While Mark McConnaughey might not have been some famous actor or director, or anything in the movie business other than a fan, for a lot of us though, he made just as much of an impact as any movie ever did. At least I know he did with me. Monster Mark, as we always referred to him as, recently passed away, after battling multiple sclerosis for many, many years. It is a hard loss for me, even though I had only really seen Mark in person a half a dozen times over the last two decades, but we somehow connected through movies that gave us a strong bond.
I first met Mark back in 1995. I had sold him some movies around that time and was planning on going to the Chiller Theatre show in New Jersey. Mark wrote me and said he would be attending too and we should hook up in the evening, which is just what we did. Hanging out in the bar with him, along with my friend Jon Stone, we talked for hours about all sorts of movies. In fact, Mark and Stone were throwing back title after title, each one more outrageous than the last, interrupted with bouts of laughter. Continue reading
Fans of Italian westerns and the giallo film have lost one of their own. George Hilton passed away yesterday at the age of 85. He started in films back in 1956, appearing in more than just a few westerns. But he also made a few giallo films, which when he did, they were pretty amazing, such as The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1970), which is one of my favorites in that sub-genre. Granted, it might have something more to do with Edwige Fenech… He also appeared in films like The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail (1971) and All the Colors of the Dark (1972), another very important film in the giallo sub-genre. You can also see him in Lamberto Bava’s Dinner with a Vampire (1989) playing the century old vampire who just wants to die.
My all time favorite of Hammer’s Frankenstein series has always been Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed. Cushing’s performance as the deviant doctor is unparalleled. It is almost a shame that since Cushing is so good in this, that it takes away from some of the other performances, like that of Freddie Jones in the role of the Professor Richter, who is the unwilling recipient of a brain transplant. His tragic performance is heart breaking, especially has he goes to see his wife in the body of another man.
If ever there was a film that would be at the top of a cult and/or exploitation genre, or especially a Turkey Day festival, it would have to be the 1972 film Blood Freak. I mean, where else could you find a movie about a Turkey-Headed, blood-drinking, religious-backed horror film, than in this must-be-seen-to-believed film. Unfortunately, Steve Hawkes (real name Steve Sipek), co-writer, co-director, co-producer, and star of this film has passed away.
If you’re a fan of Filipino horror films, then you were familiar with Eddie Garcia. Actually, if you were a fan of ANY Filipino movies, then you most likely knew who Eddie Garcia was. The man is credited with 653 acting credits on IMDB! There were years that he was appearing in over a dozen titles in one year alone. In 1975, he appeared in 33 feature films! Needless to say, the man was busy. He was also the most credited man in the Filipino film business as well, taking home more awards in the FAMAS (Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences) than any other person, with 6 Supporting Actor awards, 5 for Best Actor, 5 for Best Director, 3 different Hall of Fame and 1 Lifetime Achievement award. Yeah…just wow.
On June 7th, the horror genre lost someone very important to the it, although most fans here in the states probably know very little of him. Narciso Ibáñez Serrador might not be a name most fans are familiar with, mainly because he didn’t produce a lot of work in the film genre, but what he did before that laid the grounds for the genre in Spain. According to author 
Seriously. Enough already. Can we go a least a month without losing another one of our horror family? Actor Joe Pilato has passed away at the age of 70.
Two weeks in a row now, the world has lost another talented person from the movie industry. And it’s really starting to suck.
At my very first horror convention, back in April of 1988, John Carl Buechler was there. He had brought two of his creations with him, Jason from Friday the 13th Part 7 (1988)and the beast from Cellar Dweller (1986), which you could see from across the room because it was so tall. I still have the black and white still of that creature on it that Buechler graciously signed for me. He was so friendly and approachable. He had worked on so many movies that I devoured in the ’80s, from Ghoulies (1984), Re-Animator (1985), Crawlspace (1986), From Beyond (1986), Dolls (1987), Bride of Re-Animator (1989), to even the more recent Hatchet (2006). I still think the look he created for Jason in the entry, that he even directed, is still the best looking ever created on film.
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