Damnation Alley (film)
A post-apocalyptic film that gained a cult following.
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Released in 1977, the American post-apocalyptic movie Damnation Alley, with Jack Smight as its director, takes its inspiration loosely from Roger Zelazny's 1969 novel.[1] The cast of the film included George Peppard, Jan-Michael Vincent, Dominique Sanda, Paul Winfield, and Jackie Earle Haley.[1] Although it was met with negative reactions from both critics and moviegoers, the film later developed a dedicated cult audience.[1]
Making and release
Roger Zelazny's original story was changed considerably for the final shooting script.[2] Several directors and special effects teams considered the script impossible to film due to the amount of effects work required.[2] Filming began on June 21, 1976, east of Borrego Springs, California, and at locations in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and the Mojave Desert.[3] Production was rife with problems, including difficulty creating convincing devastated landscapes and giant mutated insects despite the large budget.[4]
The sequence with giant scorpions attacking a motorcycle used full-scale props that did not work, so actual scorpions were composited using blue screen in post-production.[4] The film was released in Japan first on September 10, 1977, then in the United States on October 21, 1977, where poor critical reviews and word of mouth tanked it at the box office.[4] Lukas Heller's initial screenplay, finished in June 1975, made Roger Zelazny happy, and he thought it would become the final script used for filming.[2] To reduce the number of difficult special effects, the production company hired Alan Sharp to create a new draft that removed many components from both the earlier script and the novel.[2]
What the cited sources add
Vagg described the film as feeling silly and being a big flop.[5] From 2015 to 2024, the Landmaster was owned by car customizer Gene Winfield and could be seen from the highway at his shop.[6] According to film historian Vagg, Damnation Alley was intended as a major popcorn blockbuster but turned out poorly, and George Peppard's acting was undermined by an odd moustache.[5] Automotive customizer Dean Jeffries constructed the Landmaster vehicle specifically for the movie in 1976, at a cost of $350,000.[7]
After being bought by a private individual in 2005, the Landmaster underwent a restoration that altered its appearance, and it later appeared at events like the 2007 San Francisco Rod & Custom Show.[8]
References
- Wikipedia, "Damnation Alley (film)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vagg, "Movie Star Cold Streaks: George Peppard", 29 December 2024 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Damnation Alley (film)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Talbot, "Signal One Home Entertainment - Damnation Alley Commentary Track by Paul Talbot", Signal One Home Entertainment, March 12, 2018; "...And Call Me Roger": The Literary Life of Roger Zelazny, Part 4, by Christopher S. Kovacs. In: The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volume 4: Last Exit to (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Damnation Alley (film)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "AFI Catalogue of Feature Films", AFI (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Damnation Alley (film)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Talbot, "Signal One Home Entertainment - Damnation Alley Commentary Track by Paul Talbot", Signal One Home Entertainment, March 12, 2018 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Vagg, "Movie Star Cold Streaks: George Peppard", 29 December 2024. facts only, no text reused. filmink.com.au
- Wikipedia, "Damnation Alley (film)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Google Maps" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Damnation Alley (film)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: McComb, "Automotive Fantasies—And The Men Who Make Them", Science & Mechanics, p. 66–67; "Inflation Calculator", DollarTimes (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Damnation Alley (film)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Landmaster picture from its recent showing.; 2007 San Francisco Rod, Custom and Motorcycle Show Event Guide (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Damnation Alley (film) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Damnation Alley (film) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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