Russell Mulcahy

Russell Mulcahy
Born	(1953-06-23) 23 June 1953 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Education	Corrimal High School
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter

Russell Mulcahy (born 23 June 1953) is an Australian film director. Mulcahy's work is recognisable by the use of fast cuts, tracking shots and use of glowing lights, neo-noir lighting, windblown drapery, and fans. He was one of the most prominent music video directors of the 1980s and he has also worked in television since the early 1990s.

Early Life and Career

Mulcahy's career began as a film editor for Australia's Seven Network. It was here that he began making his first music videos in the early 1970s, after he was approached by the producer of a Seven pop show and asked to film some original footage and compile a music video (then known as a "film clip") to accompany the Harry Nilsson hit "Everybody's Talkin'" (for which no original video was available).

He soon found that he was in demand as a music video director, and made a number of successful film clips for bands from Australia and New Zealand, including Dragon and AC/DC, and the classic music video for The Saints' "(I'm) Stranded".

United Kingdom

He relocated to the UK around 1976, Mulcahy joined Jon Roseman Productions International and made successful music videos for several noted British pop acts—his early UK credits included The Sex Pistols, The Human League, The Stranglers, XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel" (1979), and Paul McCartney.

Notable he directed The Vapors' hit "Turning Japanese" and his landmark video for The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" (1979) which became the first music video played on MTV in 1981.

In 1978, he went to the United States (for Roseman) and directed videos for The Cryers and Candi Staton - where he first used the "jump cut" - under producer Paul Flattery. Other Mulcahy innovations included spot color, body painting, glass matte shots and faux widescreen aspect ratio (first used on his Ultravox and Rod Stewart videos) which have all become standards for the genre.

Mulcahy directed his first feature film with the documentary Derek and Clive Get the Horn (1979) starring Dudley Moore and Peter Cook. However for the next few years Mulcahy focused on video clips, forming notable collaborations in particular with Ultravox, Duran Duran, Kim Carnes, Icehouse, Spandau Ballet, Bonnie Tyler (including "Total Eclipse of the Heart"), The Motels, Rod Stewart and Elton John.

Mulcahy returned to Australia to direct the feature film Razorback (1984). The film was a box office disappointment but has become a cult favorite.

Mulcahy went back to video clips working with Culture Club, Elton John, Berlin and The Rolling Stones. His work for Duran Duran was particularly striking, including the clip for "Wild Boys", Arena (An Absurd Notion) and the As the Lights Go Down concert video.

Highlander

In 1986, Mulcahy became well known after directing the cult classic film Highlander, starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery, featuring music from Queen.

Mulcahy directed several Queen video clips for the Highlander soundtrack (including "A Kind of Magic") as well as works for Billy Joel, Kim Carnes, Kenny Loggins, Def Leppard, Elton John (including "I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That") and Rod Stewart.

He later directed the Highlander sequel, Highlander II: The Quickening (1991), but disowned it after the completion-bond company interfered with production. Reportedly he wanted to have his credit changed to Alan Smithee, but as he was not a member of the Directors Guild of America, he had no way of forcing the film-guaranty company to change the credit. He eventually took the opportunity to restore his vision for the film, to a large extent, with the video release of Highlander II: The Renegade Version.

Focus on Features

Mulcahy began to focus on features, mostly action/thrillers, such as Ricochet (1991) with Denzel Washington, Blue Ice (1992) with Michael Caine, The Real McCoy (1993) with Kim Basinger, The Shadow (1994) with Alec Baldwin and Silent Trigger (1996) with Dolph Lundgren.

He continued to direct the occasional video clip for artists like Elton John and began to direct TV shows like Tales from the Crypt, Perversions of Science and The Hunger.. He directed the features Tale of the Mummy (1998) and Resurrection (1999), the latter with Christopher Lambert of Highlander'.

Later Career

In the 21st century Mulcahy's work was increasingly on the small screen: On the Beach (2000), filmed in Australia based on the novel by Neville Shute; The Lost Battalion (2001), with Rick Schroder; and 1st to Die (2003); he also did episodes of Queer as Folk, The Young Lions, Jeremiah and [[Skins].

He returned to features with the Australian swimming film Swimming Upstream (2003) but mostly did TV movies like 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story (2004), Mysterious Island (2005), The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (2006), The Sitter (2007), Crash and Burn (2007), The Scorpion King: Rise of a Warrior (2008), and Prayers for Bobby (2009).

He did the features Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), Give 'em Hell Malone (2009) and Grimm (2010).

Mulcahy was a key director on the Teen Wolf TV series as well as directing episodes of Eye Candy and The Lizzie Borden Chronicles. He returned to features with In Like Flynn (2018).

