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.

Sam Neill – Rest in Peace

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Movie fans are definitely morning the passing of actor Sam Neill, who appeared in so many films, of all genres, and no matter what it was, it was always so entertaining to watch. He could play the bad guy that you would despise, or the hero that was out to save everyone. Most actors are always remembered from the first role that you remember him from, so for me, it was always the adult version of Damien Thorn from The Final Conflict (1981). Granted, he would go on to appear in quite a few other horror titles like Possession (1981), In the Mouth of Madness (1994), Event Horizon (1997), and of course the Jurassic Park films (yes, those are horror films).

So, we were very saddened to hear of his passing on the 13th. Such a talented actor, but one that never seemed to take himself too seriously. Our cinematic world has lost a real talent and a true icon. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

Kelly Curtis – Rest in Peace

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Back in November of 2012, HorrorHound Weekend had the honor of having Jamie Lee Curtis as a guest, where fans were going nuts to have the chance to see and meet her. But when I heard her sister was also at the show taking photos and documenting the event, that got me a little more excited. Kelly Curtis had starred in Michele Soavi’s 1991 film The Sect, aka The Devil’s Daughter, appearing alongside the great Herbert Lom. Nothing against her younger sister Jamie but wanted to at least meet her and tell her how much I enjoyed her only entry in the horror genre. I think she was a bit surprised when someone came up to her to ask her if she was Jamie’s sister but then asked her about The Sect! We only chatted for a few minutes about her working on the film, about Soavi, and of course, Herbert Lom, but she was super nice and even took a photo with me.

It was in the news yesterday, announced by her sister, that she had passed away, I know she appeared in more than a few productions both in film and TV, but because us horror fans are a dedicated lot, because of this single title in the genre, she will be remembered by a lot of us fans. Our thoughts go out to her and her family during this difficult time. Rest in Peace, Kelly.

George Eastman – Rest in Peace

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While his real name was Luigi Montefiori, most everyone knew him as George Eastman. Or maybe his huge screen presence, no matter if it was a horror film, action, western, or even post-apocalyptic film, when he came onscreen, you recognized him. Eastman started in the film industry as an actor in the mid ’60s, appearing in 60 productions, in about every genre from westerns including a few Django films, the giallo, post-apocalyptic features, and of course, horror. It wasn’t too long in his career before he added screenwriter to his list of credits, writing over 50 features, including The Great Alligator (1979), Antrophophagus (1980), and Michele Soavi’s StageFright (1987). He worked a lot with cult director Joe D’Amato aka Aristide Massaccesi, writing for him, as well as acting in a bunch of his titles. He would even step behind the camera to director 2 features, Metamorphosis (1980) & 2020 Texas Gladiators (1983).

But it came out a few days ago that we had lost this massive talent, who passed away back in March, at the age of 83. And when I say “massive”, I mean the fact that he was 6′ 9″ feet tall! But his contribution to the horror / cult / western genre is just as massive. While nobody is going to claim his work was Oscar worthy, most of what he was involved with was entertaining, and memorable. And at the end of the day, that is what it is all about, isn’t it?

Our thoughts go out to his friends and family. Rest in peace, Luigi. You will always be remembered.

Ann Robinson – Rest in Peace

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It has just come out that actress Ann Robinson, most known for her role in The War of the Worlds (1953) had passed away last September, which has been recently announced by her granddaughter. As a child, that movie was one of high fascination and terror. I just loved the look of the spaceships (mainly because they were different than the typical ‘flying saucers’) and the sounds they made. But the scene where we scene the Martian creature duck behind some bushes terrifying me. No idea why because we get a much better look at the creature a few minutes later, but it still did some major damage to my brain!

But as I always say, because of this wonderful picture she worked on over 70 years ago, she will always be remembered. Our thoughts go out to her friends and family.

Jack Taylor – Rest in Peace

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I saw the news online this morning that cult actor Jack Taylor has passed away this morning at the age of 99 years old. Talk about one hell of a career! He worked with so many directors from big Hollywood names to running the gambit of cult directors known for the horror genre. From John Milius, Roman Polanski, Ridley Scott and Milos Forman to Jesús Franco, Amando de Ossorio, José Ramón Larraz, Juan Piquer Simón and Paul Naschy, he did amazing work and in just about every sub-genre there was. You may not recognize his name right away, but one look at those amazing glassy blue eyes, or the trademark mustache he had, you knew him when he showed up on screen.

