by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent
There’s something in the smog, in the air that is, in Hollywood, whereby stunt men and women are getting their due. Take Gary Kent, for example, one of the derring-dudes which inspired Quentin Tarantino’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD character Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt.
If you could blow it up, Kent could ride, fly, stroll, or shimmy through it. As a young boy, director Joe O’Connell was paying attention. So, today, Aug. 6, O’Connell’s streaming masterpiece called DANGER GOD, about Kent’s incendiary career in crashes and bruises rolls out to the public.
This is a play-by-play of the Stunt Legend’s stumble-rush through exploitation films of the 60’s and 70’s, on the call sheets of directors like Richard Rush, Al Adams, and Dennis Steckler. Fire up your IMDb, kids, for their credits, and unique place in once upon a fake-blood, slack-jaw, screaming, B-movie Hollywood.
(And please do not try this at home, any of the seat-edgers by Kent and his crazy pals.)
Meanwhile, make your own microwave popcorn and sit back for the trailer here.
Finally, Here’s Wild Eye's Official 411 on DANGER GOD Available on the Interwebs Now
Gary Kent, one of the inspirations for Brad Pitt’s character in ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, is profiled in director Joe O’Connell’s DANGER GOD. The famed filmmaker ‘loosely' based Pitt's stuntman character ‘Cliff Booth’ on Kent, and his own run in with the Manson Family at Spahn Ranch.
Available on digital August 6 and on DVD September 17, DANGER GOD fixes on one of the legends of the game, Gary Kent. Though the king of B movies in the Sixties and Seventies, working for indie directors from Richard Rush to Ray Dennis Steckler to Al Adamson, Kent tackled even larger real-life challenges. Professional stuntman Gary Kent has made a hard-earned name for himself in over 50 years of falling, burning, jumping, fighting and breaking himself for some of the most cherished independent and B-movies of the 20th Century.
This is his story, from the anything goes days of the drive-in era, including his run in with Charles Manson and his infamous family, to his personal battles and triumphs with health, alcoholism and love. Features interviews with Monte Hellman, Duane Eddy, Richard Rush, Marc Singer and more.
DANGER GOD is available from Wild Eye Releasing on digital August 6 and on DVD September 17.
They're offering a collector's DVD - how throw-back is that?
Remember: “Stuntmen (and women) Don’t Fear Death, They Defy It!”
Get your kicks here; visit the one and only DANGER GOD.
You're welcome.
# # #