Category Archives: Rest in Peace

To highlight those that we have lost, that have made an impact to this genre we love so much. They may be gone, but will never be forgotten.

Bob Burns – Rest in Peace

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Bob Burns was the ultimate fan of the sci-fi and horror genre. He was an author, actor, makeup man, consultant, historian, and more importantly, a collector and archivist. He knew the importance of these items, from the original Time Machine from the 1960s film to the armature from the original King Kong, not to mention masks from a young 16-year-old Rick Baker to pieces from both Alien and Aliens, and so much more. And the best part, he looked at this stuff like the same little 10=year-old that is inside of all of fans, with a sense of wonder and fascination.

He worked with Paul Blaisdell on films like It Conquered the World (1956) and Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957), but in the early ’60s, they created a short-lived magazine called Fantastic Monsters of the Films.

He would often appear in a gorilla costume, usually billed as Kogar, but also was a Gorilla named Tracy in the 1975 Saturday morning show The Ghost Busters.

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John McCarty – Rest in Peace

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For someone who has been collecting horror reference books for over 30 years, John McCarty was a pretty prolific author of those types of books in my early days of collecting. The first one I can remember getting was Splatter Movies, which was first published in 1981, but re-released in an expanded hardcover edition in 1984. While I didn’t agree with McCarty a lot of the times, I admire the fact that he cranked out several volumes on the horror genre over his long career. From the two volumes in his Official Splatter Movie Guides, The Sleaze Merchants: Adventures in Exploitation Filmmaking, The Fearmakers, and more, he was out there talking about these films. And of course, I added each one to my library.

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Udo Keir – Rest in Peace

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The great Udo Keir has left the building. The word “icon” should be used often, but for Mr. Keir, I think it is a well-deserved moniker. With 275 credits to his name, the man has worked… a LOT. And whatever he appeared in, he always made it a little better. Of course, it was those two amazing films he did with Paul Morrissey, Flesh for Frankenstein (1973) and Blood for Dracula (1974) that really cemented his fame in the horror genre.

But as everyone probably knows, Keir passed away two days ago, at the age of 81. I had the chance to meet him a few times over the years and was always very fan friendly. The genre really has lost a great talent, and he will be missed. But luckily, we have plenty of his great films to continue to admire. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

Sam Sherman – Rest in Peace

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This is definitely an end of an era, with the news of the passing of Sam Sherman. He was mainly known as a producer, one half of Independent International, working with Al Adamson, but his contributions to the horror genre is just massive. From his work with Jim Warren and Famous Monsters of Filmland, to working with Hemisphere Pictures, especially in their promotion department, then moving on to work with Adamson. While he was a very multi-talented man, it is his work in PR is what I loved about him. He knew how to sell a film and came up with some of the most beautiful and crazy advertising. Of course, Sherman was the man responsible for bringing Paul Naschy to the states, picking up the rights and releasing Naschy’s first picture, Mark of the Wolfman, though changing it to Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror, yet again with some really great ad campaign for it! Sure, there’s no Dr. Frankenstein or Frankenstein creature in the film, but we do get a WOLF-STEIN!!!

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Sergio Salvati – Rest in Peace

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If you don’t recognize Salvati’s name, if you’re a regular here, then you know his work. He was a cinematographer that worked with Lucio Fulci on 11 different films, including some of his best titles. Films like The Psychic (1977), Zombie (1979), City of the Living Dead (1980), The Beyond (1981), and House by the Cemetery (1981). He worked on what was supposed to be Fulci’s big return with The Wax Mask (1997), but Fulci passed away, but Salvati still worked on it with the new director, Sergio Stivaletti. He also worked with Charles Band on Crawlspace (1986) and Puppet Master (1989).

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Scott Spiegel – Rest in Peace

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It’s a shame that Spiegel’s name isn’t more well known, since he was one of those crazy Michigan guys who went on to do some pretty important movies in the genre, such as Evil Dead (1981). Not only did he co-write Thou Shalt Not Kill… Except (1985), but he also co-wrote and directed the fun little slasher Intruder (1989), which both Sam and Ted Raimi, and Bruce Campbell appeared in. He would go on to direct From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999) and Hostel: Part III (2011).

Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

Mad Ron Roccia – Rest in Peace

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Back in the early days of VHS, there weren’t too many tapes out there of just trailers. Especially ones that just were about horror films, especially some obscure ones. But if you were lucky enough to stumble across Mad Ron’s Prevues from Hell (1987), then you were in hog-horror-heaven! For young horror fans, this tape because a checklist of movies you had to find. Showing us bits from classics like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Night of the Living Dead (1968), but also more obscure ones such as Three on a Meathook (1972), Night of the Bloody Apes (1969), Deranged (1974), The Ghost Galleon aka The Horror of the Zombies (1974), and so many more.

Sadly, we heard that Mad Ron himself, Ron Roccia had passed away earlier this week. Ron was just part of the crew that gave us that wonderful tape, but it was sad news to hear of his passing. His work on that tape helped me want to seek these films out, and I know there were thousands of other fans that did the exact same thing. So, us horror fans salute you, Mad Ron, and thank you for opening those doors to us all those years ago.

Our thoughts go out to his friends and family at this difficult time. Rest in Peace, Mad Ron. You will always be fondly remembered. Your legacy lives on.

Michael Madsen – Rest in Peace

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Fans have lost another highly memorable character actor, Michael Madsen, who passed away yesterday at the age of 67. With well over 300 credits on IMDB, it is just amazing the amount of work he was involved with. Sure, there were a lot of low budget films in there, but as an actor, you have to work. He worked in about every genre but is probably best known for his portrayal of Mr. Blonde in Quintin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1993). Either that, or Free Willy (1993)! That’s not a joke, since he was known by a lot of younger audiences because that role. No matter what role or movie he was in, he never phoned it in and always made an impression. When he played a bad guy, he was one of the best. I know a lot of us can never hear the song Stuck in the Middle with You by Stealers Wheel and not think of him doing his little dance before some truly dark moments.

But at least he will always be remembered, not just when we hear that song, but for the hundreds of other performances that he has left us. Gone, but never forgotten. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time. Rest in Peace, Mr. Madsen.

Lalo Schifrin – Rest in Peace

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We’ve lost another incredible talent in the world of film composition, the great Lalo Schifrin. I don’t think there is anyone out there in the world that doesn’t know the theme music from Mission: Impossible, whether it’s from the original TV series or the movie series, but Schifrin is the one that created it. It is one of those pieces that immediately has an effect on the listener. In fact, Bruce Lee specifically wanted Schifrin to score his movie Enter the Dragon (1973) because Lee used to work out to the famous TV theme. He also worked quite a bit with Clint Eastwood, doing the Dirty Harry films, not to mention Cool Hand Luke (1967), and Bullitt (1968), and more recent, the Rush Hour trilogy.

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Mara Corday – Rest in Peace

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Mara Corday (1954)

I’m posting about this now because I just heard about it. But it seems the lovely Mara Corday had passed away back on February 9th, at the age of 95. While she had a relatively short career in movies, making only 46 appearances, in film and TV, mainly because she left the business to concentrate on her marriage and family. But she did appear in three of my favorites from the ’50s, Tarantula (1955), The Black Scorpion (1957), and my all-time favorite, The Giant Claw (1957)! That last title showed that no matter how silly the subject matter might be, Corday always played it straight and gave some wonderful performances. Later in life, after her husband had died, her friend and Tarantula co-star, Clint Eastwood, would cast her in small roles in his films, such as The Gauntlet (1977) and Sudden Impact (1983), that way she could keep her SAG membership (and all its benefits)!

I know she will always be remembered for a lot of fans because of the work she did, especially in the sci-fi/horror titles because those types of films never lose their charm. And one of those reasons is the work that Corday did in them. Gone, but she will definitely never be forgotten.