Shaun Costello
Date of birth: 1944-01-01
Place of birth: The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
Known for: Directing
Also known as: Russ Carlson, Lars Tobin, Eclair von Ott, Otto Von Lickit, Harry Gordon, Jack Hammer, Helmuth Richler, Kenneth Schwartz, John Stover, Oscar Tripe, Nicholas Berland, Amanda Barton, Warren Evans, Arlo Benson, Martin Jones, Arthur van Deuvel, Joel Devlin, Stephen Steinberg, Jerry Conti, Howard Steinman, Howard Stein, Rick Livermoore
Biography
Shaun Costello began directing for "loops" (10-minute scenes shown in coin-operated viewers in adult theaters) in NYC in the early 1970s, and soon was directing (and acting in) full porn movies and other grindhouse "roughies" shown in Times Square's 42nd Street adult theaters. Costello took work where he could get it, often working for the Mob, who owned many adult theaters and distribution, and working under different aliases for different theaters so that no one (at the time) knew that he was his own competition. Eventually moving on to a mainstream documentary career, Costello written and directed grindhouse movies - rough and violent and reflecting of their times - have seen a resurgence as the 2010's have seen these movies be remastered and re-released and often seen for the first time in decades. Anyone interested in the history of American porn or grindhouse/exploitation theater of the late 1960s and 1970s will likely have encountered Shaun Costello's work, often unknowingly due to his prolific use of aliases.
Movie Credits
The Love Bus
1974-11-01
Dr. Scheisekopf (Jamie Gillis) advises patient Jennifer Jordan (aka Sarah Nicholson) to get away for
Pandora's Mirror
1981-12-28
While browsing, a small antique shop, a large mirror catches Pandora's attention, seemingly casting
Forced Entry
1973-03-16
A crazed Vietnam vet hunts down and kills women.
Cheryl's Surrender
1975-12-26
A gang of terrorists attack the American embassy in Labania and kidnap the ambassador, his wife and
The Untamed Vixens
1976-01-01
A man is kidnapped by a group of women and subjected to unspeakable tortures. However, he comes to e
Teenage Nurses
1974-05-14
When Dr. Canute is appointed Director of Veterans Hospital, he decides that what the boys that came
Joy Of Humiliation
1977-06-16
Vanessa's psychologist husband recounts the kinky case history of an insatiable patient.
The Fury in Alice
1976-06-01
A domestic tragicomedy which follows a slutty housewife through her kinky extra marital affairs.
The Porn Brokers
1973-03-16
Quasi-documentary that looks at the sex industry in Europe. Features interviews with people who make
Selling It
1972-01-06
Venture Into the Bizzare
1976-01-01
Two young girls in New York's Greenwich Village own a plaster-casting shop. One day a well-known Hol
The Two Lives of Jennifer
1979-01-01
A writer finds out that his wife is leading a double life, which includes a second husband who lives
The Summer of Suzanne
1976-01-01
When her parents leave for a trip to New York, a young Chicago girl decides to lose her virginity as
Sexual Customs in Scandinavia
1972-02-11
A doctor outlines several cases involving sexual problems suffered by citizens of Scandinavia, and t
Feel
1971-09-23
A "whitecoater" released long after the industry had dropped such requirements, nonetheless a requir
Cherry Hustlers
1977-05-01
An accountant embezzles $80,000 from his company, in cahoots with a beautiful company executive. How
Private Practice
1975-01-01
A sex therapist treats a pain addicted tramp who needs leather hooded brutes to bind and beat her to
Schoolgirl's Reunion
1977-03-01
Two former classmates reunite at their school's athletic stadium to reminisce about their youth, but
Two Senoritas
1975-02-03
A husband and wife are very upset when they learn their Friday night orgy venue has been sublet to t
Sweet Sexteen
1973-09-01
It's Debbie's birthday, and her friends have hired a stud to deflower the young stud. The stud in q
Hymns from the Abyss
2021-08-02
Images of moral panic, cult followings and the edges of madness from sex and death.
Sensuous Vixens
1971-08-20
Tina Russell (X Rated Critics Organization Hall of Fame Member) leads us through the tumultuously se
Enrapture
1990-03-30
In this erotic thriller an out of work actor is forced to take a job as a limousine driver. He drive
China Doll
1975-10-06
Private investigator Mickey Finn searches for a missing china doll filled with $25,000 of Dilithium
Midnight Desires
1976-03-09
Four friends on a weekend getaway to Long Island are siting around a fireplace and each relates a se
Water Power
1976-09-01
A mentally troubled man becomes a serial rapist and torturer due to the strong shock he suffers afte
Double Pleasure
1982-04-23
When these Hollywood superstars double their pleasure, they’ll also double yours, because watching t
Come Fly with Us
1974-07-16
A hard and penetrating look into the lives of gorgeous stewardesses.
