Edward Dein

After starting small with the PRC comedy Baby Face Morgan (1942), American screenwriter Edward Dein signed on with Universal. While working for the "spinning globe" studio, Dein labored away on such "B" horror melodramas as Calling Dr. Death (1943), Jungle Woman (1944) and The Cat Creeps (1946). During this period, he moonlighted at Columbia (Soul of a Monster, the "Boston Blackie" films) and RKO. Switching to directing in the 1950s, Dein turned out one of the best (albeit cheapest) red-paranoia thrillers of the era, Shack Out on 101 (1955) which he also scripted. His later credits include the curiously effective horror piece The Leech Woman (1960). Dein's directorial output includes some startlingly good acting performances, notably Lee Marvin in Shack Out on 101 and Colleen Gray in Leech Woman. Despite the claims of certain film catalogues, "Edward Dein" is not a pseudonym for Italian filmmaker Ubaldo Ragona.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide