Joel M. Reed
Joel Melvin Reed (December 29, 1933 – April 13, 2020) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Joel Reed has been in many films, including Dead Eye; he also played Uncle Joe in the Louis Marino film The Dysfunctional Mob.
Joel M. Reed
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- Name
- Joel M.
- Birth Name
- Joel Melvin Reed
- Born
- 29 December 1933
- Birthplace
- Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
- Died
- 13 April 2020
- Place of death
- New York City, U.S.
- Occupation
- * Film director
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
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Joel Melvin Reed (December 29, 1933 – April 13, 2020) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Joel Reed has been in many films, including Dead Eye; he also played Uncle Joe in the Louis Marino film The Dysfunctional Mob.
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Joel M. Reed (1933–2020) was a director, film producer and screenwriter, among other activities, of American nationality. The director was born and died in New York City. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Joel M. Reed • Birth Name — Joel Melvin Reed • Born — 29 December 1933 • Birthplace — Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. • Died — 13 April 2020 • Place of death — New York City, U.S. • Occupation — * Film director • producer • screenwriter • Years Active — 1968–2020
Career
Career
Reed is best known for directing the controversial Blood Sucking Freaks (1976), a notorious horror comedy that was the subject of protests upon its initial release and has since achieved cult status. Reed also directed the films Career Bed (1968), Sex by Advertisement (1969), The G.I. Executioner (Wit's End / Dragon Lady / Wild Dragon Lady; 1971), Blood Bath (Terror / Night and the City; 1976),Blood Sucking Freaks (1976) and Night of the Zombies (Gamma 693 / Sister of Death / Battalion of the Living Dead; 1981). Reed wrote all the scripts of the movies he directed. Reed wrote and directed Blood Bath, which was produced by the Trans-Orient Entertainment Corporation and had a budget of $100,000. In a 1974 interview with The New York Times, he described the film as a "contemporary, episodic occult-horror adventure". Harve Presnell starred in the film as a producer of horror films who arranges in his studio a Black Mass. On March 1, 1990, Masquerade Books published a book that Reed wrote on Donald Trump called Trump: the Man, the Myth, the Scandal. In 2011, Reed made a comeback as an actor playing the main character Uncle Joe in the film Dead Eye, directed by Louis Affortunato. After that, Reed acted in eight more films: I Spill Your Guts (2012); Supernaturalz: Weird, Creepy & Random (2012); Trashtastic (2013); Catch of the Day (2014); The Fappening (2015); Vault of Terror II: The Undead (2015); Freak in a Basement (2018); and The Dysfunctional Mob. In May 2012, Reed signed with Polus Books, which released the books Zombie Wall and Outrage: Hitler Didn't Die. On September 17, 2018, a book by author John Szpunar was released by Headpress about Reed called Blood Sucking Freak: The Life and Films of the Incredible Joel M. Reed. Reed was Interviewed December 2018 for a documentary about himself called Reed Unbound: The Joel M. Reed Story (2019), which chronicles his whole life and film career; it was directed by Jerry Landi and Adrian Esposito.
Death
Death
Reed died on April 13, 2020, aged 86, in a care facility in New York City after contracting COVID-19.
Indie filmmakers: Sean Weathers on the right along with Joel M. Reed on the left from the set of "The Fappening."
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reference work
- “Joel M. Reed”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3180252: Joel M. Reed
General reference · Wikidata
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.details.
- 2.An Interview with Joel M. Reed. Film Threat. 16 May 2005.
- 3.Movies. The New York Times.
- 4.Institute, American Film. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States. University of California Press. November 4, 1971. 9780520209701.
- 5.Gingold, Michael. RIP "BLOODSUCKING FREAKS" director Joel M. Reed. Rue Morgue. 14 April 2020.
- 6.overview.
- 7.Movie Reviews. The New York Times. May 8, 2020.
- 8.Warnock, Caroline. Joel M. Reed Dead: Fans Mourn 'Bloodsucking Freaks' Film Director. Heavy.com. 2020-04-15.
- 9.Weiler, A. H. News of the Screen: Shooting Horrors in Local Studio. The New York Times. April 28, 1974.
- 10.Zombie Wall.
- 11.Outrage: Hitler Didn't Die.
- 12.Dick, Jeremy. 'Blood Sucking Freaks' Director Joel M. Reed Dies at 86. Horror Geek Life. April 14, 2020.
- 13.Sprague, Mike. RIP: BLOODSUCKING FREAKS Director Joel M. Reed Dies at 86 After Contracting COVID-19. Dreadcentral. 16 April 2020.
- 14.Joel M. Reed Obituary. everhere.com.
- 15.Schwartz, John. Joel M. Reed, 86, Director of Horror Movies, Dies. The New York Times. May 22, 2020.
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