Tom DeSimone obit

Tom DeSimone, Director of ‘Chatterbox,’ ‘Hell Night’ and ‘Reform School Girls,’ Dies at 87

He started his career in adult films, where he was “interested in exploring gays in love or at least relationships.” 

He was not on the list.

Tom DeSimone, who emerged from the world of 1970s gay adult movies to direct such mainstream cult films as the Linda Blair-starring Hell Night and the women-in-prison flicks The Concrete Jungle and Reform School Girls, has died. He was 87.

DeSimone died Oct. 17 in a senior care facility in Palm Springs, his younger brother, actor, comedian and drummer Bob DeSimone (Friday the 13th: A New Beginning), told The Hollywood Reporter. He had terminal cancer and opted to end his life with medical assistance.

Tom DeSimone also is known for directing the notorious comedy Chatterbox (1977), which starred Candice Rialson as a hairdresser whose vagina talks and has a mind of its (her?) own and featured turns from Rip Taylor and Professor Irwin Corey.

The slasher-haunted house film Hell Night (1981), also starring Vincent Van Patten, marked Blair’s return to the horror genre following 1977’s Exorcist II: The Heretic. (Fun fact: Frank Darabont worked on the movie as a production assistant.)

After he helmed The Concrete Jungle (1982), starring Tracey E. Bregman and Jill St. John, DeSimone figured he might as well parody the women-behind-bars movie, so he wrote and directed Reform School Girls (1986), starring Wendy O. Williams, Sybil Danning and Pat Ast.

He later moved to television, helming four episodes of the anthology series Freddy’s Nightmares in 1988-89 and calling the shots for such other shows as Swamp Thing, Dark Justice, Acapulco Bay and Pensacola: Wings of Gold.

The second of three kids, Thomas DeSimone was born on July 1, 1939, in Revere, Massachusetts, and raised in Newton and Weston. His father, Amodeo, was a chef and restaurateur, and his mother, Angela, a beautician who owned salons.

He studied directing, writing and theater arts at Emerson College, then earned his master’s degree in film production at UCLA, which led him to his first feature, the nonunion, ultra-low-budget Terror in the Jungle (1968).

Hamstrung by a producer who “was a rank amateur who knew nothing at all about making films,” he said in 2022, he quit the picture after about a month, “never thinking he would keep my name on the project. Little did I know, unfortunately.”

Under the pseudonym Lancer Brooks, DeSimone directed The Collection (1970), considered to be among the first gay adult films with a plot and dialogue. His credits in this arena would also include Lust in the Afternoon (1971), Confessions of a Male Groupie (1972), Erotikus: History of the Gay Movie (1974), Catching Up (1975), The Idol (1979) and Skin Deep (1982).

“I was interested in exploring gays in love or at least relationships,” he said in a 2019 interview for the Bijou Blog website. “My stories pretty much gravitated to those situations. I was tired of all the films that started with the pizza boy delivering and ending up on the couch. That’s not to say I didn’t make a few of those, too. But when I really wanted to do something creative and when I got juiced up to do something, it always seemed to go to the relationship stories.”

Many of his movies were distributed by the New York-based gay production studio Hand in Hand Films.

Chatterbox was produced by Bruce Cohn Curtis, who then hired DeSimone for Hell Night. He then reunited with Blair on Savage Streets (1984) but left early on that film before directing and co-writing Angel III: The Final Chapter (1988), starring Mitzi Kapture.

In the mid-’90s, he spent about a year in Mexico City and Acapulco, where he directed every episode (believed to be 60 in all) of the telenovela Acapulco Bay.

In addition to his brother, survivors include his sister-in-law, Lisa; his nieces, Amanda and Gianna; and his great-nephew, Ori. His sister, Carlene, died in May.

Director

Natasha Henstridge, Kristen Miller, and Natashia Williams in She Spies (2002)

She Spies

6.1

TV Series

Director

2002

1 episode

 

James Brolin, Sandra Hess, Bobby Hosea, Kenny Johnson, and Michael Trucco in Pensacola: Wings of Gold (1997)

Pensacola: Wings of Gold

6.1

TV Series

Director

1998

1 episode

 

Coming Distractions

Video

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1997

 

Susan Walters in The Big Easy (1996)

The Big Easy

7.1

TV Series

Director

1996–1997

4 episodes

 

Ash Adams in Acapulco Bay (1995)

Acapulco Bay

7.4

TV Series

Director

1995–1997

 

Janet Gunn, Clayton Prince, and Ramy Zada in Dark Justice (1991)

Dark Justice

7.3

TV Series

Director

1991–1993

12 episodes

 

Swamp Thing (1990)

Swamp Thing

6.3

TV Series

Director

1992–1993

3 episodes

 

Super Force (1990)

Super Force

6.7

TV Series

Director

1991–1992

9 episodes

 

Freddy's Nightmares (1988)

Freddy's Nightmares

6.2

TV Series

Director

1988–1989

4 episodes

 

Mitzi Kapture in Angel III: The Final Chapter (1988)

Angel III: The Final Chapter

4.9

Director

1988

 

Pat Ast and Wendy O. Williams in Reform School Girls (1986)

Reform School Girls

5.4

directed by

1986

 

Bi-bi Love

6.3

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1985

 

Bi-Coastal

7.8

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1985

 

Hellhole (1985)

Hellhole

5.0

director (uncredited)

1985

 

Linda Blair, Linnea Quigley, and Robert Dryer in Savage Streets (1984)

Savage Streets

6.2

Director (uncredited)

1984

 

A Gay Guide to Cruising

Director (as Tom Mosca)

1983

 

Skin Deep

7.8

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1982

 

The Concrete Jungle (1982)

The Concrete Jungle

4.8

director (as Tom De Simone)

1982

 

Wet Shorts

6.8

Director

1982

 

Linda Blair in Hell Night (1981)

Hell Night

5.6

Director (as Tom De Simone)

1981

 

The Dirty Picture Show

7.5

Director (as De Simone)

1980

 

Gettin' Down

8.2

Director (as Lancer Brooks, credit only)

1979

 

The Idol

6.3

Director

1979

 

Bad, Bad Boys

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1979

 

Hot Truckin'

7.0

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1978

 

The Harder They Fall

7.3

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1977

 

Heavy Equipment

6.7

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1977

 

Larry Gelman, Candice Rialson, and Rip Taylor in Chatterbox! (1977)

Chatterbox!

