I Woke Up Early The Day I Died (VHS_VERY RARE_Original English_German Release)
Item History & Price
I wasn't sure what to charge for this item. The tape (English Language with no subtitles; rarely played) and hard plastic box are in excellent condition. I Woke Up Early the Day I Died is so scarce, I haven't found it for sale anywhere else yet, which I think makes the Buy It Now price fair, though feel free to make a reasonable offer or ask questions. Well-cared-for in a non-smoking home.
Actors: Billy Zane, Tippi Hedren, Ron Perlman, Michael Greene, Christina Ricci, Kare...n Black, Ann Magnuson, Andrew McCarthy, Bud Cort, Eartha Kitt, Max Perlich, Sandra Bernhard, Carel Struycken, Lee Arenberg, Tara Reid, John Ritter, Rain Phoenix, Summer Phoenix, Kathleen Robertson, Nicollette Sheridan, Will Patton, Stephen Weber, Ricky Schroder
Director: Aris Iliopulos
Writer: Edward D. Wood Jr.
Producers: Billy Zane, Anne McCarthy, Bradford L. Schlei, Chris Hanley, Dan Sales
Format: NTSC
Run Time: 90 minutes
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
An Amalgam of Wood's Favorite Themes
The most recent film to stem from an unproduced Ed Wood script, Aris Iliopulos's 1998 film I WOKE UP EARLY THE DAY I DIED is an amalgam of Wood's favorite themes with carnival and graveyard set pieces, not to mention obligatory transvestitism. The project was close to Wood's heart--the script was one of the few items Wood took with him when rudely evicted from a Los Angeles flat shortly before his death in 1978.
Wood's inspiration for I WOKE UP EARLY was Russell Rouse's THE THIEF, a 1952 noir thriller remarkable for its lack of dialogue. Wood hoped to cast Aldo Ray as his protagonist, a homicidal maniac on the run from the law and on a quest to recover a misplaced briefcase of stolen cash. Forty years later, Billy Zane realized this role.
Populated with a cadre of character actors, everyone in I WOKE UP EARLY is "someone." There's Carel Struycken as the mortician! There's Ann Magnuson as the loan office teller! There's Christina Ricci as the buxom hooker! And, could that be John Ritter as the circus sharpshooter? Indeed it is. Luckily, no one excessively mugs for the camera with the exception of Zane who, with his bizarre faux coiffure and ever-arched eyebrow, wonderfully overplays this ham-handed role.
Without dialogue, the soundtrack of the film comes to the forefront. Luckily, the score delivers the goods with its jarring punk rock tunes and Bernard Herrmann-inspired strings. There's even a good deal of bagpipe to be heard--a noise the drives Zane into a frenzy. Along with the music and melodramatic acting, Iliopulos cleverly inserts a few on-screen snippets of screenplay along with effectively used stock footage--another nod to Wood's reliance on stock shots.
Unfortunately, the fate of the film is a tale that smacks of the tragicomedy of Wood's life. After a successful showing at a few film festivals, the production company for I WOKE UP EARLY, Cinequanon, found itself in financial trouble. This has halted a legitimate video release of the film in the United States. Currently, I WOKE UP EARLY is available in Germany and in the U.S. via a few private video dealers.
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.
Slapstick expressionism & Ed Wood
I've been disappointed, if not surprised, at the lack of appreciation this film has received. Once again, Billy Zane proves he's more than just a Hollywood pretty boy in a silent performance that combines spastic slapstick with understated pathos. Calling this a silent film is inaccurate, as there's a lot of music and sound. It has a manic pace and is full of the goofy inventiveness that Ed Wood is finally beginning to be appreciated for. Look at the cast listing, and realize that everyone shines. No one is there just to show their face. I believe they're all in the movie to show their appreciation of Wood, and to do a broad, physical kind of acting not seen much these days.
But, today, reviewers try to guess what's going to become a hit much more than they show any kind of esthetic appreciation for a movie. And IWUETDID has no discernable target audience. It was made mostly out of love for Wood's script. Even after his death, the trendy social parasites have dealt him another serious blow, and deprived the world of a minor classic. This is a highly entertaining and a genuinely experimental film that really deserves to live, at least on DVD.
Billy Zane in comedy masterpiece
Cor blimey. This film really surprised me as it is a comedy masterpiece. Billy Zane is stunning as the central character, and everyone manages to play it straight enough for the comedy to be natural and easy.
The soundtrack is really good, and the set pieces are a joy to behold. I recommend that you watch this film with a bunch of mates, a few bottles of your liquor of choice, and prepare to be astonished and highly entertained.
This carries on so perfectly from kitsch masterpieces like Plan 9 From Outer Space that it is in the true "B" movie tradition. But what makes it more than that is the caliber of the people who took part in the film. Ron Pearlman for example. I still find my self giggling at the scene where Zane prances down a set of steps for no apparent reason in an almost ballet style. All a bit mad, and all the better for it.
strange and worth seeing
Knowing that "I Woke Up Early the Day I Died" comes from a script by Ed Wood, it would seem that anyone should prepare heckling comments before watching it. It turns out that, although the movie makes little sense, there is a definite charm to it, possibly to the point of meriting a serious viewing. The plot - or whatever it is - centers on a mental patient (Billy Zane) escaping from the hospital, killing a bank teller, attending the funeral, and then getting involved with the people in the man's life. I think that that's the story; the absence of dialogue made it a little hard to follow.
