Shaun Costello

Born: 1944-01-01

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.


Placeholder

Enrapture

as Cigar Shop Man
Released: 1990-03-30

In this erotic thriller an out of work actor is forced to take a job as a limousine driver. He...

Movie page

Hymns from the Abyss

as (archive)
Released: 2021-08-02

Images of moral panic, cult followings and the edges of madness from sex and death.

Movie page

Pandora's Mirror

as Waiter / Man in Audition Line
Released: 1981-12-28

While out for lunch with a friend, Pandora feels an unexplained compulsion to visit a small...

Movie page

Forced Entry

as David
Released: 1973-03-16

A crazed Vietnam vet hunts down and kills women.

Movie page

Teenage Nurses

as Joe / TV Reporter
Released: 1974-05-14

When Dr. Canute is appointed Director of Veterans Hospital, he decides that what the boys that...

Movie page

Cherry Hustlers

as Company Investigator
Released: 1977-05-01

An accountant embezzles $80,000 from his company, in cahoots with a beautiful company executive....

Movie page

China Doll

as Bert
Released: 1975-10-06

Private investigator Mickey Finn searches for a missing china doll filled with $25,000 of...

Movie page

Midnight Desires

as Chauffeur / Highwayman (uncredited)
Released: 1976-03-09

Four friends on a weekend getaway to Long Island are siting around a fireplace and each relates...

Movie page

Water Power

as Police Station Cop / Man at Car Window
Released: 1976-09-01

A mentally troubled man becomes a serial rapist and torturer due to the strong shock he suffers...

Movie page

The Magical Ring

as First Fantasy Lover
Released: 1971-09-24

A beggar gives a woman a ring in appreciation for an act of kindness. The woman discovers that...

Movie page

Come Fly with Us

as Jay Basby
Released: 1974-07-16

A hard and penetrating look into the lives of gorgeous stewardesses.

Movie page

Slave of Pleasure

as Richard Anselm / Masked Guy
Released: 1978-08-30

Private detective, Dan McCord has been hired by Richard Anselm to find his beautiful wife,...

Movie page

A Taste Of Bette

as S.R.
Released: 1978-01-01

When the leader of a sadistic sex cult is killed, its members have to choose a new person to...

Movie page

Betrayed Teens

as Bobby
Released: 1977-03-09

After her daughter is kidnapped by a gang of bikers, Helen hires a private detective to find her.

Movie page

Daughters of Discipline

as Bruno
Released: 1978-01-01

A young woman gets involved in a sex-and-death cult, and finds out that she is slated to be the...

Movie page

Mistress Electra

as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Released: 1982-01-08

While watching porn loops at a stag party given by his friend Harry, a husband is shocked to see...

Movie page

Sensuous Fly Girls

as Man in Stable
Released: 1976-03-19

When astronauts are flying to Jupiter, they are to get sexual relief from girls who accompany...

Movie page

Pen Pals

as Good Samaritan / Man in Black
Released: 1974-03-08

A group of pen-pals from across the country, who have never met before, gather in New York City...

Movie page

Gladys and Her All Girl Band

as Lola
Released: 1975-05-26

Two porno actors on the run audition in drag for a rock band and actually get the gig. They are...

Movie page

The Tycoon's Daughter

as Newspaper Reader / Radio Newscaster
Released: 1973-10-31

Three friends kidnap the daughter of a millionaire and plan to ask for a big ransom. They hide...

Movie page

She's No Angel

as Dr. Warren Counter
Released: 1976-01-01

In order to cheat her out of her inheritance, a young girl's parents have her locked up in a...

Movie page

Honeymoon Suite

as Jamie
Released: 1973-09-12

Three swinging young couples decide to marry one other and spend an erotic honeymoon at a fancy...

Movie page

Tortured Woman

as El Gringo
Released: 1976-10-01

Two young women come across secret papers having do with with foreign diplomats.

Movie page

The Travails of June

as Willy
Released: 1976-01-01

A reporter interviews June, a prostitute who has just been arrested, and she relates her tale of...

Movie page

The School for Sexual Arts

as Guy in Final Class
Released: 1975-01-01

Female students at a "higher-learning" institution called The School for the Sexual Arts spend...

Movie page

The Dark Side of Danielle

as Bruce / Betty's Master
Released: 1976-10-10

Young Danielle finds her parents' kinky sex diary, and as she reads it she starts imagining what...

Movie page

Love in the Rain

as Shaun (uncredited)
Released: 1971-11-01

A rainy day forces four women to stay indoors. Bored, they decide to liven up the day by calling...

Movie page

That Lady from Rio

as Sex Slave (uncredited)
Released: 1976-08-02

Vanessa is the leader of an international organization of white slave traders who supply women...

Movie page

Teachers and Cream

as Mr. Boynton
Released: 1973-08-01

"To Whom It May Concern, Good Bye!!! Yours Truly, Anonymous," reads the suicide note English...

Movie page

The Story of Eloise

as Edgar Frank
Released: 1976-03-31

Zarryl Danuck, the head of Universal American Pictures, is in danger of being ousted from his...

Movie page

Sin of Lust

as Bob Hartman
Released: 1975-01-01

Carlotta and her husband are sex surrogates helping frustrated couples get off.

Movie page

Sexual Freedom in the Ozarks

as Newscaster / Homer Heaply
Released: 1973-09-06

A foursome is stranded in the woods of Arkansas after a plane crash so they split up to look for...