While American born, once he started acting, he moved and worked all over the world. He moved to Mexico early in his career, picking up the language pretty easily. He would appear in Nostradamus and the Destroyer of Monsters and Genii of Darkness, both in 1962, before then moving to Madrid. There he would work several times with Paul Naschy, Jesús Franco, and Amando de Ossorio, and many others. When you saw his name in the credits, you knew it was going to be worth your time.

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Tom Noonan – Rest in Peace

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There are a lot of actors that made an impact with a particular role, but Tom Noonan did that a few times in his career. And while he was in the first adaptation of where we first get to see the character of Hannibal Lecktor (the way it’s spelled in the film), Manhunter (1986), playing the Tooth Fairy, Francis Dollarhyde, is one of those performances. Nothing against Ralph Fiennes, but Noonan was just incredible in his performance. But then the following year, he played a completely different kind of monster in The Monster Squad (1987), bringing the heart of the character to the screen again. While he was an imposing figure, he always gave such good performances, no matter how small they might be.

In looking up a little on him for this piece, I came across a quote from him that I will now be quoting going forward. A lot of fans of film saying that it is a nice escape from reality, something I’ve said and believed in many times. But Noonan said, “I don’t think you go to a play to forget, or to a movie to be distracted. I think life generally is a distraction and that going to a movie is a way to get back, not go away.” I just love that.

So, thank you once again, Mr. Noonan, for making me think outside the box, and to see you much more than just a tall actor. Rest in peace. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

T.K. Carter – Rest in Peace

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While he might not have appeared in hardly any horror films in throughout his career, he did appear in one of the greatest horror movies ever made, as Nauls in John Carpenter’s The Thing, so that is more than enough to be mentioned here in the Krypt. Actor T.K. Carter passed away on Jan. 9th. Although one could argue his appearance in Southern Comfort the year before might add that title as a horror film, or at least to say it was damn scary in parts!

But at least we all know that he will always be remembered as the cook, listening to Stevie Wonder, thinking that we might be at war with Norway. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time. Rest in Peace. Never to be forgotten.

Johnny Legend – Rest in Peace

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Johnny Legend is a name that quite a few people might not know, and that’s okay. But if you ever had the chance to meet him, you’d never forget. He was an actor, director, wrestling manager and promoter, rockabilly singer, but most of all, he was a true lover of cult films and their filmmakers. I had the chance to meet him a couple of times over the years, and you never forget that. That man just exploded with passion with every work he said whether he was talking about Jack Hill’s Spider Baby or come other underground cult movie. He appeared in Bride of Re-Animator (1990), Severed Ties (1992) and even the Andy Kaufman biopic Man of the Moon (1999). On the laserdisc release of Spider Baby, there was a little piece outside of a midnight screening of the film, where some of the cast was there along with Jack Hill, including Sid Haig. They were all being interviewed by Legend, who praised the film so much. And this was a few years before Haig would be a big star because of House of 1000 Corpses.

This Legend passed away on January 2nd, and with that, the cult world lost one of its biggest supporters and mouthpiece. Truly a one-of-a-kind person. Rest in peace and know that because of the passion you passed on to others, they will now continue to pass on the love of the weird and the strange. Thank you, Mr. Legend!

Lawrence Raffel – Rest in Peace

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It’s bad enough when I write these about people in the industry that made an impact on my life through their work in movies, but when I have to write one about someone I personally knew, it makes it even tougher. Way back in the ’90s, I was involved in sort of a horror newsletter/fanzine thing called Death at Work. Basically, it was a bunch of like-minded horror fans that would contribute their section, writing about whatever they wanted, and then having it all compiled into one and sent out to all the members. Years later, I was introduced to Lawrence Raffel through a mutual friend, Aaron Christensen. After a few moments of conversation, we realized we had both been involved with D.A.W. Small world, huh?

I had got to hang out with Lawrence a couple of times over the years at a few different conventions, where we had more than a few “heated” debates on various topics, including what was Argento’s best movie. I fondly remember those times. But because life can really be a real prick sometimes, Lawrence suffered a massive stroke last May, one that he would never recover from. Yesterday, we heard through our friend AC that Lawrence had passed away.

From running his website Monsters at Play years ago, to working for FearNet, to all the other things that he did to help promote the horror genre, Lawrence was one of those guys that you could talk to for hours about movies, and his passion never faltered. Horror fandom has lost a strong voice with his passing. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family, and especially to his wife and son during this most difficult time. Gone, but never 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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