Mike
Today’s story is about a Se7en-inspired serial killer horror thriller infused with a hard-boiled police procedural buddy cop flick, centered around the planet-eating ego of Steven Seagal. It’s one of the last interesting films in the filmography and fading light of an action superstar who somehow managed to surround himself with talent, a decent budget, and a foot in the door of the horror genre. But nobody surrounds Steven Seagal.
So this tale also includes stories of on-set antics fueled by massive delusions of grandeur that led to actors openly mocking his behavior, Seagal deciding mid-murder scene that he would no longer commit fictional violence, and a whole other group of people who simply never mentioned the movie again. As if there was a glimmer. And then it was dead. This is What Happened to The Glimmer Man.
A Se7en-Inspired Seagal Thriller
There’s very little on record about writer Kevin Brodbin’s inspirations for writing his first-ever spec script, The Glimmer Man. One can only assume that either he, or at the very least Warner Bros., had been inspired by David Fincher’s Se7en, which had been released just a year earlier. The opening visuals, the dynamic between two forced-together cops, and the entire story point heavily in that direction.
Whatever the case, Warner Bros. saw the script as the perfect next vehicle to squeeze a little more gold out of their action cash cow, even as the writing was already on the wall that the genre, at least in its current form, was on its way out. The studio first looked toward Super Mario Bros. The Movie producer Roland Joffé to direct. Why he didn’t end up taking the job is unknown, but the mind runs wild when you imagine Steven Seagal in a room with another human being.
Eventually, the by-all-accounts affable Helter Skelter director John Gray took over behind the camera. And throughout everyone’s insane on-set Seagal stories, one thing remained consistent: everyone loved working with John Gray. Despite the guy in the neck beads.
An Action Star in Decline
Steven Seagal wasn’t in a great place career-wise when The Glimmer Man darkened his doorstep in 1996. His uber-ego project On Deadly Ground had already proven that the world’s most dangerous man with a ponytail could bleed, at least financially. The follow-up that was supposed to be a safety net, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, was fun as hell but failed to match the success of the original.
And who could believe their eyes when Seagal allowed himself to play second fiddle to Kurt Russell in Executive Decision? Though he allegedly only did that as a favor to the studio after losing them so much money with On Deadly Ground. Which is where he found his career.
But he’s Hard to Kill. Even if he’s Marked for Death. He’ll be Out for Justice. And no one is Above the Law.
Alright. I’m done.
Warner Bros. was undoubtedly hoping their counterpuncher could snap enough arms in half to win his way back into audiences’ good graces. This time, though, they paired him with someone who could help shoulder the box office burden. Seagal had worked with buddy-cop types before, but this marked one of the first times he truly had to share the poster and the spotlight.
The Glimmer Man became a reluctant buddy cop film in the vein of The Last Boy Scout, bringing in Keenan Ivory Wayans as Seagal’s new partner. You can easily imagine Seagal having a “life imitates art” moment at the Warner Bros. offices, grimly declaring, “You know I work alone,” while no one listens. And the movie is better for it.
Wayans, fresh off starring in A Low Down Dirty Shame, clearly wanted to flex both his comedic and action muscles. He succeeds. His character carves out real space in the film with genuinely funny moments and even a well-choreographed fist fight, despite Seagal’s Detective Cole constantly talking down to him like a wide-eyed pupil rescued from the gutter.
“A Buddhist With an Ulcer”: Brian Cox vs. Steven Seagal
Brodbin’s original script skewed further from Seagal’s typical fare, which may explain how it attracted someone like Brian Cox in the role of Mr. Smith, just one year removed from Braveheart. Cox would later say that Seagal was just as ludicrous in real life as he appeared on screen, suffering from the delusion that he was far more capable and talented than he actually was, completely oblivious to the army of people propping that delusion up.
