A Couple Of Voices rom The Past (Shaun Costello and C.J Laing):

[I found this a fascinating read]

This is an extract of what 70s director Warren Evans has since posted on the
DVD Maniacs Forum. It’s an interesting read even if you’re not into classic
porn (the link is at the bottom, please feel free to use that rather than my
extract). Some of the following relates to Alpha Blue’s “Shaun Costello
Collection”, he’s also looking for a publisher.

“Waterpower was shot in the Fall of 1976. The elderly Jewish distributer,
who was the XXX front man for the boys downtown, called and asked me to come
and see him. I sit down in his office and he says, “Look, I’m a grandfather,
and I’m ashamed to have to say this, but they told me they need an enema
picture”. He had an audio tape of something called “The Enema Bandit”. Since
the boys who paid for it were too embarrassed to look at it, I was able to
take great liberties, and have a lot of fun with it. It was an enormous cult
hit in Germany, where it was released under the title “SCHPRITZ”. It was
shot for next to nothing and to this day I think it’s the funniest film I
ever made.”

“The pictures in this (Shaun Costello) collection, with the exceptions of
Forced Entry, and Waterpower were what was known in the business as “One Day
Wonders”. It was a simple formula: shoot in 12 to 14 hours, usually with a
cast of six (3 males each of whom had to come twice, and 3 females) edit in
two days, negative cut and audio mix in one day, and deliver the answer
print to the boys downtown. I was in most of the early films because I could
do four come shots a day, and because I was free. The total budget for each
picture was $5,000. I made a thousand and so did my partner, who was the
shooter. The cast all made $100. each. We had one full time editor, one full
time negative cutter, and did three pictures a week when we were at it full
time, in between LSD binges and travel. Between 1973, when the bulk of these
pictures were made, and 1977 we probably did about 120 of them ”

” Why was Waterpower Made? The money to make it came from a bunch of goons,
who were the porno end of the Gambino crime family. Their leader, who was
known by his initials, and whose name was only whispered, was shot by Sammy
the Bull Gravano in the late eighties. You have to understand that these
guys were not rocket scientists. Someone told one of them that there was a
guy in the State Prison in Illinois for giving college coeds enemas on the
Urbana campus of the State U. (True story, by the way) When we were in pre
production on this picture, Jamie Gillis actually wanted me to pay his air
fare to Illinois to visit this guy in prison. ”

” I have not seen a print of Waterpower in 25 years. The goons that paid
for it later put Gerry Damiano’s name on it thinking that would make a
difference. I remember shooting a nifty title sequence for this movie using
a scene of Jamie Gillis having his picture taken at a street fair, and
superimposing the titles over an extreme close up of one of his eyes. I used
a great piece of Bernard Herrman’s score from Brian DiPalma’s “Sisters” as
the title track. You guys have seen this thing recently. Did they leave the
title sequence in place or did they replace it? Please let me know. ”

“……..Thanks for the title info on Waterpower. I did a rape coda on the
tail over a similar shot of Jamie hiding from the police with the flashing
red lights of a police car lighting his face. Is that still there?”

“……….You’re right on both films. Other than Waterpower and Forced
Entry, all the others were “one day wonders” with little or no story line,
cranked out by my factory in the early to mid seventies. Forced Entry had no
mob connection at all. It was my first film of any kind and was funded by
a childhood friend who had a few extra bucks and a fascination with porno. I
needed to get him his money back, so when it was finally finished, I sold it
to a porno producer named Jerry Entrator for a cash buyout, and he made the
deal with Sherpix. I didn’t make anything, but my friend got his money back,
and I had actually made a feature length movie that people paid money to see
in theaters. I was a happy camper. On the Waterpower/Gerry Damiano thing,
Gerry was a wholly owned mafia slug with a really bad hair piece who did
what he was told. Before he made Deep Throat he was a wig stylist in Corona,
Queens. They certainly didn’t have to ask his permission to put his name on
anything.”

