David Del Valle

American journalist, columnist, film historian, and radio/television commentator

David Del Valle is a journalist, columnist, film historian, and radio and television commentator on horror, science-fiction, cult and fantasy films. Described by Entertainment Weekly as "Something of a cult celebrity himself,"^[1] he was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' Monster Kid Hall of Fame in 2016.^[2]

Early life

Del Valle began his love of horror movies early, beginning "when I was four, or five, or six years old. So the first movies I saw were the Universal horror films, with Lon Chaney Jr. as the Mummy, and Bela Lugosi as Dracula. And then I started watching the films of Vincent Price, especially at the drive-in, when I was in high school, because that’s what they showed, nothing but triple-feature horror movies. So as a kid, that was what I watched, as an escape from school…. And I’m sure my story resonates with a lot of people, because you start out with that genre when you’re a little boy. That’s the way that works."^[3]

Education

Del Valle attended San Francisco State University.^[4]

Career

Del Valle began contributing articles on horror and classic Hollywood movies to magazines including Video Watchdog,^[5]^[6] Cinefantastique,^[7]^[8] Scarlet Street,^[9] Diabolique,^[10] Kinoeye,^[11] Little Shoppe of Horrors,^[12] and the UK's Films and Filming,^[13]^[14] plus the website RealScreen.com.^[15] From 2000 to 2016, Del Valle wrote a web column on film history, Camp David, for the magazine Films in Review.^[16]

Del Valle additionally produced and hosted a series of cable TV interviews entitled Sinister Image. His guests included actor Cameron Mitchell and directors Russ Meyer and Curtis Harrington.^[3] A compilation was released on home video as Cult People (1990),^[1] and the audio of Del Valle's 1987 Sinister Image on-camera interview with Vincent Price later appeared on the 2013 Shout Factory DVD/Blu-ray set The Vincent Price Collection.^[17] He also hosted and curated the Full Moon Features streaming series Haunted Hollywood in 2020.^[3] He was a producer and the onscreen interviewer of Vincent Price on the 1994 documentary Vincent Price: My Life and Crimes.^[18]

He began doing audio commentary on movie home video releases in 1983,^[19] and has continued to do them into the 2020s. (See "Audio commentary" below).

Del Valle curated the 2006 Los Angeles, California photo exhibit Nevermore, devoted to the Edgar Allan Poe films of Vincent Price and Roger Corman.^[20] Additionally, he has worked as a Hollywood talent agent,^[21] has done small, sometimes uncredited roles in low-budget films, and was casting director of the 1987 horror anthology film The Offspring aka From a Whisper to a Scream.^[22]

Audio commentary

He has contributed audio commentary to the DVD/Blu-ray releases of films including for the Criterion Collection:

Connecting Rooms,^[23]
The Count Yorga Collection (with C. Courtney Joyner)^[24]
She Done Him Wrong,^[25]
The Web,^[26]

Synapse Films:

Suspiria,^[27]

Kino Lorber:

Gypsy Wildcat^{[citation needed]}

Twilight Time:

The Hound of the Baskervilles^[31]

Bibliography

Del Valle, David (2010). Lost Horizons Beneath the Hollywood Sign. Albany, Georgia, USA: BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1593936075.
Del Valle, David (2012). Six Reels Under. Albany, Georgia, USA: BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1-593-93696-9.

Filmography

It Conquered Hollywood! The Story of American International Pictures (2001; interviewee; one-hour documentary for American Movie Classics (AMC)^[32]
"The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees" (2002; interviewee; half-hour documentary)^[33]
Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story (2007; interviewee; feature documentary)^[34]

