.......Director John 'Bud' Cardos replaced original director Mark Rosman early in production
Does anyone know why that happened?
No, but it should be noted that Cardos also replaced Tobe Hooper in the underrated The Dark. He also would've been the perfect director of 2002's Red Dragon. The man just has a great feel for suspense, pacing, and scares.
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Maybe it was over creative differences, since that script was apparently rewritten and all.
http://www.freewebs.com/demonictoys/
As one of the original writers (along with Michael Jones), what we heard from the film's production manager was that Mark Rosman was deemed 'too slow' by the producers after only a week of shooting. Certainly our impression of Mark was that he was quite visually-oriented - he'd worked with Brian De Palma and probably tried to emulate that sort of bravura, moving-camera style, which may have led to a slower work pace than the producers could afford. Regardless, Bud Cardos came in and did a reasonably good job finishing the film. Because he had directed twice before for producer Igo Kantor (KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS and THE DARK), he was no stranger to horror film-making. IMHO, his work on NIGHT SHADOWS/MUTANT was, at a minimum, solid and professional, and occasionally even elegant considering budgetary constraints.
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