Jewish professionals with Blood Feverfor
sci-fi films bring special effects to Detroit.

RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER

THE D ETRO I T J EW IS H NEWS

Buddies with
the bugs:
Larry Magid
(below) hopes
skeeters like
these will
carry Acme
Films Ltd.
to greater
heights.

28

all the bug-
busters quick!
Monstrous
mosquitoes —
some 4 feet in
length, with
ooey-gooey insect eyes and
giant antennae — have
raided a building on Joy
and Wyoming in Detroit.
Nets and repellent won't
help. Forget the soothing
bottle of after-bite lotion.
Bites from these skeet-
ers spell D-E-A-T-H.
"It sounds like
they've broken into the
basement!" a panic-
stricken man yells
from inside.
CUT! Cut. Cut.
Cut. Let's do a
retake.
There are no 4-foot
in
mosquitoes
Detroit — none that
fly on their own, that
is. These bi-winged
bad guys are syn-
thetic creations for
Blood Fever, a sci-
ence fiction mon-
ster movie pro-
duced by local tal-
ent.
Acme Films Ltd.
— a metropolitan
movie company
capitalizing on
special effects —
has joined forces
with Excalibur
Motion Pictures
Inc. in Ann
Arbor.
Blood
Fever, their sec-
ond joint venture, is
being filmed, in part, in an

abandoned steel manufac-
turing facility downtown.
Stars include Detroit
actors and actresses, plus
one out-of-stater, Gunnar
Hansen, best remembered
for his weapon-wielding role
in the cult classic, Texas
Chainsaw Massacre.
CUT TO: The Local
Angle.
Three of the four men
who founded Acme Films
are Jewish Detroiters: Dr.
Larry Magid, a podiatrist;
Alan Kaplan, a CPA; and
Marc Shulman, an attorney.
Their hope is to bring a
slice of Tinseltown to
Motown by creating feature
films on the home front.
Someday, they'd like to
build a full Hollywood-style
studio here.
"Success on Blood Fever
should get us there," Dr.
Magid said.
FLASHBACK: The foot
doctor.
Dr. Magid, a member of
Temple Israel, pursued
medicine as a career and
science fiction as a lifelong
avocation. His favorite sci-fi
flick is Forbidden Planet,
from the mid-1950s, with
Walter Pidgeon, Anne
Francis and Leslie Nielsen.
Dr. Magid's dream has been
to make a sequel.
In 1989, the podiatrist
decided to look into buying
a mom and pop business,
Acme Special Effects in
Mount Clemens. The owner,
Gary Jones, was a cine-
matographic whiz, but Mr.
Jones' operation was minus-

cule. Initially headquar- -
tered in his basement, Acme
later moved to a one-room
schoolhouse in Mount
Clemens.
Even so, Mr. Jones 4
already had made a name
for himself by working with
former Detroiter Sam
Raimi, now a Hollywood
writer/producer/director.
Acme Special Effects als
had contributed to televi-
sion commercials for
sion
Highland Appliance and the
Michigan State Lottery.
Mr. Jones and Dr. Magid
decided it was time to turn
the special-effects company
into a full-fledged motion
picture corporation. Mr.I
Jones provided the cine-
matographic talent. Dr.
Magid recruited his friends,
Mr. Kaplan and Mr.
Shulman, to contribute to,
business operations for'
their show-biz company.
"It was the best of all pos-
sible worlds," Mr. Jones
said. "I've always focused on
the artistic end, but you've
got to be aware of the com-
mercial, legal and the (mar-'
keting) end of movie mak-,
ing."
Since its 1990 incorpora-
tion, Acme Films has con-
tinued to produce special
effects for commercials,
including a Perry Drug4
Stores advertisement. Along 4
the way, Mr. Jones has min-
gled with Hollywood mach-
by working with
ers
Universal Pictures on spe-

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