Cox recalled that Seagal refused to do off-screen lines with other actors, which he found relieving, since Seagal would have only been a distraction anyway. The one exception came when Seagal offered to help while showing off for a woman he brought to set, despite not knowing his lines and making things up on the spot.
Cox famously summed him up as “a Buddhist… but a Buddhist with an ulcer.” He did at least mention that his sister knew Seagal from taekwondo classes before he was famous and said he was very nice. It’s good to hear something positive every once in a while.
The House of Saddles
Bob Gunton, excellent at playing pretentious a-holes, was cast as the punchable Frank Deverell after previously being the boggle up Stallone’s ass in Demolition Man. Stephen Tobolowsky also joined the cast as serial killer Christopher Maynard and recalls one of the most unhinged audition stories imaginable.
Tobolowsky was told he had to audition for Seagal. At Seagal’s house. He arrived at 10 a.m. and waited two and a half hours in a living room inexplicably covered floor to ceiling in horse saddles before Seagal finally came downstairs.
He got the part.
On set, Tobolowsky was told to arrive early to work with the hairdresser. The hairdresser never showed up because Tobolowsky is bald. That’s when the director frantically explained that Seagal had suddenly decided it was bad for his karma to kill people on screen, even fictional ones. This, of course, posed a problem in a movie where Seagal is supposed to kill a serial killer.
Facing Seagal directly, Tobolowsky became what can only be described as the Seagal whisperer. He calmly explained that his character was already living in his own personal hell, and that killing him wouldn’t be murder, it would be liberation. Reincarnation. A spiritual release.
Seagal agreed. The scene was shot.
However (there’s always a however), months later Seagal forgot all about this agreement and began ad-libbing dialogue claiming he never actually killed the serial killer. Tobolowsky was called back to reshoot the scene, now begging Seagal’s character to “finish him off.” Even Keenan Ivory Wayans reportedly rolled his eyes and walked out.
The lines were not used in the final cut.
Also not used was Steven Seagal’s reggae song “Strut,” which exists, is real, and includes lyrics that should never have been recorded by any human being. Seagal did, however, write the songs “Bulletproof” and “Snake” for the film, performed by the Jeff Healey Band and Taj Mahal. The score came from former Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin.
Studio Interference and the Cutting Room Floor
Despite all this madness, The Glimmer Man contains some genuinely strong genre moments, stitched together by cinematographer Rick Bota of Tales from the Crypt. There are well-shot action scenes, grisly crime visuals, and horror elements that occasionally collide beautifully with classic Seagal-isms.
At this point in his career, many of Seagal’s aikido moves had to be filmed from the waist up, but there are still standout moments, like Detective Cole humiliating and then impaling a suspect onto a metal fence in a scene that feels ripped straight from a slasher film.
After all the chaos on set, Warner Bros. ordered additional editing to make the movie feel more like a traditional Seagal action flick. Comedic and dramatic moments were trimmed, and several scenes involving Michelle Johnson as Cole’s wife were cut entirely to speed things along. It didn’t matter.
The Glimmer Man became one of the final nails in Steven Seagal’s box-office coffin. Released on October 4, 1996, the film opened in second place and ultimately grossed just over $20 million against a budget north of $45 million.
Critics hated it… but let’s be honest. It’s a Steven Seagal buddy cop movie. That was always going to be a tough sell.
Still, it stands out as one of the last better Seagal films, especially for fans of the genres it blends. Its horror-thriller leanings, surrounding talent, and Keenan Ivory Wayans’ knowingly amused performance make it a fascinating watch. He’s essentially riding shotgun with the audience, laughing at how completely batshit and self-important this guy is.
Oh, and there’s a scene where Seagal tricks Wayans into eating deer penis. Later, he kills a group of bad guys with a credit card.
And that’s really all you need to know about what happened to The Glimmer Man. Let’s all run away like Steven Seagal.
A couple of previous episodes of this show can be seen below. For more, check out the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel—and don’t forget to subscribe!
