In our new series, we'll be exploring the career of the late Dan O'Bannon.

O'Bannon's name isn't well-known among casual fans, but fans of genre cinema know him as the mastermind behind ALIEN and the director of RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD.

But as we'll explore in this series, he brought so much more to genre film than just those (not insignificant) contributions. O'Bannon has had his hand in franchises that have made billions of dollars at the box office, and worked with directors ranging from George Lucas to Tobe Hooper.

For our first episode, we'll go all the way back to the beginning, to  discuss O'Bannon's upbringing and his days as a student as the USC film school, where he met fellow film student John Carpenter. Shortly after meeting, the two found that they had mutual interests in sci-fi and fantasy films, and it wouldn't be long before they found themselves collaborating on a student film.

That film was DARK STAR, and this is its story. 

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Coming Up:

• ALIEN (1979)

• DEAD & BURIED (1981)

• HEAVY METAL (1981)

• BLUE THUNDER (1983)

Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.

This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.

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