 don coscarelli, jr. (born february 17, 1954) is an american film director, producer and screenwriterthe new york times best known for horror films. his credits include the phantasm series,the new york times the beastmaster, and bubba ho-tep.new york times == biography == coscarelli was born in libya and raised in southern california. although his family was not connected with the motion picture business, he was fascinated with cameras and filmmaking at an early age. long before he was old enough to attend film school, his short films, made with the help of neighborhood friends in his home town of long beach, california, were winning prizes on television. at the age of nineteen, coscarelli became the youngest director to have a feature film distributed by a major studio when he sold his independently produced and critically acclaimed drama, jim the world's greatest, to universal pictures. the film was the first collaboration for coscarelli with the accomplished actor lawrence rory guy, who went on to achieve legendary horror icon status under the screen name angus scrimm. jim the world's greatest was an official selection of the usa film festival. coscarelli is best known for the phantasm films. phantasm and its three successful sequels spawned a huge cult of fans around the world and have become staples in the home video and dvd market. the original phantasm was a worldwide critical and box-office success and won the special jury prize at the festival du cinema fantastique at avoriaz, france. mr. coscarelli also co-wrote (with paul pepperman) and directed the beastmaster, which was described recently in entertainment weekly as "one of the most popular films of all time on cable television." the beastmaster has spawned two sequels and a television series. he was the recipient of the bram stoker award for best screenplay for his film bubba ho-tep, which he also directed. based on a short story by joe r. lansdale, bubba ho-tep stars bruce campbell, ossie davis and frequent coscarelli collaborator reggie bannister. in addition to being a critical hit, bubba ho-tep was also a festival favorite, playing in such prestigious international film festivals as the [[toronto internat
1954_births American_film_directors American_people_of_Italian_descent American_people_of_Libyan_descent American_screenwriters English-language_film_directors Horror_film_directors Libyan_emigrants_to_the_United_States Libyan_people_of_Italian_descent Living_people People_from_Tripoli