William Grefe

William Grefe

Birth : 1930-05-17, Miami, Florida, USA

History

William Grefé (born 1930) is an American writer and director of films, best known for his work in the exploitation field. For most of his career, he has worked in Florida. He also worked for several years with Ivan Tors. In 2009 a documentary was released about his work called From the Swamp: The Films of William Grefe. In 2020 a four-disc Blu-ray collection He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefé Collection will be released by Arrow Video.

Profile

William Grefe

Movies

Dark Side of Eden
Self
A making of documentary on the cult classic STANLEY.
Blood, Guts & Sunshine: The History of Horror Made In Florida
Self
Explore the independent horror film scene that Florida has been vigorously pumping out since the invention of film. Jam-packed with Interviews, exploitation, never-before-seen footage and cinema madness. Watch and learn about films new and old in this exclusive documentary made for cult horror fans.
Naked World
Jay Katz & Miss Death have been the king and queen of Sydneys underground cinema scene for over 30 years. This 2 hour compilation highlights their final quest to survive the 2020 pandemic by producing original content from The Mu Meson Archives
Underwood
Al
A decades old murder comes to light as an unknowing author uncovers a dark mystery while on a retreat. Haunted by a victim's ghost, she now must find the killers identity through her dreams before the killer finds her first.
Thumbs
Writer
William Grefe's return to films deals with thumbs, texting and thumbs.
Thumbs
Director
William Grefe's return to films deals with thumbs, texting and thumbs.
Cool As Hell 2
Dad
The quest for God's bong.
They Came from the Swamp: The Films of William Grefé
Himself
Savage! Sadistic! Thrill hungry! When it came to independent filmmaking in the sunshine state, William Grefé was the wildest of the wild! During the 1960s and '70s, the Miami-based producer/director transformed the darkest corners of the Florida swamps into his own personal backlot. From rampaging crocodiles possessed by an ancient Seminole witch doctor (DEATH CURSE OF TARTU) to a slithering serpent named STANLEY, William Grefé would grind out low-budget exploitation films for drive-ins and hardtops around the world. Now, without the benefit of cages or other protective devices, the untold story of Florida's most daring moviemaker comes to the screen...IN PSYCHEDELIC COLOR!
It Was a Colossal Teenage Movie Machine: The AIP Story
Himself
Feature-length documentary about the early history of American International Pictures.
Consider Us Even
Director
Sisters are kidnapped at gunpoint, tortured and interrogated. What happens next will make you think twice about your own daily decisions.
Bikini Swamp Girl Massacre
Uncle Bill
A group of bikini-clad co-eds spend Columbus Day Weekend in the Florida Everglades
A Cask of Amontillado
Himself
Two filmmakers, Steven Brack and William Grefé, have a disagreement over what constitutes a good horror film, leading one of them to take an extreme solution to their debate that is "Poe"-etic.
The Psychedelic Priest
Cinematography
A priest sheds his habit, tunes in, turns on and drops out for a road trip that will change his life and bring him sorrow. Filmed in 1971 but not released until 2001.
The Psychedelic Priest
Director
A priest sheds his habit, tunes in, turns on and drops out for a road trip that will change his life and bring him sorrow. Filmed in 1971 but not released until 2001.
Dark Universe
Old Tom Hanning
On its way back to Earth, the space shuttle Nautilus passes through a cloud of alien spores causing its sole occupant, astronaut Steve Thomas to transform into a blood-thirsty monster. The shuttle crashes into a swampy region of central Florida, creating a situation which threatens contagion and/or death to all who encounter the shuttle or its mutated pilot.
Masterblaster
Executive Producer
Regional finalists of the Masterblaster paintball competition gather together at the national championship for a chance at the title and fifty thousand dollars in cash. The competition turns deadly when someone stops playing games and starts taking lives.
Cease Fire
Producer
Tim Murphy is a Vietnam Vet. When he loses his job he starts to relive all the pain and horror of his time in Vietnam. The stresses and strains nearly destroy his marriage and his family. Only after joining a veterans' therapy group does Tim find relief from his nightmares. With the support of his fellow vets and the love of his wife, Tim recovers. Written by Pfyre Caidmon