5.1

Director

1977

 

Pool Party

5.0

Director (as Mike Taylor)

1975

 

Catching Up

6.3

Director

1975

 

Sur

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1975

 

Six Card Stud

Director (as Mike Taylor)

1975

 

Good Hot Stuff

6.8

Director (as Thomas DeSimone)

1975

 

Duffy's Tavern

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1974

 

Everything Goes

Director (as L. Brooks)

1974

 

Station to Station

6.0

Director (as L. Brooks)

1974

 

Confessions of an Inmate

Director (as Tom Mosca)

1973

 

Games Without Rules

Director (as L. Brooks)

1973

 

Swap Meat

6.2

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1973

 

The Classified Caper

5.3

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1973

 

Erotikus: A History of the Gay Movie

6.8

Director (as L. Brooks)

1973

 

Sons of Satan

5.1

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1973

 

Black Heat

3.8

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1973

 

Chained

5.8

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1972

 

Prison Girls (1972)

Prison Girls

4.1

Director (as Thomas De Simone)

1972

 

Confessions of a Male Groupie

6.1

Director

1972

 

Gay Guide to Hawaii

Director

1972

 

Assault

6.1

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1971

 

Highway Hustler

2.7

Director (as Richard Cole)

1971

 

Lust in the Afternoon

6.8

Director

1971

 

Peter the Peeker

Director

1971

 

Black and Blue

Director

1971

 

Dust Unto Dust

6.3

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1970

 

How to Make a Homo Movie

5.0

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1970

 

Inside A.M.G. (the Athletic Model Guild Story)

7.4

Director (uncredited)

1970

 

The Upstairs Room

Director

1970

 

The Collection

6.8

Director (as Lancer Brooks)

1970

 

One: A Study of the Teenage Masturbation Syndrome

Director

1969

 

Terror in the Jungle (1968)

Terror in the Jungle

3.2

plane sequence (as Alex De'Simone)

1968

 

The Game

6.7

Short

Director

1965

 

Writer

Mitzi Kapture in Angel III: The Final Chapter (1988)

Angel III: The Final Chapter

4.9

written by

1988

 

Pat Ast and Wendy O. Williams in Reform School Girls (1986)

Reform School Girls

5.4

written by

1986

 

Bi-Coastal

7.8

written by

1985

 

The Idol

6.3

written by

1979

 

Larry Gelman, Candice Rialson, and Rip Taylor in Chatterbox! (1977)

Chatterbox!

5.1

story

1977

 

The Game

6.7

Short

Writer

1965

 

Producer

Wet Shorts

6.8

producer

1982

 

Gettin' Down

8.2

producer (as Lancer Brooks)

1979

 

The Idol

6.3

producer

1979

 

Heavy Equipment

6.7

producer (as Lancer Brooks)

1977

 

Confessions of a Male Groupie

6.1

producer (as Tom De Simone)

1972

 

Editor

Good Hot Stuff

6.8

Editor (as Thomas DeSimone)

1975

 

Terror in the Jungle (1968)

Terror in the Jungle

3.2

Editor (as Tom Mosca)

1968

 

The Game

6.7

Short

Editor

1965

 

Second Unit or Assistant Director

Wanted: Billy the Kid

6.9

assistant director

1976

 

Ballet Down the High Way

6.8

assistant director

1975

 

Camera and Electrical Department

Wanted: Billy the Kid

6.9

camera operator

1976

 

Ballet Down the High Way

6.8

camera operator

1975

 

Actor

Inside Jennifer Welles

6.5

Guy Hitting on Jennifer (uncredited)

1977

 

Cinematographer

Good Hot Stuff

6.8

Cinematographer (as Thomas DeSimone)

1975

 

Thanks

Claude Loir in A Very Good Boy (2026)

A Very Good Boy

5.9

TV Movie

thanks

2026

 

Girl Blood Sport (2019)

Girl Blood Sport

3.4

special thanks

2019

 

Reform School Girls (2014)

Reform School Girls

6.5

Video

very special thanks

2014

 

Jack Wrangler in Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon (2008)

Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon

7.0

special thanks (as Tom De Simone)

2008

 

L.A. Tool & Die

8.3

our thanks to (as Tom DiSimone)

1979

 

Self

Big Sur Gay Porn (2023)

Big Sur Gay Porn

8.2

Short

Self

2023

 

So Young, So Bad, So What: Making 'Reform School Girls'

Self

2022

 

The Concrete Jungle: An Interview with Tom DeSimone

Video

Self

2017

 

Anatomy of the Death Scenes

Video

Self - Director (as Tom De Simone)

2017

 

Hell Nights with Tom DeSimone

Video

Self

2017

 

On Location At Kimberly Crest

Video

Self

2017

 

The Green Girl (2014)

The Green Girl

7.8

Self - Director

2014