http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3635510/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_30
Written by Gary Crutcher
Directed by Jack Starrett
Special Effects by James M. Tanenbaum. He has worked on a ton of movies including Avatar and the Untouchables.
Gary Crutcher is offering $5,000 to anyone who can find him a copy of the film. Apparently it was filmed in 1968 or 1969 and was never released.
Gary says with a laugh. "It was based on a five-day bum acid trip I had taken, about the same time Nicholson wrote THE TRIP. We had thirteen beautiful girls in it, including Rita Murray (RUNAWAY RUNAWAY) and Lavelle Roby (FINDERS KEEPERS, LOVERS WEEPERS), each one representing a sign of the zodiac. Craig Rumar, Jack Starrett, Richard Compton and I were all involved as producers. We shot it on weekends for very little money and we were stoned out of our heads, but we did get the film made. There was an answer print and I saw it at a screening room on the Sunset Strip with Paul Koslo, who was the lead, and Crosby, Stills & Nash, who were going to do the music. But we ran out of money before we could finish it, and the story goes on and on and on from there. If anyone can find a print of it for me, they got $5,000. I really would love to see it again, and I could probably get it out on DVD."
Paul Koslo’s character was actually called "The Zodiac Killer."
Here is a very small portion of an interview Koslo did in 2001. This is the only part of the interview where he talks about the movie…
IAL Archive: The Losers was a strange hybrid of biker and Vietnam War flicks. Your character, Limpy, had a touching relationship with a Vietnamese prostitute and her black baby, fathered by the Army Captain leading the rescue mission.
PK: That was my first movie in America. Actually, my second movie. The first movie I did was never released. It was called The Zodiac Killer, which was also directed by Jack Starrett, who directed The Losers.
IAL Archive: What part did you play in The Zodiac Killer?
PK: I played the Zodiac Killer.
IAL Archive: So, you had the lead role and the film didnt get released.
PK: Yeah. It was done on a bet. Actually, Jack Starrett made a bet with some people in Vegas that he could make a full-length 35-mm feature for fifteen thousand dollars. I think it took another twenty thousand to do the postproduction.
IAL Archive: That is going pretty cheap, even for back then.
PK: Exactly. He won the bet, needless to say.
Here is a page of the script…
A few minutes ago on a toilet not very far, far away….
That is an incredible find , thank you so much for sharing!
Someone has to have a copy , maybe put an add for it in the SF Chron, ?
Wow that is really interesting. Then again, if they were ‘stoned’ all the time, maybe he got his years wrong,maybe the film was made late 69,after Zodiac was already front page news. There were some film schools in SF area around that time, may be a good place to poke around
There is more than one way to lose your life to a killer
http://www.zodiackillersite.com/
http://zodiackillersite.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/Morf13ZKS
I wonder if Ross’s old Friend Silliphant would know any of these People?
There is more than one way to lose your life to a killer
http://www.zodiackillersite.com/
http://zodiackillersite.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/Morf13ZKS
I think the Guy got his dates wrong. Here are 2 1971 Articles talking about the movie.
There is more than one way to lose your life to a killer
http://www.zodiackillersite.com/
http://zodiackillersite.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/Morf13ZKS
Although there is an IMDB link for the movie from 1969-
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3635510/
There is more than one way to lose your life to a killer
http://www.zodiackillersite.com/
http://zodiackillersite.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/Morf13ZKS
Rita Murray is not even listed on the IMDb page. It seems to be missing a lot of the cast and crew, or maybe it is correct and there were less that a dozen people who worked on the film. I think I read that there was a showing of the movie in L.A. in the summer of 1969 but that the movie was not 100% complete. Crosby, Stills and Nash were originally supposed to do the music for the movie. Not sure what happened there.
A few minutes ago on a toilet not very far, far away….
Oops, nevermind, Rita Murray is listed as a cast member.
A few minutes ago on a toilet not very far, far away….
That is an incredible find , thank you so much for sharing!
Someone has to have a copy , maybe put an add for it in the SF Chron, ?
I have e-mailed a couple of guys named Gary Crutcher but no reply from either. I’m not sure if either were the right guy though. He’s the one I really want to talk to about this movie.Placing an ad is a really good idea!
A few minutes ago on a toilet not very far, far away….
I wonder if Ross’s old Friend Silliphant would know any of these People?
Perhaps. There seemed to be a small circle of people in the scene who were making these types of movies.
A few minutes ago on a toilet not very far, far away….
I wrote to a guy named Gary Crutcher on facebook, not knowing if he was the right guy from this movie or not, and asked if he was ever involved in the film industry and he said:
"I have done some acting and been a model. Other than that, I done nothing else in the film industry."
My reply: "Ok, thanks. I’m trying to find a Gary Crutcher who wrote a movie called House of Zodiac in the late 60’s. You don’t look old enough now that I realize how long ago that was."
He never wrote back, but a guy named Don Rasmussen, a friend of Gary’s, wrote:
"He will always deny everything before being found out in the last possible place, famous as ever."
WHAT??? I don’t know if this is even the right Gary (I think it is, though), but Don’s comment is a little strange.
A few minutes ago on a toilet not very far, far away….
Crutcher is still active as a producer and has appeared in recent B movie documentaries. 2 minutes into this clip, he discusses his 1968 film, THE NAME OF THE GAME IS KILL (along with some old pictures of him):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuBIKZaENC4
Crutcher is still active as a producer and has appeared in recent B movie documentaries. 2 minutes into this clip, he discusses his 1968 film, THE NAME OF THE GAME IS KILL (along with some old pictures of him):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuBIKZaENC4
Thanks for posting that! There was a guy who worked on that movie with him who looks like the Stine sketch and his middle initial is Z. His first and last name equal 13 letters. I’m think the Crutcher I was speaking to on facebook was the right guy, but not 100% sure.
A few minutes ago on a toilet not very far, far away….
After watching that Youtube video, the guy I was talking to is definitely not the right guy.
A few minutes ago on a toilet not very far, far away….
There was a guy who worked on that movie with him who looks like the Stine sketch and his middle initial is Z. His first and last name equal 13 letters. I’m think the Crutcher I was speaking to on facebook was the right guy, but not 100% sure.
Yeah, I noticed that guy, too…the one who moved to Glendale in 1957? Saw a post where you mentioned talking to him. Did you ask him if he knew Ross?