The Magical Ring
1971-09-24
A beggar gives a woman a ring in appreciation for an act of kindness. The woman discovers that the r
Slave of Pleasure
1978-08-30
Private detective, Dan McCord has been hired by Richard Anselm to find his beautiful wife, Eileen. A
Guess Who's Coming
1973-05-31
A man and his wife invite a Royal couple over for dinner in the hopes of advancing the husband s car
A Taste Of Bette
1978-01-01
When the leader of a sadistic sex cult is killed, its members have to choose a new person to lead th
Betrayed Teens
1977-03-09
After her daughter is kidnapped by a gang of bikers, Helen hires a private detective to find her.
Daughters of Discipline
1978-01-01
A young woman gets involved in a sex-and-death cult, and finds out that she is slated to be the cult
Mistress Electra
1982-01-08
While watching porn loops at a stag party given by his friend Harry, a husband is shocked to see his
Sensuous Fly Girls
1976-03-19
When astronauts are flying to Jupiter, they are to get sexual relief from girls who accompany them t
Pen Pals
1974-03-08
A group of pen-pals from across the country, who have never met before, gather in New York City for
Gladys and Her All Girl Band
1975-05-26
Two porno actors on the run audition in drag for a rock band and actually get the gig. They are pur
The Tycoon's Daughter
1973-10-31
Three friends kidnap the daughter of a millionaire and plan to ask for a big ransom. They hide out o
She's No Angel
1976-01-01
In order to cheat her out of her inheritance, a young girl's parents have her locked up in a mental
Honeymoon Suite
1973-09-12
Three swinging young couples decide to marry one other and spend an erotic honeymoon at a fancy hote
Tortured Woman
1976-10-01
Two young women come across secret papers having do with with foreign diplomats.
The Travails of June
1976-01-01
A reporter interviews June, a prostitute who has just been arrested, and she relates her tale of bei
The School for Sexual Arts
1975-01-01
Female students at a "higher-learning" institution called The School for the Sexual Arts spend their
The Dark Side of Danielle
1976-10-10
Young Danielle finds her parents' kinky sex diary, and as she reads it she starts imagining what it
Sin of Lust
1975-01-01
Carlotta and her husband are sex surrogates helping frustrated couples get off.
Love in the Rain
1971-11-01
A rainy day forces four women to stay indoors. Bored, they decide to liven up the day by calling up
That Lady from Rio
1976-08-02
Vanessa is the leader of an international organization of white slave traders who supply women to br
Teachers and Cream
1973-08-01
"To Whom It May Concern, Good Bye!!! Yours Truly, Anonymous," reads the suicide note English teacher
The Story of Eloise
1976-03-31
Zarryl Danuck, the head of Universal American Pictures, is in danger of being ousted from his positi
Ozark Sex Fiend
1973-09-06
A foursome is stranded in the woods of Arkansas after a plane crash so they split up to look for hel
Go Fly a Kite
1973-09-23
A sexually frustrated housewife gets satisfied when she meets up with a group of swinging kite enthu
Lisa Meets Mr. Big
1975-04-11
Young Lisa brings her fiancé home to meet her parents, who don't know he's black. They are shocked a
Kathy's Graduation Present
1975-11-01
Young Kathy is an honors student who graduates from high school with straight A's. However, at her g
Girl Scout Cookies
1976-05-01
When the mayor's campaign to drive prostitutes out of the city threatens to put a crimp in two hooke
Joe Rock Superstar
1973-06-12
Marc Stevens plays Joe Cock, a Jim Morrison by way of David Bowie circa Ziggy Stardust vocalist whos
The Fire in Francesca
1977-12-01
A private detective is hired by a Hollywood agent to find out who killed a beautiful young movie sta
Lip Service
1974-02-01
Sidney Spelvin, a sexually frustrated fireman, complains to Dr. Cousins, a female psychiatrist, that
Tina Makes a Deal
1973-06-29
When a customs search turns up a vial of coke hidden away in an outlaw pussy, Tina Makes a Deal. Wel
Dirty Susan
1977-01-01
A private detective is hired to find a mysterious girl named Susan. He soon realizes that "Susan" is
More Than Sisters
1979-07-05
A young woman has been experiencing terrifying nightmares set in an asylum. Her husband, powerless t
Baby Oil
1975-09-01
American and Russian agents each vie to gain their respective nation control of the oil wells of Sex
Come And Be Purified
1973-08-16
Charlatan priest Father Sexus encourages devoutly religious folks to shed their inhibitions and happ
Hotel Hooker
1975-01-01
Pete supplies hotel guests with prostitutes to make their trips a bit more enjoyable.
Lady on the Couch
1974-03-19
It was shocking and unbelievable experience for Henry Totler. The girl up there in the stag film was
The Passions of Carol
1975-03-24
Carol Scrooge, the curmudgeonly owner of a sleazy skin publication, insists that her employees work
New York Construction Co.
1980-04-01
A foreman is called back to his construction site on a Saturday morning. He goes into the bowels of
French Schoolgirls
1976-07-06
French School Girls brings to life the sexual fantasies of two gorgeous ladies as they lay in bed to