William Girdler

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

William Girdler (October 22, 1947 - January 21, 1978) was an American filmmaker. In a span of seven years, from 1972 to 1978, he directed nine feature films in such genres as horror and action. Girdler also wrote and produced three of his features, Abby, Sheba, Baby and The Manitou.

Girdler, born in Louisville, Kentucky started Studio One Productions in his early twenties, and directed his first feature a low-budget film entitled Asylum of Satan which was briefly released to theaters. Girdler's second effort was a gory, if overlong slasher thriller entitled Three on a Meathook. Both Asylum of Satan and Three on a Meathook were filmed in his home town, and although both films received little notice, the films got the attention of Samuel Z. Arkoff and American International Pictures (AIP).

Girdler next directed three "blaxploitation" films. The first, in 1973, was a long lost thriller titled The Zebra Killer starring Austin Stoker. By coincidence, another Louisville native, Rich Miles, appeared in this picture in a small role as the local cop who discovers some of the bodies. Girdler's next feature was an Exorcist clone titled Abby with Carol Speed in the lead role and co-starring William H. Marshall (from Blacula) and Oscar nominee Juanita Moore. Abby became Girdler's breakthrough film. The picture opened in 1974 to major box office success, earning nearly $9 million. Warner Brothers thought Abby was too derivative of Exorcist and the …