Bacardi and Coke Bonanza ‘81
Director
A seven-minute look at what does on at the Davie Rodeo Arena.
Whiskey Mountain
Story
A group of motorcyclists on a "treasure hunt" are terrorized by a gang of murderous psychopaths.
Whiskey Mountain
Producer
A group of motorcyclists on a "treasure hunt" are terrorized by a gang of murderous psychopaths.
Whiskey Mountain
Director
A group of motorcyclists on a "treasure hunt" are terrorized by a gang of murderous psychopaths.
Mako: The Jaws of Death
Producer
A man accidentally learns that he has a mystical connection with sharks, and is given a strange medallion by a shaman. Becoming more and more alienated from normal society, he develops an ability to communicate with sharks telepathically, setting out to destroy anybody who harms sharks. People enter into his strange world to exploit his weird passion, and he uses the animals to gain revenge on anybody who double crosses him.
Mako: The Jaws of Death
Story
A man accidentally learns that he has a mystical connection with sharks, and is given a strange medallion by a shaman. Becoming more and more alienated from normal society, he develops an ability to communicate with sharks telepathically, setting out to destroy anybody who harms sharks. People enter into his strange world to exploit his weird passion, and he uses the animals to gain revenge on anybody who double crosses him.
Mako: The Jaws of Death
Director
A man accidentally learns that he has a mystical connection with sharks, and is given a strange medallion by a shaman. Becoming more and more alienated from normal society, he develops an ability to communicate with sharks telepathically, setting out to destroy anybody who harms sharks. People enter into his strange world to exploit his weird passion, and he uses the animals to gain revenge on anybody who double crosses him.
Impulse
Director
A paranoid, leisure-suit-wearing conman/gigolo named Matt Stone seduces lonely women, bilks them of their savings via an investment scam, then kills them. When he begins seeing an attractive widow, her daughter Tina becomes suspicious of his motives.
The Godmothers
Director
Two brothers pose as women to avoid marrying a mobster's ugly daughter.
Stanley
Writer
Tim Ochopee, a shell-shocked Seminole Indian has just returned from a tour of Vietnam. He lives a peaceful life deep in the Everglades with his pet snake Stanley. Upon his return, he finds out his father has passed away. When he learns how he was killed, Tim lets Stanley and his brood loose on the people who've done him wrong, leading to a thrilling climax.
Stanley
Producer
Tim Ochopee, a shell-shocked Seminole Indian has just returned from a tour of Vietnam. He lives a peaceful life deep in the Everglades with his pet snake Stanley. Upon his return, he finds out his father has passed away. When he learns how he was killed, Tim lets Stanley and his brood loose on the people who've done him wrong, leading to a thrilling climax.
Stanley
Director
Tim Ochopee, a shell-shocked Seminole Indian has just returned from a tour of Vietnam. He lives a peaceful life deep in the Everglades with his pet snake Stanley. Upon his return, he finds out his father has passed away. When he learns how he was killed, Tim lets Stanley and his brood loose on the people who've done him wrong, leading to a thrilling climax.
I Eat Your Skin
Second Unit Director
A cancer researcher on a remote Caribbean island discovers that by treating the natives with snake venom he can turn them into bug-eyed zombies. Uninterested in this information, the unfortunate man is forced by his evil employer to create an army of the creatures in order to conquer the world.
The Naked Zoo
Producer
Love and crime in Miami's Cocoanut Grove artist's colony. Swinging young writer Stephen Oliver has a falling-out with benefactress Rita Hayworth in the wake of a wild LSD party. Rita foolishly tries blackmail after Oliver's reconciliation attempt leaves her crippled millionaire husband dead.
The Naked Zoo
Screenplay
Love and crime in Miami's Cocoanut Grove artist's colony. Swinging young writer Stephen Oliver has a falling-out with benefactress Rita Hayworth in the wake of a wild LSD party. Rita foolishly tries blackmail after Oliver's reconciliation attempt leaves her crippled millionaire husband dead.
The Naked Zoo
Director
Love and crime in Miami's Cocoanut Grove artist's colony. Swinging young writer Stephen Oliver has a falling-out with benefactress Rita Hayworth in the wake of a wild LSD party. Rita foolishly tries blackmail after Oliver's reconciliation attempt leaves her crippled millionaire husband dead.
