I had complete suspension of disbelief—really, I was eight years old and it transported me. I was on that beach running from that dragon, fighting that Cyclops. It just really dazzled me, and I bought it completely. And so, I actually sat through it twice and when I got home, I asked my mom, “Who does that? Who makes the movie?”
Landis began his film career working as a mailboy at 20th Century Fox. He worked as a "go-fer" and then as an assistant Director during filming MGM's Kelly's Heroes in Yugoslavia in 1969; he replaced the film's original assistant Director, who became ill and was sent home. During that time Landis became acquainted with actors Don Rickles and Donald Sutherland, both of whom would later work in his films. Following Kelly's Heroes, Landis worked on several films that were shot in Europe (especially in Italy and England), including Once Upon a Time in the West, El Condor and A Town Called Bastard (a.k.a. A Town Called Hell). Landis also worked as a stunt double.
Landis made his feature debut in 1971 as a Director in the US with Schlock. He was 21 years old. The film, which he also wrote and appeared in, is a tribute to Monster movies. The gorilla suit for the film was made by Rick Baker—the beginning of a long-term collaboration between Landis and Baker. Schlock was a failure, and Landis was not offered another directing job for some time.
In 1977, Landis directed Kentucky Fried Movie. The film was inspired by the satirical Sketch comedy of shows like Monty Python, Free the Army, The National Lampoon Radio Hour and Saturday Night Live.
In 1978 Landis directed his first film for Universal Studios, National Lampoon's Animal House, which was financially successful, earning over 120 million, domestically, at the box office. In 1980 he co-wrote and directed The Blues Brothers, a comedy starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. It featured musical numbers by R&B and soul legends James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and John Lee Hooker. It was, at the time, one of the most expensive films ever made, costing almost $30 million (for comparison, Steven Spielberg's contemporary film 1941 cost $35 million). It is speculated that Spielberg and Landis engaged in a rivalry, the goal of which was to make the more expensive movie. The rivalry might have been a friendly one, as Spielberg makes a cameo appearance in Blues Brothers (as the unnamed desk clerk near the end) and Landis had made a cameo in 1941 as a messenger.
In 1981, Landis wrote and directed another cult-status movie, the comedy-horror An American Werewolf in London. It was perhaps Landis's most personal project; he had been planning to make it since 1969, while in Yugoslavia.
Landis stated that he feels the deaths of the two children from the accident on the set of The Twilight Zone in 1982 stick with him daily and that he feels it has certainly affected the growth of his career.
In 1986 Landis directed ¡Three Amigos!, which featured Chevy Chase, Martin Short and Steve Martin.
Landis has been active in television as the executive Producer (and often director) of the series Dream On (1990), Weird Science (1994), Sliders (1995), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show (1997), Campus Cops (1995), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World (1998), Masters of Horror, and various episodes of Psych. He also made commercials for DirecTV, Taco Bell, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Kellogg's, and Disney. In 2011 he made an appearance in Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton's television series Psychoville.
In 1991, Landis collaborated again with Michael Jackson on the music video for the song "Black or White".
In 1994, Landis directed Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop III. They had previously worked together on Trading Places and Coming to America. In 1996 he directed The Stupids. Then he returned to Universal to direct Blues Brothers 2000 in 1998 with John Goodman and, for the fifth time in a Landis film, Dan Aykroyd: during that same year, he directed Susan's Plan. The four movies did not score with critics and audiences.
He has directed several music videos. He was approached by Michael Jackson to make a video for his song, "Thriller". The resulting video significantly impacted MTV and the concept of music videos; it has won numerous awards, including the Video Vanguard Award for The Greatest Video in the History of the World. In 2009 (months before Jackson died), Landis sued the Jackson estate in a dispute over royalties for the video; he claimed to be owed at least four years' worth of royalties.
Burke and Hare was released in 2010, Landis's first theatrical release for over a decade.
In August 2011, Landis said he would return to horror and would be writing a new film. He was the executive Producer on the comedy horror film Some Guy Who Kills People.
