobs and I was looking for something that would actually earn me a living. I think I became a director because that was the fastest way to get a film made on the independent side of things."[10]
Ray succeeded in raising money for a low-budget horror film, Scalps (1983), which featured cameos from Carroll Borland and Forrest J. Ackerman. The Tomb (1986) starred Cameron Mitchell and John Carradine. Ray switched to action films with Armed Response (1986), which starred David Carradine and Lee Van Cleef. Ray had affection for this movie because "it had a great cast and was one of the first times I had more than two nickels to rub together."[10] He then turned to science fiction: Deep Space (1987) and Cyclone (1987). Beverly Hills Vamp (1988) was a horror comedy with Eddie Deezen. Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (1988) was made in only a few days and turned out to be a big hit. Less popular was The Phantom Empire (1988).
After Alienator (1989) he was reunited with Deezen for Mob Boss (1990), another comedy. He entered sword and sorcery movies with Wizards of the Demon Sword (1991) and made the more popular Bad Girls from Mars (1991). During this time he published a book he had written, The New Poverty Row: Independent Filmmakers as Distributors (1991).[11]
Ray co-directed Scream Queen Hot Tub Party (1991) with Jim Wynorski, shot in one day.[12] Ray moved into erotic thrillers with Inner Sanctum (1991) starring Tanya Roberts. It was a hit and Ray would make others in that genre, including Inner Sanctum 2, Mind Twister (1994) and Possessed by the Night (1994).
Evil Toons (1992) was a comedy-horror, then he co-directed another with Wynorski, Dinosaur Island (1994). Witch Academy (1994) was the last of his "scream queen" movies.[12] After Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold (1995), he made Fugitive Rage (1996), Friend of the Family II (1996), Inferno (1997), Hybrid (1997), and The Shooter, which has been referred to as Ray's best film. Dear Santa (1998) was a family film and Billy Frankenstein (1998) was a comedy.
In 2001, he made the film, Critical Mass. He later said he was a "Critical Mass kind of guy. I like to shoot things and blow stuff up. I also like comedies. Don't like erotic thrillers."[10] [13]
He established a DVD company called Retromedia. Ray made a film called Bikini Airways "on a lark and it did really well", said Ray. This led to a series of Bikini films.[12] [14]
In 2007, he reflected on his career:
Budgetary constraints notwithstanding, Ray has, on occasion, been able to attract A-list actors to appear in his films. Two-time Academy Award nominee Peter Fonda played Marshal Kane in the 2010 Ray film, American Bandits: Frank and Jesse James. While Golden Globe Awards winner Christian Slater appeared in Ray's 2012 film Hatfields and McCoys: Bad Blood.[15] One reviewer described American Bandits as perhaps "the most boring Jesse James film ever made". In 2017, he received a "Living Legend Award" at the Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival.[16]
In 2019, he produced and released, Boggy Creek: The Series with director Henrique Couto at the helm.[17]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Piranha Women | ||||
| 2020 | Dying for a Daughter | ||||
| 2016 | Trial | ||||
| Accidental Switch | |||||
| 2014 | After Midnight | ||||
| Christmas in Palm Springs | |||||
| House of Secrets | |||||
| 2013 | All I Want for Christmas | ||||
| Abner, the Invisible Dog | |||||
| 2012 | Collision Course | ||||
| Baby Dolls Behind Bars | |||||
| Hatfields and McCoys: Bad Blood | |||||
| Busty Housewives of Beverly Hills | as Nicholas Medina | ||||
| 2011 | Super Shark | ||||
| Together We Can Find a Cure | |||||
| Little Witches | as Nicholas Medina | ||||
| Lady Chatterly's Ghost | |||||
| Knock Outs | |||||
| 2010 | Housewives from Another World | ||||
| Twilight Vamps[18] | |||||
| Bikini Frankenstein[19] | as Nicholas Medina | ||||
| Bikini Royale 2 | |||||
| American Bandits: Frank and Jesse James | |||||
| 2009 | Silent Venom | ||||
| Dire Wolf | |||||
| 2008 | Solar Flare | ||||
| Bikini Royale | |||||
| 2007 | The Girl from B.I.K.I.N.I. | ||||
| 2006 | Bikini Pirates aka Ghost of the Pirate Queen[20] | as Nicholas Medina | |||
| 2005 | Glass Trap | as Ed Raymond | |||
| Bikini Round-Up | as Nicholas Medina | ||||
| 2004 | Tomb of the Werewolf | as Sherman Scott | |||
| Bikini a Go-Go | as Nicholas Medina Sherman Scott | ||||
| The Bikini Escort Company | as Bill Carson Nicholas Medina Sherman Scott | ||||
| Genie in a String Bikini | as Nicholas Medina | ||||
| Bikini Chain Gang | |||||
| Bikini Cavegirl (also known as Teenage Cavegirl) | as Nicholas Medina Sherman Scott | ||||
| 2003 | Final Examination | Ed Raymond | |||
| Bikini Airways | |||||
| 2002 | Southern Discomfort: Wrestling on the Indie Circuit | as Freddy Valentine | |||
| Venomous | as Ed Raymond | ||||
