WHO IS BILL REBANE? (2021) ¢ ¢ ¢
D: David Cairns
At some point in this documentary, you learn that Bill Rebane once had an offer to direct a movie for American International, but made the mistake of telling Samuel Arkoff he didn't like the script. So Rebane never made it to Hollywood, and instead built his own studio in rural Wisconsin, where he turned out such classics as "The Demons of Ludlow", "The Capture of Bigfoot" and "The Giant Spider Invasion". Writer/director David Cairns treats Rebane as the auteur he aspired to be, the same way Mark Cousins (who appears briefly as a witness) might approach a piece on Orson Welles. That Rebane had limited storytelling skills and created monsters out of Volkswagens hardly seems to matter. What does matter is that, working on the margins and against ridiculous odds, he got his movies made. The artistry might be minimal, but the dedication that went into it was not. Bill Rebane. Wisconsin's own Ed Wood.
