I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998)

Director:

Aris Iliopulos

Writer:

Edward D. Wood Jr. (writer)

Release Date:

10 September 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Plot:

A mental patient escapes from the looney bin in drag, robs a bank, and goes on the lam! |

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Funeral | Circus | Neo Noir | Syringe

Awards:

7 wins

Cast

Billy Zane	...	The Thief
Tippi Hedren	...	Maylinda Austed
Ron Perlman	...	Cemetery Caretaker
Michael Greene	...	Tom Harris
Christina Ricci	...	Teenage Hooker
Roberta Hanley	...	Housewife
Andrew McCarthy	...	Cemetery Cop
Ann Magnuson	...	Loan Secretary
Robert Musselman	...	Eartha Kitt's Escort
Marvin Lorence	...	Eartha Kitt's Piano Player (as Marvin Lorence)
Bud Cort	...	Shopkeeper (as Lord Hienrich 'Binky' Alcoa III)
Taylor Negron	...	Loan Office Cop
Megan Odebash	...	Wardrobe Mistress (as Megan Odabash)
Carel Struycken	...	Undertaker
Max Perlich	...	Assistant Undertaker

Also Known As:

Ed Wood's I Woke Up Early the Day I Died
I Awoke Early the Day I Died (USA)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:7

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Muse Productions

Trivia:

The second film with no dialogue that Ron Perlman has acted in. The first was La guerre du feu (1981).

Soundtrack:

Cemetery Madness

Ed Wood's latest masterpiece...

This is a script that Ed Wood worked over 10 years on trying to get made. Aris Iliopulos finally got the chutzpah to film a script that Wood saved from his burning home at the expense of other, more transitory valuables.

This is a dialogue-free movie, that some may foolishly describe as silent. In fact, it is a quite noisy film, without the inane chatter of most flicks. In the hands of these filmmakers, the music and sound effects provide a rich audio experience that works better than almost any grist from the Hollywood script mill, particularly that stupid boat movie Billy Zane last was in ('Watch out!', 'Oh no!' - J. Cameron.... ick...) I'll take Zane's wonderfully communicative monosyllabic grunts in this film over empty dialogue any day.

Billy Zane heads a team of players who obviously really wanted to be in this film. Ricci is radiant as always, and the gods are shining when you can put Sandra Bernhard, Rick(y) Schroeder, Eartha Kitt and Andrew McCarthy's name on the same poster.

The design is perfect, the pyramid set exquisite, and Ron Perlman's beastly performance is simply wonderful. Overall, this is a chaotic, visceral masterpiece lovingly crafted by fans of Ed Wood Jr., auteur and cinenephile. A must see for anyone who really loves movies the way that the first rate Iliopulos and his cast obviously do. A film to make you wish you had made it yourself.