About
Pre-dating Peter Jackson's arrival (Bad Taste) by three years, New Zealand's first horror movie sees Michael Hurst making his movie debut as he fights mutants (including Bruno Lawrence) on Waiheke Island. Hurst's character is out to avenge the mad scientist who forced him to kill his parents. A grand prize-winner at a French fantasy festival (with cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky on the jury), David Blyth's splatterfest marked the first of many horrors funded by the NZ Film Commission. It was also the first local showcase of the smoothly-flowing Steadicam camera.
Key Cast & Crew
Related collections
Related images
Death Warmed Up promotional material.
Kindly supplied by Michael Heath.
Promotional material for Death Warmed Up Japanese release.
Kindly supplied by Michael Heath
Bruno Lawrence in make up for Death Warmed Up.
Kindly supplied by Michael Heath.
Michael Hurst as Michael and director David Blyth on the set of Death Warmed Up.
Kindly supplied by Michael Heath.
Michael Hurst as Michael, in the Michael Heath-written Death Warmed Up.
Kindly supplied by Michael Heath.
Margaret Umbers and Michael Hurst in Death Warmed Up.
Kindly supplied by Michael Heath.
A classic image of Kiwi horror: Dave Letch as Spider, in David Blyth’s Death Warmed Up (1984). The film is a prime contender for New Zealand's first horror movie.
Photo courtesy of the NZ Film Commission
