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E. Elias Merhige

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E. Elias Merhige
Born
Edmund Elias Merhige

(1964-06-14) June 14, 1964 (age 60)
Occupations
Years activec. 1982-present
SpouseNadja Merhige

Edmund Elias Merhige (/ˈmærɪ/, pronounced like marriage;[1] born June 14, 1964) is an American film director.

Career

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Merhige is known to mainstream audiences for his work on the 2000 film Shadow of the Vampire[2] and to underground audiences for the cult 1989 film Begotten.[3] He has also directed music videos for Marilyn Manson.

Merhige started in the New York theatre scene, and first conceived Begotten as a work of experimental theatre, casting many actors from his company in supporting roles. Following the release of his last feature film Suspect Zero, Merhige has mostly returned to work in the theatre.

Critical reception

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Eugene Thacker, writing about Begotten, placed Merhige's work "between genre horror and performance art," marking Begotten as a "ritual in cinematic time," and concluding that the next step in Merhige's art offering "presumably, would be to allow everything to dissolve - human into non-human, body into environment, image into emulsions of gelatin, crystal, and camphor."[4]

Filmography

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Short film

Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes
1983 Implosion Yes Yes No
1984 Spring Reign Yes No No
1985 A Taste of Youth Yes No No
2006 Din of Celestial Birds Yes Yes Yes Also cinematographer
2022 Polia & Blastema: A Cosmic Opera Yes No No

Feature film

Year Title Director Producer Writer Notes
1989 Begotten Yes Yes Yes Also cinematographer and special effects
2000 Shadow of the Vampire Yes No No
2004 Suspect Zero Yes Yes No
TBA Howl Yes No No Filming

Music video

Year Title Artist
1996 "Antichrist Superstar" Marilyn Manson
"Serpentia" Danzig
"Cryptorchid" Marilyn Manson
2007 "The Heinrich Maneuver" Interpol

References

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  1. ^ Mapes, Marty (August 26, 2004). "Interview with E. Elias Merhige - Movie Habit". Movie Habit. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  2. ^ Scott, A. O. (December 29, 2009). "Shadow of the Vampire". The New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  3. ^ Maslin, Janet (June 5, 1991). "Begotten". The New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  4. ^ Thacker, Eugene (2015). "Chapter 3: Meditations on the Gothic". Tentacles Longer Than Night. Horror of Philosophy. Zero Books. ISBN 978-1-78279-889-7.
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