Modern Vampires

Richard “Rick” Elfman, (born March 6, 1949 in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles, California), is an American film actor, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and magazine publisher.

Richard is the son of novelist Blossom Elfman (aka “Clare Elfman”), and the older brother of musician and film composer Danny Elfman, with whom he founded Oingo Boingo, an eclectic band popular in the 1980s & 1990’s. Richard is brother-in-law of Danny’s wife, Bridget Fonda, father of Bodhi Elfman, father-in-law of Bodhi’s wife, Jenna Elfman, and father and business partner in Buzzine Networks with son Louis Elfman. Richard currently resides in the Hollywood Hills.

Elfman’s first directing project was the cult film Forbidden Zone released in 1980. It was a black and white film version of the theatrical show, starring band members and friends, including Danny singing a modified version of Cab Calloway’s Minnie the Moocher as Satan with lyrics modified for the plot. Richard also appears in the film singing “The Yiddishe Charleston” from the 1920s. Some years on, film critics cited the film as a potential source of inspiration for the surrealist science-fiction film Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space.

Forbidden Zone had its New York color premiere March 20, 2010 at the Museum of Modern Art, in conjunction with the Tim Burton exhibition.

Forbidden Zone: Live in the 6th Dimension will open as a stage musical in Los Angeles in May 2010.

Elfman also made Shrunken Heads (1994; some footage and scenery from this film was later reused for the best effects sequences in the film Zarkorr! The Invader) and Modern Vampires (1998). Elfman said in a 2009 interview that he has also done pseudonymous film work under names such as “Aristide Sumatra” and “Mahatma Kane Sumatra”. —Wikipedia