Music videography

• "(I'm) Stranded" by The Saints, 1977
• "Video Killed the Radio Star" and "Living in the Plastic Age" for The Buggles
• For songs from Duran Duran's first four albums:
  • "Planet Earth"
  • "My Own Way"
  • "Lonely in Your Nightmare"
  • "Hungry Like the Wolf"
  • "Save a Prayer"
  • "Rio"
  • "Night Boat"
  • "Is There Something I Should Know?"
  • "The Reflex"
  • "The Wild Boys"
• For Elton John:
  • "Breaking Down Barriers"
  • "Carla/Etude/Fanfare"
  • "Elton's Song"
  • "Fascist Faces"
  • "The Fox"
  • "Heart in the Right Place"
  • "Heels of the Wind"
  • "Just Like Belgium"
  • "Nobody Wins"
  • "Chloe"
  • "I'm Still Standing" (two versions)
  • "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues"
  • "Sad Songs (Say So Much)"
  • "Act of War" (with Millie Jackson)
  • "Wrap Her Up"
  • "I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That"
  • "Town of Plenty"
  • "A Word in Spanish"
  • "The One"
  • "Simple Life"
• For Spandau Ballet
  • "Paint Me Down"
  • "Muscle Bound"
  • "Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)"
  • "Instinction"
  • "She Loved Like Diamond"
  • "True"
• "Bette Davis Eyes", "Draw of the Cards", "Say You Don't Know Me" and "Voyeur" for Kim Carnes
• "The Tubes Video" for The Tubes' The Completion Backward Principle, nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video
• "Total Eclipse of the Heart" for Bonnie Tyler
• "Vienna", "Passing Strangers", "The Thin Wall" and "The Voice" for Ultravox
• "Allentown", "She's Right on Time", "Pressure" and "A Matter of Trust" for Billy Joel
• "A Kind of Magic" and "Princes of the Universe" for Queen
• "One Hit (To the Body)" and "Going to a Go-Go" for The Rolling Stones
• "Wonderful Christmastime" for Paul McCartney
• "Gypsy" and "Oh Diane" for Fleetwood Mac
• "The War Song" for Culture Club
• "Sex (I'm A...)" by Berlin
• "Icehouse", "Street Cafe", "Hey Little Girl", "Taking the Town" for Icehouse
• "Turning Japanese" for The Vapors
• "Young Turks" and "Tonight I'm Yours" for Rod Stewart
• "Pour Some Sugar on Me (version 1)" for Def Leppard
• "Meet Me Halfway" for Kenny Loggins
• "The Flame" for Arcadia
• "Sold" for Boy George
• "Jeanny" for Falco
• "Call Me" for Go West
• "Never Say Die" for Cliff Richard
• "It's Raining Again" for Supertramp
• "Only the Lonely" for The Motels
• "Talk Talk" for Talk Talk
• "Duchess" and "Bear Cage" for The Stranglers
• "Empire State Human" and "Circus of Death" for The Human League
• "Guilty" for Classix Nouveaux
• "Making Plans for Nigel" for XTC
• "One-Two-Five" for 10cc
• "Baby, Please Don't Go and "Problem Child" for AC/DC

Filmography

Actor

• Nuts, Bolts and Bedroom Springs (1975)

Director

• Derek and Clive Get the Horn (1979)
• Razorback (1984)
• As the Lights Go Down (1984) (concert video)
• Arena (An Absurd Notion) (1985) (concept concert video)
• Highlander (1986)
• Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
• Ricochet (1991)
• Blue Ice (1992)
• The Real McCoy (1993)
• The Shadow (1994)
• Silent Trigger (1996)
• Tale of the Mummy (1998)
• Resurrection (1999)
• On the Beach (2000) (television movie)
• The Lost Battalion (2001) (television movie)
• Swimming Upstream (2003)
• Mysterious Island (2005) (television movie)
• The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (2006) (television movie)
• Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
• While the Children Sleep (2007) (television movie)
• The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (2008) (direct-to-video)
• Prayers for Bobby (2009) (television movie)
• Give 'em Hell, Malone (2009) (direct-to-video)
• In Like Flynn (2018)

Television

Director

• Tales from the Crypt (1991–1996): "Split Second", "People Who Live in Brass Hearses", "Let the Punishment Fit the Crime", "Horror in the Night"
• Perversions of Science (1997): "Planely Possible", "People's Choice"
• The Hunger (1997–2000): "Necros", "The Secret Shih-Tan", "I'm Dangerous Tonight", "Nunc Dimittis", "Wrath of God", "The Sacred Fire"
• Queer as Folk (2000): "Premiere", "Queer, There and Everywhere", "No Bris, No Shirt, No Service", "Surprise Kill", "The King of Babylon"
• Jeremiah (2002): "The Long Road, Part One"
• Young Lions (2002): "The Navy: Part 1", "The Navy: Part 2"
• First to Die (2003)
• Skin (2003–2004): "Pilot"
• Teen Wolf (2011–2017): "Pilot", "Second Chance at First Line", "Pack Mentality", "Co-Captain", "Formality", "Code Breaker", "Omega", "Shape Shifted", "Frenemy", "Restraint", "Raving", "Master Plan" (with Tim Andrew), "Tattoo", "Chaos Rising", "Currents", "Visionary", "The Overlooked", "Lunar Ellipse", "Anchors", "Illuminated", "Letharia Vulpina", "The Divine Move", "The Dark Moon", "The Benefactor", "Orphaned", "Smoke & Mirrors", "Creatures of the Night", "Dreamcatchers", "Strange Frequencies", "Status Asthmaticus", "The Last Chimera", "Amplification", "Lie Ability", "Apotheosis", "Radio Silence", "Ghosted", "Riders on the Storm", "Said the Spider to the Fly", "Werewolves of London", "The Wolves of War"
• The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (2015) "Welcome To Maplecroft", "Flowers"

Personal life

Russel Mulcahy grew up in Mangerton in the Illawarra region of New South Wales and attended Corrimal High School. Mulcahy lives in Sydney with his partner.

External links

• Russell Mulcahy at IMDb
• Russell Mulcahy at the Music Video Database