The Hooked Generation
Producer
"What are you going to do now, loser?" With these words, the heroic cop confronts the villainous Daisy, a drug- runner who has killed Cubans, Coast Guards and police officers in his efforts to transport "grass and junk" into Florida. Daisy works with Acid, a useless junkie that kills and rapes an Indian woman, accidentally brings the police down on the group multiple times and spends half the movie shooting up, and Dum Dum, a violent pot-smoking Hispanic whose name derives from the bullets in his gun.
The Hooked Generation
Writer
"What are you going to do now, loser?" With these words, the heroic cop confronts the villainous Daisy, a drug- runner who has killed Cubans, Coast Guards and police officers in his efforts to transport "grass and junk" into Florida. Daisy works with Acid, a useless junkie that kills and rapes an Indian woman, accidentally brings the police down on the group multiple times and spends half the movie shooting up, and Dum Dum, a violent pot-smoking Hispanic whose name derives from the bullets in his gun.
The Hooked Generation
Director
"What are you going to do now, loser?" With these words, the heroic cop confronts the villainous Daisy, a drug- runner who has killed Cubans, Coast Guards and police officers in his efforts to transport "grass and junk" into Florida. Daisy works with Acid, a useless junkie that kills and rapes an Indian woman, accidentally brings the police down on the group multiple times and spends half the movie shooting up, and Dum Dum, a violent pot-smoking Hispanic whose name derives from the bullets in his gun.
The Wild Rebels
Writer
A stock car driver goes undercover as the wheel man for a motorcycle gang.
The Wild Rebels
Director
A stock car driver goes undercover as the wheel man for a motorcycle gang.
Sting of Death
Director
A group of biology students head to the Florida Everglades for a holiday, but instead of fun in the sun, they run into trouble with a mutated, bloodthirsty, and quite deadly jellyfish-man-monster.
Death Curse of Tartu
Writer
A group of student archaeologists venture into the Florida Everglades to look for fossils, but come across an area cursed by a Native American witch doctor.
Death Curse of Tartu
Director
A group of student archaeologists venture into the Florida Everglades to look for fossils, but come across an area cursed by a Native American witch doctor.
The Devil's Sisters
Screenplay
This film is based on the Las Poquianchis case in Mexico where Delfina and María de Jesús González lured in young women with false help wanted ads. They would get the women addicted to drugs and put them to work as prostitutes. Once they became too ill, used up or stubborn, they would be killed. Customers may also be killed if it appeared to be profitable enough. When police officers searched the sisters' property they found 91 bodies.
The Devil's Sisters
Director
This film is based on the Las Poquianchis case in Mexico where Delfina and María de Jesús González lured in young women with false help wanted ads. They would get the women addicted to drugs and put them to work as prostitutes. Once they became too ill, used up or stubborn, they would be killed. Customers may also be killed if it appeared to be profitable enough. When police officers searched the sisters' property they found 91 bodies.
Racing Fever
Producer
Shot on location in Miami, Racing Fever is concerned with a professional hydroplane racer named Pop Gunner, who's getting ready for one last race before passing his crown on to his son Lee. Pop's main competition is the wealthy, but oily, Gregg Stevenson, who also happens to be having an affair with Pop's daughter Linda.
Racing Fever
Director
Shot on location in Miami, Racing Fever is concerned with a professional hydroplane racer named Pop Gunner, who's getting ready for one last race before passing his crown on to his son Lee. Pop's main competition is the wealthy, but oily, Gregg Stevenson, who also happens to be having an affair with Pop's daughter Linda.
Racing Fever
Writer
Shot on location in Miami, Racing Fever is concerned with a professional hydroplane racer named Pop Gunner, who's getting ready for one last race before passing his crown on to his son Lee. Pop's main competition is the wealthy, but oily, Gregg Stevenson, who also happens to be having an affair with Pop's daughter Linda.
The Checkered Flag
Director
The alcoholic wife of a rich car racing champion persuades a young driver to kill her husband.
The Checkered Flag
Writer
The alcoholic wife of a rich car racing champion persuades a young driver to kill her husband.