“………..Nice going on the connection between De Palma’s “Dressed to
Kill” and Hot
Dreams. All my better films are re-makes, in whole or in part of films that
I really liked. Waterpower was, of course, Taxi Driver. Hot Dreams was my
last xxx film, and probably the last of the big budget 35mm porno films.
>From ’79 to ’83 I made Pandora’s Mirror, Beauty, Heaven’s Touch, and Hot
Dreams. They all had six figure budgets, and were the last of their kind. I
don’t really have a favorite film. But I have to say that I had more fun
making and cutting Waterpower than any of the others. The boys down at
Baddabing central were too macho to look at an enema movie so I could take
an alledged porno flick, and turn it into a parody of itself. The scene
where Jamie first sees an enema being administered in a weird theater to a
gagged girl by a doctor and nurse is the funniest thing I ever put on film.
They had to cleanse her of vile humors because she refused to share her
toys. The Doctor reminds his patient, “Remember, Pamela…..you can always
take more than you think you can”. The girl had only one leg, something they
told me not to show, and later made films under the name Long Jean Silver. I
truly think that even if the boys who paid for it actually saw the film,
they would not get it. These guys were the Gambino crime family porno unit.
Their leader was shot in the late eighties by Sammy the Bull Gravano. ”

“……There actually were enema expulsion close ups, which worried the cast
and crew in terms of working in a disgusting atmosphere. Strangely enough,
all that came out was water, which was fine with all concerned. I never knew
that the idiots cut them out. It makes no sense. Why go through the trouble
of making a movie to satisfy enema freaks if you’re not going to show the
real thing. Actually an amazing thing happens in the last scene between
Jamie and C. J. Lang. He’s tied her up and given her the enema in a bath
tub. Jamie is kneeling behind her and we cut to a close up Jamie jerking his
cock and C. J.’s asshole about to expell the water. Suddenly a stream of
water shoots out and the second it hits the head of Jamie’s cock he comes.
What a pro. Actually, what a sick fuck, but he did gain the admiration of
the crew. ” 😉

“…..Jason Russell (John Sanderson) never produced anything for me. I
knew him in the very beginning as a porn actor along with wife Tina Russell
(Linda Sanderson) The only reason anyone ever hired John was that Linda was
beautiful and gave the most tactile, as well as cinematic blowjob in the
history of the universe. I never saw John with an erection, so after a while
people just stopped hiring him. He made a lot of loops with a couple of low
lives from Queens. Linda tragically died from chronic alchoholism in the mid
seventies. She was probably in her mid thirties. I don’t know anything about
the book you mentioned. I did know Harry Reems (Herb Streicher), Fred
Lincoln (Fred Perna), and Jamie Gillis (Jamie Gurman). We were actors
together in the early days of both soft and hard core porn. I probably knew
Herb best. We did a lot of LSD and mushrooms together. Jamie showed up a
year or two after Herb and Fred. He was driving a cab in Brooklyn at the
time. Fred screwed me out of some money when I sold a Porno documentary I
had made called, “LOOPS” to Sean Cunningham. He worked for one day. I worked
on it for three months, and he wound up making more than I did because he
held out on signing a release, and Cunningham insisted that I pay the
blackmail or there would be no deal. Fred moved to California, grew weird
hair, wore platform shoes, and looked like he was trick or treating. On
Gerry Damiano: Remember that he was a wig designer in Queens before he made
Deep Throat, so it shouldn’t surprise you that his hair piece was so
ridiculous. But then, have you ever seen a good one? I’m surprised that you
know about DB. He was in charge of the porno squad for the Gambino crime
family. Very few outside the family even knew that he existed. They used to
whisper his initials when they talked about him. I was the only film maker
that I know of who actually met him, but that was because I was their
biggest supplier. He was actually a nice, soft spoken, well dressed business
man. Nothing like the goombahs in his crew. He tried to keep his porno
connection as quiet as possible because it embarrassed him. He was mostly in
the construction racquets with Sammy the Bull Gravano, who shot him in the
head in the late eighties……..Thanks for the kind words. This all
happened a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, but it’s an interesting
excersize for me to relive some of this stuff, which I would not be doing
without your curiosity. So, I guess we both benefit. ”