So, it seems to be the sort of movie that you watch to study, just to see whether or not you can make anything out of the loosely strung together events portrayed. I can't say that I've been able to make anything out of it. Maybe you can. Also starring Tippi Hedren, Ron Perlman, Bud Cort, John Ritter, Christina Ricci and Karen Black. So perhaps we can call "IWUETDID" the almost unheard-of movie with a stellar cast.
Actors: Billy Zane, Tippi Hedren, Ron Perlman, Michael Greene, Christina Ricci, Kare...n Black, Ann Magnuson, Andrew McCarthy, Bud Cort, Eartha Kitt, Max Perlich, Sandra Bernhard, Carel Struycken, Lee Arenberg, Tara Reid, John Ritter, Rain Phoenix, Summer Phoenix, Kathleen Robertson, Nicollette Sheridan, Will Patton, Stephen Weber, Ricky Schroder
Director: Aris Iliopulos
Writer: Edward D. Wood Jr.
Producers: Billy Zane, Anne McCarthy, Bradford L. Schlei, Chris Hanley, Dan Sales
Format: NTSC
Run Time: 90 minutes
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
An Amalgam of Wood's Favorite Themes
The most recent film to stem from an unproduced Ed Wood script, Aris Iliopulos's 1998 film I WOKE UP EARLY THE DAY I DIED is an amalgam of Wood's favorite themes with carnival and graveyard set pieces, not to mention obligatory transvestitism. The project was close to Wood's heart--the script was one of the few items Wood took with him when rudely evicted from a Los Angeles flat shortly before his death in 1978.
Wood's inspiration for I WOKE UP EARLY was Russell Rouse's THE THIEF, a 1952 noir thriller remarkable for its lack of dialogue. Wood hoped to cast Aldo Ray as his protagonist, a homicidal maniac on the run from the law and on a quest to recover a misplaced briefcase of stolen cash. Forty years later, Billy Zane realized this role.
Populated with a cadre of character actors, everyone in I WOKE UP EARLY is "someone." There's Carel Struycken as the mortician! There's Ann Magnuson as the loan office teller! There's Christina Ricci as the buxom hooker! And, could that be John Ritter as the circus sharpshooter? Indeed it is. Luckily, no one excessively mugs for the camera with the exception of Zane who, with his bizarre faux coiffure and ever-arched eyebrow, wonderfully overplays this ham-handed role.
Without dialogue, the soundtrack of the film comes to the forefront. Luckily, the score delivers the goods with its jarring punk rock tunes and Bernard Herrmann-inspired strings. There's even a good deal of bagpipe to be heard--a noise the drives Zane into a frenzy. Along with the music and melodramatic acting, Iliopulos cleverly inserts a few on-screen snippets of screenplay along with effectively used stock footage--another nod to Wood's reliance on stock shots.
Unfortunately, the fate of the film is a tale that smacks of the tragicomedy of Wood's life. After a successful showing at a few film festivals, the production company for I WOKE UP EARLY, Cinequanon, found itself in financial trouble. This has halted a legitimate video release of the film in the United States. Currently, I WOKE UP EARLY is available in Germany and in the U.S. via a few private video dealers.
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.
Slapstick expressionism & Ed Wood
I've been disappointed, if not surprised, at the lack of appreciation this film has received. Once again, Billy Zane proves he's more than just a Hollywood pretty boy in a silent performance that combines spastic slapstick with understated pathos. Calling this a silent film is inaccurate, as there's a lot of music and sound. It has a manic pace and is full of the goofy inventiveness that Ed Wood is finally beginning to be appreciated for. Look at the cast listing, and realize that everyone shines. No one is there just to show their face. I believe they're all in the movie to show their appreciation of Wood, and to do a broad, physical kind of acting not seen much these days.
But, today, reviewers try to guess what's going to become a hit much more than they show any kind of esthetic appreciation for a movie. And IWUETDID has no discernable target audience. It was made mostly out of love for Wood's script. Even after his death, the trendy social parasites have dealt him another serious blow, and deprived the world of a minor classic. This is a highly entertaining and a genuinely experimental film that really deserves to live, at least on DVD.
Billy Zane in comedy masterpiece
Cor blimey. This film really surprised me as it is a comedy masterpiece. Billy Zane is stunning as the central character, and everyone manages to play it straight enough for the comedy to be natural and easy.
The soundtrack is really good, and the set pieces are a joy to behold. I recommend that you watch this film with a bunch of mates, a few bottles of your liquor of choice, and prepare to be astonished and highly entertained.
This carries on so perfectly from kitsch masterpieces like Plan 9 From Outer Space that it is in the true "B" movie tradition. But what makes it more than that is the caliber of the people who took part in the film. Ron Pearlman for example. I still find my self giggling at the scene where Zane prances down a set of steps for no apparent reason in an almost ballet style. All a bit mad, and all the better for it.
strange and worth seeing
Knowing that "I Woke Up Early the Day I Died" comes from a script by Ed Wood, it would seem that anyone should prepare heckling comments before watching it. It turns out that, although the movie makes little sense, there is a definite charm to it, possibly to the point of meriting a serious viewing. The plot - or whatever it is - centers on a mental patient (Billy Zane) escaping from the hospital, killing a bank teller, attending the funeral, and then getting involved with the people in the man's life. I think that that's the story; the absence of dialogue made it a little hard to follow.
So, it seems to be the sort of movie that you watch to study, just to see whether or not you can make anything out of the loosely strung together events portrayed. I can't say that I've been able to make anything out of it. Maybe you can. Also starring Tippi Hedren, Ron Perlman, Bud Cort, John Ritter, Christina Ricci and Karen Black. So perhaps we can call "IWUETDID" the almost unheard-of movie with a stellar cast.
