Dennis Dermody is best known as Paper magazine’s longtime film critic, “Cinemaniac,” a role he held for over 30 years. From distinctly distilling the best new releases to uncovering forgotten treasures long buried in cinematic archives, Dermody’s love of movies — all movies — permeates everything he does. You’ll recognize his name from countless posters which have featured his quotes, and his signature laugh often bursting out in darkened theaters. Though he has never met a genre he didn’t like, Dermody’s speciality is horror and cult movies. You may read some of his many writings here at Papermag.com.
He’s also written for Details, Film Threat and other magazines. Dermody has appeared in several documentaries such as Divine Trash, The Queer Reveries Of James Bidgood, the DVD extras on the Serial Mom DVD plus Jeffrey Schwarz’s I Am Divine.
In addition to being a film critic, Dermody was also a proud nanny for the son of Willem Dafoe and the Wooster Group director Liz LeCompte for 13 years. He lives and works in New York’s West Village.
Photo by Chad Hunt Photography