” ….. Porno revisionist Fred Lincoln was not cast in Deep Throat because
he had a little dick, and was of no use to Damiano. As to whether or not
Damiano stiffed him, there was a lot of that in those days. The modern
porn/70’s porn thing is tricky. If you’re just looking for something to jerk
off to, today’s porn has beautiful girls who will do anything, and guys with
huge dicks that stay hard. 70’s porn was not as sexy, but it had a funky
personality all it’s own. Back when we were doing the one day wonders, which
were of course thinly improvised, I could not count the number of times that
I had to do four out of the six required come shots. The guys were not
reliable. Little dick fatsos like Bob Kerman were everywhere, and why anyone
hired them was beyond me. I tried to stick with a small group of reliable
guys who I knew would show up and perform. In those days there was only one
black guy, and he had a medium sized dick that seldom maintained an
erection. Very different times. Parts of waterpower was scripted. Marlene W,
Rob E (Eric Edwards?), with the bound and gagged Long Jean Silver for
instance. As the
budgets went up the boys started demanding scripts. I resisted because the
actors were so bad (with some obvious exceptions) that I thought they were
better off being given a situation, and then allowed to improvise dialogue.
The first real screenplay I did was for “PASSIONS OF CAROL”, my Dickens’
Chistmas Carol movie. This was the first hard core (the sex was awful) porno
film to ever open in a regular theater, the Quad Cinemas, on East 13th
Street in Manhattan. I thought it was pretty funny, but I doubt that it made
very much money. I guess I’ve made a lot of strange movies. As I remember,
everything after “CAROL” had a complete screenplay, sometimes as long as two
hundred pages. I wrote all of them with the exception of “DRACULA EXOTICA”,
which was written and produced by a guy named Ken Schwartz, who hired me to
direct. That was the biggest budget I ever worked with and turned out to be
a big disappoinment. Schwartz hired an inexperienced film editor who
butchered the footage. We had a pretty good cast, a big budget, great
locations, a funny script, and a serious crew. Because Ken Schwartz cheaped
out on the editing, the film never realized it’s potential. I would have cut
it for nothing. A real shame. ”

” ……Read my past postings on Dracula Exotica. It was the biggest budget
I ever worked with, and has it’s moments, but I was a hired Director on it
(one of the very few times) and had no control of the bad editing that
killed it. The print count varied: the 16mm one day wonders worked with
about 10 prints per picture, but the bigger budget 35mm pics might have
worked with as many as 30 release prints. Most of these were made by Leisure
Time, which was also Caballero. ”

” ..I really don’t remember whether I made Prisoner of Pleasure or not. It
sounds familiar, and I made a few pics with Jean Silver at around that time.
My guess is that I did. So you know about Mal Worab….Where do you guys
find out about this stuff? Mal was a character. He had an enormous
loft/studio in the West 20’s, which was a haven for underage runaways. Mal
used to hang out at the Port Authority bus station trolling for the young
stuff. This guy was a serious perve. At any given time there might be 5 or 6
runaway girls hanging out at his place. Bored porno actors might say to each
other, “Hey, lets see who’s at Mal’s”………By 10 and 1/2 I assume you
mean Marc Stevens ( Marc Kutner). During the one day wonder years I used him
often. He was funny, reliable, and well endowed. In the mid seventies his
mother found out that her only son was running a brothel in the West Village
(true story) and she jumped out the window of the apartment building where
he grew up. I bumped into him several years later at an after hours club and
he was very friendly and happy to see me, and seriously coked out. I was
told that he died of a cocaine overdose in the late eighties. ”

” During the past week Ive had a lot of fun talking with you guys. I’m just
amazed that after all these years so many of you are still watching this
shit. I’m equally amazed at how much most of you seem to know about the
porno business during this period, as well as about the period itself. So it
got me to thinking………Is there really a general interest in this stuff?
I was involved, in escalating degrees of importance, between 1968 and
1083…….15 years. I’m probably the only one left who knows as much as I
do about this subject. I have a remarkable memory, and I’m an acceptably
good writer. Do I really want to do this. I’m looking for serious feedback
from you guys. Convince me. There’s such volume of material. From Mal
Worab’s home for runaway girls, to the weekend I spent in Las Vegas with
Double Decker Dom and his brutal sidekick Peanuts, trying to pry Marilyn
Chambers from the clutches of her pimp so that they could make a few
pictures with her. It took major convincing, begging, and cajoling on my
part to keep Peanuts from killing this guy………..Anyway, convince me. Is
there an audience for this kind of book? If I were to take on this kind of
commitment, I would need your help. Without some kind of commitment from
you, I don’t think I’d bother………………….Convince me!”

http://www.dvdmaniacs.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9832

You need to read up to post #28 on page 2 in the thread. “Warren Evans” /
Shaun Costello shows up out of the blue — same guy who shot this movie and
many more 30+ years ago & who’s been totally out of the business & out of
sight with a legit job for 20 years.

