Lee, Damian

PERSONAL:

Married Lara Daans (an actress), October 19, 1997; children: Arcadia.

ADDRESSES:

Home—CA. Office—Noble House Entertainment, P.O. Box 2900, 8270 Aspen St., Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729.

CAREER:

Producer, director, screenwriter, and actor. Producer of films, including Copper Mountain (also known as Club Med and Copper Mountain Experience; and executive producer, actor), 1983; Busted Up,(and actor), Shapiro Entertainment, 1986; Watchers,(and second unit director), Universal, 1988; Circleman,(and director, actor), 1988; City of Shadows,1989; Food of the Gods II (also known as After Food of the Gods, Food of the Gods Part 2 and Gnaw: Food of the Gods II; and director), Concorde, 1989;Ski School, (and director), Home Box Office (HBO) Home Video, 1991; Baby on Board, 1991; Abraxis, Guardian of the Universe (also known as Abraxis; and director, actor), MCA, 1991; Scorned (also known asA Woman Scorned), Prism Pictures, 1994; Last Resort(also known as National Lampoon's Last Resort andNational Lampoon's Scuba School), 1994; The Killing Machines (also known as The Killing Man), 1994;Death Wish V: The Face of Death, Trimark Pictures, 1994; Deadly Heroes, Columbia TriStar Home Video, 1994; When the Bullet Hits the Bone, (and director, actor), Terror Zone Productions, 1995; No Exit (also known as Fatal Combat; and director), No Exit Productions, 1995; Spill (also known as Acid Deathand Virus), Spill Film Productions, 1996; Specimen,1996; Moving Target, (and director), Unapix Entertainment, 1996; The Giver, (and director), Donor Productions, 1997; Woman Wanted, 1999; Crime and Punishment, Twenty-first Century Film Corp., 2001; and (uncredited) Agent Red (also known as Captured; and director), New City Releasing, 2000. Associate producer of the film Space Rage (also known as A Dollar a Day, Space Rage: Breakout on Prison Planet, and Trackers), 1985. Coproducer of the filmFun, Greycat Films, 1994. Executive producer of films, including Electra, Electra Film Productions, 1995; Mercy, A-pix Entertainment, Inc., 1996; and Jill Rips (also known as The Bone Ripper, Jill the Ripper, The Leatherwoman, and Tied Up), New City Releasing, 2000.

Lee also produced several made-for-television movies, including Screwball Academy (also known as Divine Light and Loose Ends), 1986; and Woman Wanted,Starz! and The Movie Channel, 1999; actor in several made-for-television movies, including Reno and the Doc, (Gunther), 1984; and Screwball Academy (also known as Divine Light and Loose Ends), (Bishop Wally), 1986.

WRITINGS:

SCREENPLAYS

Copper Mountain (also known as Club Med and Copper Mountain: A Club Med Experience), 1983.

Busted Up, Shapiro Entertainment, 1986.

Watchers, Universal, 1988.

Circleman, 1988.

City of Shadows, 1989.

Baby on Board, 1991.

Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe (also known asAbraxas), MCA, 1991.

Last Resort (also known as National Lampoon's Last Resort and National Lampoon's Scuba School), 1994.

Deadly Heroes, Columbia TriStar Home Video, 1994.

When the Bullet Hits the Bone, Terror Zone Productions, 1995.

Street Law (also known as Law of the Jungle), Triboro Entertainment Group, 1995.

No Exit (also known as Fatal Combat), No Exit Productions, 1995.

Electra, Electra Film Productions, 1995.

Specimen, Combustion Film Productions, 1996.

Jungle Boy, Jungle Boy Film Productions, 1996.

Crime and Punishment, Twenty-first Century Film, 2000.

Agent Red (also known as Captured), New City Releasing, 2000.

Also the author of the story for the television movie,Reno and the Doc, 1984.

SIDELIGHTS:

Producer, director, and screenwriter Damian Lee is well known within the world of direct-to-video and direct-to-DVD filmmaking. His best known direct-to-DVD project may be Agent Red,which Lee wrote, produced, and directed. This action film, often described as "Die Hard on a submarine," stars Dolph Lundgren as a Marine special operations commando who must take back a stolen submarine from a group of Russian terrorists almost single-handed, and then prevent the terrorists from launching a biological weapon, Agent Red, from the sub.

Lee also wrote, produced, and directed the science-fiction film, Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe, which stars former professional wrestler/former Minnesota governor, Jesse Ventura, as the title character. Abraxas is a "Finder," an intergalactic alien cop who is charged with protecting all of the life in the universe. His former partner, Secundus, played by Sven-Old Thorsen, has gone renegade, and now Abraxas must chase him across Earth in order to prevent him from carrying out his evil scheme. Paul Corupe, in a review for the Canuxploitation! Web site, called the film "compulsively watchable," and "Lee's funniest feature by far." He noted several issues with the film, but concluded that "for all its problems and cheesiness,Abraxas just clicks as entertainment."

Jill the Ripper also stars Dolph Lundgren, this time as a Los Angeles cop mourning the death of his brother, who appears to have been the victim of a blonde, female serial killer that the Boston authorities have dubbed "Jill the Ripper." Lundgren sets out to find the killer, only to discover numerous road blocks in his path to the truth. Richard Scheib, in a review for theScience Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review online, noted the film was made in the wake of the success of Basic Instinct, but remarked that "it has a solid plot and is directed with believability rather than exploitative trashiness."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television, Volume 37, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 2002.

PERIODICALS

Video Business, February 26, 2001, Ed Hulse, review of Agent Red, p. 22.

Video Review, August, 1989, Doug Brod, review ofFood of the Gods, Part 2, p. 58.

ONLINE

Apollo Movie Guide,http://www.apolloguide.com/(July 1, 2006), review of Agent Red.

Canuxploitation!,http://www.canuxploitation.com/(July 1, 2006), Paul Corupe, review of Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe.

Cold Fusion Video Reviews,http://www.coldfusionvideo.com/(July 1, 2006), Nathan Shumate, review of Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe.

Daily-Reviews.com,http://www.daily-reviews.com/(July 1, 2006), review of Agent Red.

DVD Authority,http://www.dvdauthority.com/ (July 1, 2006), review of Agent Red.

Internet Movie Database,http://www.imdb.com/ (July 1, 2006), entry for Damian Lee.

Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review,http://www.roogulator.esmartweb.com/ (May 7, 2003), Richard Scheib, reviews of Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe and Jill the Ripper.

TV Guide Online, http://www.roogulator.esmartweb.com/ (July 1, 2006), Charles Cassady, Jr., review of When the Bullet Hits the Bone; (July 1, 2006), Robert Pardi, review of Jill the Ripper.