References

^ ^a ^b Catchpole, Terry (December 14, 1990). "Cult People". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
^ Colton, David (February 17, 2016). "Winners announced in the (Gasp!) 14th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards". RondoAward.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Haunted Hollywood Host David Del Valle Scares Up More Movie Madness". Den of Geek. August 4, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
^ "Alum David Del Valle Hosts 'Haunted Hollywood' Series". San Francisco State University. July 22, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ Lucas, Tim; Lucas, Donna. "Welcome to Video Watchdog!". videowatchdog.com. Retrieved January 31, 2023. "And the Watchdog 's Kennel of contributors consists of only the very best writers and historians working in the field of fantastic film research and criticism, including … David Del Valle…
^ Del Valle, David (August 2003). "Return to the Rue Morgue: A Conversation with Gordon Hessler". Video Watchdog. No. 98.
^ "Author: Del Valle, David". The Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database at Texas A&M University Libraries. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ Biodrowski, Steve; Del Valle, David; French, Lawrence (January 1989). "Looking Back on Forty Years as Horror's Crown Prince". Cinefantastique. Vol. 19, no. 1–2. pp. 40–85, 119–20.
^ Del Valle, David (Fall 2005). "Female on the Beach review". Scarlet Street.
^ "Author: David Del Valle". Diabolique. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ Del Valle, David (October 27, 2003). "When sex and death are indissoluble: Riccardo Freda's L'Orribile segreto del dottor Hichcock (The Horrible Secret of Dr Hichcock / Raptus, 1962)". Kinoeye. Vol. 3, no. 12.
^ Del Valle, David (May 2010). "'Isobel, Let Down Your Hair': An interview with Yvonne Furneaux". Little Shoppe of Horrors. No. 24.
^ Del Valle, David (November 1984). "Roger Corman". Films and Filming. London. pp. 15–20.
^ Del Valle, David (September 1985). "Tall, Dark & Gruesome: Interview with Christopher Lee". Films and Filming. No. 372. London. pp. 29–31.
^ "David Del Valle". RealScreen.com. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ "Camp David". Films in Review. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
^ Jane, Ian (October 11, 2013). "The Vincent Price Collection, Shout Factory, PG, October 22, 2013". DVD Talk. Retrieved January 30, 2023. "Scream Factory have dug up a few new extras for this disc, however, starting with a sixty-two minute long 'Vintage Interview with Vincent Price' that was conducted by film historian David Del Valle in 1987. This is basically Del Valle's Sinister Image interview that he conducted years back, a fascinating and thorough interview which finds Price very open and keen to talk about his work." Article includes still from the on-camera interview.
^ "Vincent Price: My Life and Crimes". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ Del Valle, David (January 13, 2022). "William Lustig director producer. This wonderful guy gave me my first audio commentary back in 1983 for the Laser disc of the vampire classic Daughters of Darkness 1971. This opened the door to my recording 80 commentary tracks so far". Instagram. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
^ Biodrowski, Steve (August 14, 2009). "Nevermore – Video Tour of Artwork from Films Inspired by Poe". Hollywood Gothique. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ Kutner, C. Jerry (May 24, 2011). "Book review: Lost Horizons Beneath the Hollywood Sign, by David Del Valle". Bright Lights Film Journal. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ Albright, Brian (2012). Regional Horror Films, 1958-1990. Jefferson, North Carolina, USA: McFarland & Co. p. 204. ISBN 978-0786472277.
^ Lumbard, Neil (August 23, 2020). "Connecting Rooms Blu-ray Review". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ Garcia, Joe III (October 21, 2022). "The Count Yorga Collection Blu-ray Review: Vampire Wreaks Havoc in California! Read All About It!". Cinema Sentries. Retrieved January 31, 2023. "Disc one and two contain archival audio tracks by David Del Valle and C. Courtney Joyner who make a great team."
^ Seuling, Dennis (May 28, 2021). "She Done Him Wrong (1933) (Blu-Ray Review)". The Digital Bits. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ Erickson, Glenn (November 5, 2022). "Universal Noir #1 Collection". Trailers from Hell. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ Wixon, Heather (December 18, 2017). "December 19th Blu-ray & DVD Releases Include Suspiria 4K Restoration, The Amicus Collection, American Gothic (1988)". Daily Dead. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ Erickson, Glenn (April 5, 2022). "Edgar G. Ulmer Sci-Fi Collection". Trailers from Hell. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ Tudor, Jim (May 16, 2020). "KL Studio Classics, Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema II". ZekeFilm. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ "New Releases for August 4!". Scarecrow Video. 4 August 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
^ Dursin, Andy (June 27, 2016). "Aisle Seat 6-28: Movies! Olive & Twilight Time". Film Score Monthly. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
^ "It Conquered Hollywood! The Story of American International Pictures". BetaSeries.com. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
^ Gingold, Michael (November 21, 2002). "DVD Review: Jason X & Jason Goes To Hell". Fangoria. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^ "Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2023.