C. J. >>My dear Shaun, shame on you. Your lack of perspective, grace,
and discretion is really disappointing. I am confused as to how you
justify revealing personal facts to which you were privy through long
standing friendships while you are still experiencing upset, paranoia,
and nervousness over your birth name finally being connected to your
work. How dare you vehemently assert your right to privacy on this
board while having flagrant disregard for others’ right to the same.
You have disrespected me for the sake of your narrative and your 15
minutes.

If anyone wants to know what C.J. Laing was like, feel free to ask
me.<<

>From Shaun Costello >>Hey John E…..No need…Remember, I’m the one
who brought her here, but I really had no idea this would
happen………….But I’ll tell you this…….this is what always
happens…….This is why I have avoided the porno business, and the
people in it………….this…………..THIS!………..T his is
how porno people behave………..this. I thought Wendy was above this
kind of nonsense…….I’ve gotten soft in my old age……..I should
have known better……..She’s here because she’s looking for a book
deal, and obviously craves the attention that she will most certainly
get…………….I’d appologize except the guys here are going to
have a great time talking with her, so what the hell………..but I’m
not going to stay around….not after this…..Not to worry….I’m
always around for you, and we can stay in touch by e mail. I’ve
outlived my usefulness here anyway. I spoke up to correct a few
misconceptions, and to answer questions as truthfully and accurately
as I could, and I’ve done that. And I’ve had fun talking with you
guys, but it’s time to move on and leave this venue to someone who
seems to really need it……………….So,
Heeeeeeeeeeeeerrrreeeeees Wendy.<<

C. J. >>

My qualms with Shaun were above and beyond the usage of real names and
though they are readily available if one were to research, there was
no need to gratuitously post them. And this is after he wrote volumes
about his personal paranoia over his name being used. Not one person
here had asked about real names, no one was bantering them about. They
add no additional credibility to the historical details Shaun was so
aptly able to present.

What made me comment in regard to one’s privacy was Shaun’s seeming
lack of regard when divulging details about my family (who are not
public figures), his opinions on Sharon Mitchell’s scholastic
abilities, or the numerous of other terse and unflattering comments
about people whom he claims friendship but truly knew only briefly
over 30 years ago. I found his judgments lacked perspective or insight
in regard to the era and atmosphere in which this took place, the age
we all were, and the ability for anyone’s growth and change. What may
be glib and sarcastic humour when recanting a story verbally can
easily become offensive when fixed in print. This is a public forum
with no intellectual property rights and thus any part or parts of
these conversations can be re-printed in any manner.

Now to retaliate by accusing me of having an agenda, whether for
attention or for monetary gain is really outrageous. I did not
initiate contact with Shaun, I did not spend several months on a
bulletin board recanting tales to an eager crowd. I did not announce a
book deal and solicit the aide of my fans to do my grunt work. I did
not post dramatic ‘woe is me’ posts declaring foul and victimization.
Shaun’s ‘Farewell’ tirade oozes with petulance and miffedness about
not being the flavor of the month anymore. it’s like, “if you guys are
going to pay all this attention to *her* then I’m going to take my
toys and go home!” which is totally consistent with his disingenuous
“why, I’m just so surprised that you all would care about little ol’
me!” act which did a very poor job of masking the fact that he was
*loving* being the center of attention.

My reaction to Shaun’s behavior has absolutely nothing to do with
being part of the collective “porn people.” I was extremely
conciliatory toward him considering my legitimate beef with what he
said about me and others, and if he can’t deal with that he’s got no
business interacting with human beings.<<