Fundraiser Kicks Off for Albert Pyun Career Celebration and Road to Hell Screening
Steve Barton
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We’ve been talking about Albert Pyun’s Road to Hell for quite some time, and sadly, the film (his 50th!) could well be his last. Pyun’s friends and fans are joining together to celebrate his career at his dream theater, Hollywood’s ArcLight Cinema, but they need your help.
From the Press Release:
Plans are being made to celebrate the career of retiring filmmaker Albert Pyun, who has directed fifty films over a thirty-year span. The celebration will include a roast of Pyun and a screening of the prolific filmmaker’s fiftieth film, Road to Hell, an homage to Walter Hill’s Streets of Fire. Pyun, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, had to cancel plans to tour with the film on the festival circuit due to worsening health. A just launched Indiegogo fundraising campaign will enable Pyun’s friends and fans from around the world to help him celebrate his career and final production at his dream theater, the ArcLight Cinema in Hollywood.
“We want to have stars, crew, and artists from Albert’s many films in attendance to collectively embrace his journey lasting more than forty years,” says Cynthia Curnan, Pyun’s partner. “We want Albert to have the best gift we can provide and something he has wanted his whole career: a billboard on Sunset Boulevard. His first job in LA was on Sunset Boulevard, and he used to pass all the exciting and glamorous billboards. They symbolized to him the epitome of entertainment. Road to Hell is the only one of Albert’s films to receive so many awards and positive reviews. It is a fitting climax to his long career. We want this film to receive as much exposure as possible to highlight his legacy.”
A short sampling of Pyun’s long list of genre films includes The Sword and the Sorcerer, Radioactive Dreams, Alien from L.A., Cyborg, Captain America, Kickboxer 2: The Road Back, Bloodmatch, Dollman, Nemesis, Brain Smasher…A Love Story, Infection (aka Invasion), and Cool Air. Road to Hell stars Michael Pare as Tom Cody, the role he created in Streets of Fire. In the film Cody encounters two thrill killers on a desert highway. Much of the hyper-stylized film was shot against a green screen, and Pyun has finessed the footage for several years.
Over the past weekend Pyun received the Groundbreaker Award from the BUT Film Festival in the Netherlands (BUT = B-Movie, Underground & Trash). He told us, “Since I could not be there due to the MS, I requested another guest I had worked with before, Debbie Rochon, if she would accept for me. She agreed to it as did the festival. So Debbie accepted for me and gave a short speech about our working together – brief as it was. So cool how everything is connected. I get another lifetime award in early November as well.”
In addition, in a weird coincidence, two of Pyun’s older films are getting re-released. He explains, “Already this year, Alien From L.A. and Captain America have been re-released. Next is Dollman and then Vicious Lips in December. As for my newer stuff, H. P. Lovecraft’s Cool Air was released in May by Lionsgate; soon will be Road to Hell and then Cyborg Nemesis. That makes seven films in one year – a record for me!”
The Indiegogo fundraiser runs through mid-October with the exact date of the celebration to be announced. To stay up-to-date, along with checking out the Indiegogo fundraising campaign, visit Albert Pyun Movies on Facebook, and follow Albert Pyun Films on Twitter.
All of us here at Dread Central send Albert our best wishes; we hope to see you at the ArcLight soon!
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