William Lustig (born February 1, 1955) is an American filmmaker and film distributor, known for his work in the horror genre. His best-known films include Maniac (1980), Vigilante (1982), and Maniac Cop (1988) and its sequels. He is also the founder of the boutique home video label Blue Underground.
Early life and education Lustig was born and raised in New York City. His uncle was middleweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta. He studied filmmaking at New York University while working as a production assistant on the films The Seven-Ups (1973) and Death Wish (1974).
Career Early in his career, Lustig worked in sexploitation and adult films under the alias "Billy Bagg". He was also the US production manager for the Italian horror films Inferno (1980) and Tenebrae (1982), by Dario Argento.
As a film director, Lustig is best known for his low-budget horror films Maniac (1980), Vigilante (1982), Uncle Sam (1996), Maniac Cop (1988), and its sequels. Lustig has also worked as an actor playing small roles in his own films as well as in films by Sam Raimi, most notably as a fake shemp in Army of Darkness (1992) and a dockworker in Darkman (1990).March 2008 Interview with L.A. Record
He also produced a remake of his film Maniac (2012) and is rumoured to be producing a new upcoming Maniac Cop with Nicolas Winding Refn. In an interview with Vulture in January 2023, Refn, when asked whether the creation of the series was still under discussion, said: "All I can say is, unfortunately, it's not going to happen."
Blue Underground Lustig is the founder of Blue Underground, a company specializing in releasing remastered editions of cult, horror, and exploitation movies on DVD and Blu-ray.Cultfilms en Kutfilms Interview with Bill Lustig (April 13, 2007)
Filmography + Year Title Functioned as Notes Director Writer Producer 1977Hot Honey Credited as 'Billy Bagg' The Violation of Claudia 1980 Maniac 1982 Vigilante 1988 Maniac Cop 1989 Hit List Tripwire Relentless 1990 Maniac Cop 2 1993 Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence 1995 The Expert Uncredited; replaced by Rick Avery 1996 Uncle Sam 2012 Maniac
Other production credits Year TitleDirector Notes 1973 The Seven-Ups Philip D'Antoni Production assistant Hypnorotica Peter Savage 1974 Death Wish Michael Winner Apprentice editor: New York 1976 The Zebra Force Joe Tornatore Stunt performer 1977 Sylvia Peter Savage Production manager/assistant director 1980 Bella Alexander Kubelka Production manager 1978 The Squeeze Antonio Margheriti Production manager: U.S. 1980Inferno Dario Argento 1982 Tenebrae
Acting roles Year Title Role Notes 1980 Maniac Motel Manager 1982 Vigilante Man Exiting Elevator 1988 Cameron's Closet Man Eating Ice Cream 1989 Relentless Cop 1990 Darkman Dockworker 1992 Trepanator Man With Nightmares Army of Darkness Fake Shemp 2016 222 Mad Hatter Short film 2023 Raven Van Slender Saves Christmas! Billy
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