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| Birth Name(s) : Eli Roth |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Actor |
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Full Eli Roth Biography
He established himself as a brand name director after his first film Cabin Fever, with name-above-the-title billing on all of his films since. Roth has done so without the support of mainstream press, and mainly uses the internet to promote his films and connect with his fans. Roth is considered the pioneer member of a group of filmmakers recently dubbed the Splat Pack (a play on the term Rat Pack, referring to a group of 1950's/1960's entertainers), because of their close ties to one another and their dedication to the horror genre.
Roth began shooting films at the age of eight after watching Ridley Scott's Alien (1979). He made over 50 short films with his brothers Adam and Gabe before graduating at Newton South High School and attending film school at New York University, from which he graduated in 1994. Actress Camryn Manheim gave Roth one of his first jobs in Hollywood, putting him on as an extra on The Practice when he first moved to Los Angeles. Roth would stay in Manheim's dressing room working on his scripts while she filmed the show. By the age of 20, Roth was the development head for producer Frederick Zollo, eventually leaving to devote himself to writing full-time. To earn his living, Roth did budgets and schedules for films such as A Price Above Rubies and Illuminata.
In 1995, Roth co-wrote Cabin Fever with his roommate and friend from NYU Randy Pearlstein. Much of the script was written while Roth was working as a production assistant for Howard Stern's movie Private Parts; Stern remembered and congratulated Roth on his January 11, 2006 radio show. The movie was filmed in 2001 on a shoestring budget of 1.5 million (raised with private investors) and was sold at the 2002 Toronto Film Festival for $3.5 million dollars after a massive bidding war between eight studios. It was the biggest sale of the festival that year. Cabin Fever made $30,553,394 theatrically worldwide. It was the highest grossing film for Lionsgate that year.
Roth's second feature film, Hostel, was made on a budget of a little more than $4 million, in 2005. It opened to #1 at the box office in January of 2006, taking in $20 million dollars opening weekend, and knocking out The Chronicles of Narnia from the #1 spot. It went on to gross $80 million worldwide in box office, and over $180 million worldwide on DVD. In April of 2006, on Eli Roth's birthday, Hostel opened on DVD at #1, again outselling The Chronicles of Narnia, which had opened at the #1 sales slot only one week prior. The movie takes place in Slovakia, where three college students visit a hostel, where they think that all of their sexual fantasies will come true. Instead, they find an international syndicate with the express purpose of torturing and killing backpackers for the sadistic pleasures of rich businessmen. The film pushed the boundaries of realistic violence and was voted the #1 scariest movie moment on the Bravo TV special 100 Scariest Movie Moments: Even Scarier Moments. Empire Magazine readers voted the "Hostel" Best Horror Film of 2006.
Roth reportedly turned down numerous studio directing jobs to make Hostel. Roth took a directing salary of only $10,000 on Hostel in order to keep the budget as low as possible, so there would be no limitations on the violence. Roth shot the film as an NC-17 movie, but the film passed through the ratings board with an R.
In January 2006, film critic David Edelstein in New York Magazine credited Roth with creating the horror sub-genre 'torture porn,' or 'gorno,' using excessive violence to excite audiences like a sexual act. Although Roth loved the article, many critics shortly thereafter began using the term to describe horror as a sub-genre of porn. Roth has publicly spoken out against these critics (not Edelstein), saying it exemplifies how critics are always quick to reduce horror to a sub-class of pornography, and that many horror films are much smarter and better made than critics give them credit for. Writer and Attorney Julie Hilden denounced the term 'Torture Porn' and defended the "Hostel" films and free speech in her legal essay: 'Torture Porn: Why are Critics so Hostile towards Hostel II?' http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hilden/20070716.html
"Men's Fitness" magazine voted Roth Most Fit Director in their July 2006 issue, a title Roth takes very seriously with a strict workout routine that he documents on the "Hostel" DVDs. Roth claims he treats every red carpet like it was a Milan runway, and often jokes that he only makes films as a way to live out his lifelong dream of being a male supermodel. He spoke of his love for fashion in his interview in the October 2007 issue of Italian Vogue.
Roth is an accomplished animator, having written, produced, directed, animated and voiced two series: Chowdaheads (1999) and The Rotten Fruit (2000). Chowdaheads was co-written and co-voiced with friend Noah Belson, and was made with traditional hand-drawn animation. The Rotten Fruit, which Roth again co-wrote and co-voiced with Belson, was made with stop-motion animation done with foam puppets.
Roth participated in a DVD audio commentary for Blood Sucking Freaks. The DVD is one of the highest selling DVDs for Troma. Roth often makes uncredited cameos in Troma films. |
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