Movie page

Lisa Meets Mr. Big

as Minister
Released: 1975-04-11

Young Lisa brings her fiancé home to meet her parents, who don't know he's black. They are...

Movie page

Kathy's Graduation Present

as Randy
Released: 1975-11-01

Young Kathy is an honors student who graduates from high school with straight A's. However, at...

Movie page

Joe Rock Superstar

as Rock the Guitarist / Voice of Walter Cockite
Released: 1973-06-12

Marc Stevens plays Joe Cock, a Jim Morrison by way of David Bowie circa Ziggy Stardust vocalist...

Movie page

Go Fly a Kite

as John Spaulding
Released: 1973-09-23

A sexually frustrated housewife gets satisfied when she meets up with a group of swinging kite...

Movie page

Girl Scout Cookies

as Mr. O'Malley
Released: 1976-05-01

When the mayor's campaign to drive prostitutes out of the city threatens to put a crimp in two...

Movie page

The Fire in Francesca

as Troy Winston
Released: 1977-12-01

A private detective is hired by a Hollywood agent to find out who killed a beautiful young movie...

Movie page

Dirty Susan

as Bob Gilroy
Released: 1977-01-01

A private detective is hired to find a mysterious girl named Susan. He soon realizes that...

Movie page

Come And Be Purified

as Brother Francis
Released: 1973-08-16

Charlatan priest Father Sexus encourages devoutly religious folks to shed their inhibitions and...

Movie page

Baby Oil

as Orgy Guy with Two Girls
Released: 1975-09-01

American and Russian agents each vie to gain their respective nation control of the oil wells of...

Movie page

Tina Makes a Deal

as Customs Agent
Released: 1973-06-29

When a customs search turns up a vial of coke hidden away in an outlaw pussy, Tina Makes a Deal....

Movie page

Lip Service

as Hired Guy
Released: 1974-02-01

Sidney Spelvin, a sexually frustrated fireman, complains to Dr. Cousins, a female psychiatrist,...

Movie page

More Than Sisters

as Martin Randall
Released: 1979-07-05

A young woman has been experiencing terrifying nightmares set in an asylum. Her husband,...

Movie page

Hotel Hooker

as Pete
Released: 1975-01-01

Pete supplies hotel guests with prostitutes to make their trips a bit more enjoyable.

Movie page

Lady on the Couch

as Poker Buddy (uncredited)
Released: 1974-03-19

It was shocking and unbelievable experience for Henry Totler. The girl up there in the stag film...

Movie page

The Passions of Carol

as The Spirits
Released: 1975-03-24

Carol Scrooge, the curmudgeonly owner of a sleazy skin publication, insists that her employees...

Movie page

New York Construction Co.

as uncredited
Released: 1980-04-01

A foreman is called back to his construction site on a Saturday morning. He goes into the bowels...

Movie page

The Love Bus

as George
Released: 1974-11-01

Dr. Scheisekopf (Jamie Gillis) advises patient Jennifer Jordan (aka Sarah Nicholson) to get away...

Movie page

Joy Of Humiliation

as Biker with Cigarette
Released: 1977-06-16

Vanessa's psychologist husband recounts the kinky case history of an insatiable patient.

Movie page

Venture Into the Bizzare

as Closing Narration (voice)
Released: 1976-01-01

Two young girls in New York's Greenwich Village own a plaster-casting shop. One day a well-known...

Movie page

The Summer of Suzanne

as Chip
Released: 1976-01-01

When her parents leave for a trip to New York, a young Chicago girl decides to lose her...

Movie page

Sexual Customs in Scandinavia

as Mr. Thorens
Released: 1972-02-11

A doctor outlines several cases involving sexual problems suffered by citizens of Scandinavia,...

Movie page

Feel

as uncredited
Released: 1971-09-23

A "whitecoater" released long after the industry had dropped such requirements, nonetheless a...

Movie page

The Two Lives of Jennifer

as Bob O'Connor
Released: 1979-01-01

A writer finds out that his wife is leading a double life, which includes a second husband who...

Movie page

Private Practice

as Mr. Barnes
Released: 1975-01-01

A sex therapist treats a pain addicted tramp who needs leather hooded brutes to bind and beat...

Movie page

Schoolgirl's Reunion

as Football Announcer (voice) / Autograph Seeker / Guy at Party
Released: 1977-03-01

Two former classmates reunite at their school's athletic stadium to reminisce about their youth,...

Movie page

Sweet Sexteen

as Jerry
Released: 1973-09-01

It's Debbie's birthday, and her friends have hired a stud to deflower the young stud. The stud...

Movie page

Two Senoritas

as Guy with Glasses
Released: 1975-02-03

A husband and wife are very upset when they learn their Friday night orgy venue has been sublet...

Movie page

Sensuous Vixens

as Photo Model with Mustache
Released: 1971-08-20

Tina Russell (X Rated Critics Organization Hall of Fame Member) leads us through the...

Movie page

The Untamed Vixens

as Jerry
Released: 1976-01-01

A man is kidnapped by a group of women and subjected to unspeakable tortures. However, he comes...

Movie page

Cheryl's Surrender

as Ray Lavagis
Released: 1975-12-26

A gang of terrorists attack the American embassy in Labania and kidnap the ambassador, his wife...

Movie page

The Fury in Alice

as Chip Carson
Released: 1976-06-01

A domestic tragicomedy which follows a slutty housewife through her kinky extra marital affairs.

Movie page

The Porn Brokers

as Self
Released: 1973-03-16

Quasi-documentary that looks at the sex industry in Europe. Features interviews with people who...

Movie page