| 13 Erotic Ghosts | as Roger Collins Nicholas Medina Peter Stewart | ||||
| 2001 | Air Rage | as Ed Raymond | |||
| Mach 2 | |||||
| ACW Wrestling's Wildest Matches | as Sherman Scott Freddie Valentine | ||||
| Kept | Uncredited | ||||
| Stranded | |||||
| 2000 | Submerged | ||||
| Sideshow | |||||
| Critical Mass | as Ed Raymond | ||||
| Special Envoys | |||||
| 1999 | Invisible Mom II | ||||
| Fugitive Mind | |||||
| The Kid with X-ray Eyes | |||||
| Counter Measures | |||||
| Active Stealth | |||||
| Scandal: On the Other Side | as Nick Medina | ||||
| 1998 | The Prophet | as Sherman Scott | |||
| Mom, Can I Keep Her? | |||||
| Illicit Dreams 2 | as Roger Collins | ||||
| Billy Frankenstein | |||||
| Dear Santa | as Peter Stewart | ||||
| Mom's Outta Sight | |||||
| 1997 | The Shooter | as Ed Raymond | |||
| Inferno | |||||
| Bikini Hoe-Down | as Roger Collins Nicholas Medina | ||||
| Hybrid | |||||
| Invisible Dad | |||||
| Little Miss Magic | |||||
| Masseuse 2 | as Peter Daniels | ||||
| Maximum Revenge | as Bill Carson | ||||
| Night Shade | as Nicholas Medina | ||||
| Rapid Assault | as Sherman Scot | ||||
| 1996 | Invisible Mom | ||||
| Friend of the Family II | as Nicholas Medina | ||||
| Fugitive Rage | |||||
| Over the Wire | as Nicholas Medina | ||||
| Masseuse | as Peter Daniels | ||||
| 1995 | Sorceress | ||||
| Droid Gunner | |||||
| Bikini Drive-In | as Randy Rocket | ||||
| Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold | |||||
| Star Hunter | as Sam Newfield | ||||
| The Wasp Woman | as Tex | ||||
| Witch Academy | |||||
| 1994 | Inner Sanctum II | ||||
| Possessed by the Night | |||||
| Dinosaur Island | |||||
| Mind Twister | |||||
| 1993 | Dinosaur Girls | ||||
| 1992 | Evil Toons | ||||
| 1991 | Haunting Fear | ||||
| Spirits | |||||
| Inner Sanctum | |||||
| Scream Queen Hot Tub Party | as Bill Carson | ||||
| Bad Girls from Mars | as Sherman Scott | ||||
| Wizards of the Demon Sword | |||||
| 1990 | Mob Boss | ||||
| 1989 | Terminal Force | ||||
| Alienator | |||||
| 1988 | Warlords | ||||
| The Phantom Empire | |||||
| Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers | as Dr. S. Carver | ||||
| Beverly Hills Vamp | |||||
| 1987 | Commando Squad | ||||
| Cyclone | |||||
| Deep Space | |||||
| Evil Spawn | |||||
| 1986 | Armed Response | ||||
| Prison Ship | |||||
| The Tomb | |||||
| 1985 | Biohazard | ||||
| 1983 | Scalps | ||||
| 1980 | Alien Dead | as Fred Ray | |||
| 1978 | The Brain Leeches | as Fred Ray Brian Wolfe | |||
| 1971 | Demented Death Farm Massacre | Reshoots | |||
TV Movies
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Haunting Desires | as Nicholas Medina and Sherman Scott | |||
| 2007 | Nuclear Hurricane | n/a | |||
| Bewitched Housewives | as Nicholas Medina | ||||
| Super Ninja Doll | as Nicholas Medina and Sherman Scott | ||||
| Girl with the Sex-Ray Eyes | as Nicholas Medina and Sherman Scott | ||||
| An Accidental Christmas | n/a | ||||
| 2008 | Polar Opposites | ||||
| Bikini Royale | as Nicholas Medina | ||||
| Voodoo Dollz | as Nicholas Medina | ||||
| Tarzeena, Queen of Kong Island | as Nicholas Medina | ||||
| 2009 | Reptisaurus | n/a | |||
| 2010 | Turbulent Skies | ||||
| Bikini Jones and the Temple of Eros | as Nicholas Medina | ||||
| 2011 | Bikini Warriors | as Nicholas Juan Medina | |||
| Lady Chatterley's Daughter | as Nicholas Juan Medina and Mark Reynolds | ||||
| Bikini Time Machine | as Nicholas Juan Medina | ||||
| Sexual Witchcraft | as Nicholas Juan Medina | ||||
| 2012 | Dirty Blondes from Beyond | as Nicholas Medina | |||
| Jersey Shore Shark Attack | n/a | ||||
| A Christmas Wedding Date | |||||
| 2013 | Holiday Road Trip | ||||
| All I Want For Christmas | |||||
| 2014 | A Perfect Christmas List | ||||
| 2015 | Eyewitness | ||||
| A Prince for Christmas | |||||
| The Christmas Gift | |||||
| 2016 | A Mother's Revenge | ||||
| Unwanted Guests | |||||
| A Christmas in Vermont | |||||
| 2017 | The Twin | ||||
| Stage Fright | |||||
| Deadly Vows | |||||
| Framed by My Fiancé | |||||
| 2018 | Witness Unprotected | ||||
| Fiancé Killer | |||||
| Deadly Shores | |||||
| A Wedding For Christmas | |||||
| A Christmas In Royal Fashion | |||||
| 2019 | Sister of the Bride | Uncredited | |||
| One Fine Christmas | n/a | ||||
| Baking Christmas | |||||
| A Christmas Princess | |||||
| 2020 | A Mother's Secret | ||||
| A Royal Christmas Engagement | |||||
| 2021 | The Killer in My Backyard | ||||
| 2022 | A Royal Christmas on Ice | ||||
| Dognapped: Hound for the Holidays |
TV Series
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Emmanuelle 2000 | as Nicholas Medina, Episode: Emmanuelle's Sensual Pleasures | ||||
| 2002 | Sexy Urban Legends | 2 Episodes | ||||
| 2006–2007 | Dante's Cove | Supervising Producer | ||||
| 2007–2009 | The Lair | Creator, Executive Producer | ||||
| 2018–2020 | The Bay | Co-executive producer | ||||
| 2019 | Boggy Creek - The Bigfoot Series | Executive Producer |