S. Craig Zahler
| S. Craig Zahler | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Steven Craig Zahler January 23, 1973 Miami, Florida, United States |
| Other names | Czar |
| Occupation | Novelist, screenwriter, director, cinematographer, musician |
S. Craig Zahler (born January 23, 1973) is an American novelist, screenwriter, director, cinematographer and musician.
Zahler has written novels in various genres, including western, crime and science fiction, and these works have received support from major award-winning names in both genre literature and film, most notably, Walter Hill, Kurt Russell, Larry Niven, Joe R. Lansdale and Jack Ketchum. His debut noir western novel, A Congregation of Jackals, was nominated for "The Spur Award" by the Western Writers of America and "The Peacekeeper" by the Western Fictioneers. Corpus Chrome, Inc., A Congregation of Jackals and Mean Business on North Ganson Street all received starred reviews for excellence in Booklist.
As a drummer, lyricist and singer, Zahler (under his stage name Czar) collaborates with his longtime friend Jeff Herriott (as JH Halberd) to write and perform songs as the heavy metal band Realmbuilder, who have three albums on Swedish label I Hate Records. This is following Zahler's foray into black metal with the project Charnel Valley, for which he played drums, wrote lyrics and shared songwriting duties with Worm. The two Charnel Valley albums were released by Paragon Records.
Zahler also wrote the script for a 2011 horror film Asylum Blackout (also released as The Incident at Sans Asylum and The Incident), which was directed by Alexandre Courtès.
In 2015, Zahler made his directorial debut, writing and directing the horror western Bone Tomahawk, which stars Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Lili Simmons, David Arquette and Richard Jenkins. The film was released on October 23, 2015, in theaters and on video on demand.
Bone Tomahawk received critical acclaim and won numerous awards. The film is 'Certified Fresh' by Rotten Tomatoes, where it has received positive reviews from 89% of critics. The New York Times called it "[a] witty fusion of western, horror and comedy that gallops to its own beat", while the LA Times said "There's a humming genre intelligence at work in the grim, witty horror-western Bone Tomahawk."The Hollywood Reporter called it "[a] handsome Western with horror overtones", and Variety described it as "...a most violent delight", while Leonard Maltin said "[T]his modest feature leaves The Hateful Eight in the dust. It’s provocative, original, extremely violent and extremely good."Twitch Film said "[Bone Tomahawk] succeeds in demonstrating the voice of its massively talented creator." At the Sitges Film Festival Bone Tomahawk won the critic's award for "Best Picture", and Zahler was given the award for "Best Director". The Independent Spirit Awards nominated Richard Jenkins for "Best Supporting Actor" and S. Craig Zahler for "Best Screenplay". Kurt Russell won the "Best Actor" award at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards.
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