Oscar winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond has passed away at the age of 85. While most of Hollywood know him from his work on films such as Deliverence (1972), The Deer Hunter (1978), The Rose (1979), and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Blow Out (1981), we here at the Krypt remember him for his earlier work, on some of the low budget films that we cherish as much as those classic pieces of cinema. Okay…maybe not as much, but we still enjoy them!
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.
Carlo De Mejo – Rest in Peace
We are sadden to hear of the passing of Italian actor Carlo De Mejo, who appeared in several Lucio Fulci films, such as City of the Living Dead (1980), House by the Cemetery, and Manhattan Baby. He also appeared in Luigi Cozzi’s Contamination (1980), as well as two Bruno Mattei flicks, The Other Hell (1980) and Women’s Prison Massacre (1983).
Germán Robles – Rest in Peace
The horror genre has lost another legend, even though most fans probably don’t know who Germán Robles ever was. But in fact, he was one the very first movie vampire to ever bare his fangs on screen! That’s right, folks, right before Hammer’s Horror of Dracula was released, a black and white film from Mexico called El Vampiro came out, which featured Robles as the dreaded Count Duval.
Gunnar Hansen – Rest in Peace
Earlier this year, when Christopher Lee passed away, he was really the last of the great horror icons from my generation. Along with Peter Cushing and Vincent Price, playing updated versions of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, and a variety of other different monsters, these were the famous actors known for their horror roles that I grew up on. The next generation grew up on the likes of Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers, and of course, Leatherface.
Gunnar Hansen was the first one to wear the human skin mask, chase dumb kids who wandered on his property, and dance with the chain saw. And no one did with such style as Hansen. He showed us fans, that Leatherface was much more than a huge brute with a deadly saw, but a disturbed and troubled young man, with some obvious social issues. But this came out in Hansen’s performance, which is even more incredible when you know what these poor actors went through to get this film actually made.
Charles Herbert – Rest in Peace
Another name that might not bring up immediate memories, but one look at his childhood face, and you’ll remember him. Herbert was a child actor who appeared as David Hedison’s son in the 1958 film The Fly, forever searching for the white-headed fly. He would also appear in William Castle’s 13 Ghosts, The Colossus of New York, The Monster that Challenged the World, and appearing in such TV shows as Outer Limits, One Step Beyond, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, plus plenty of other regular TV and movie appearances. But like a lot of child actors during that time, they were taken advantage of, both by the system and usually by their parents. After appearing in over 50 movies and TV series, once he quit acting, he had less than $2000 to his name. Struggling with addiction for most of his life, Herbert was finally able to turn his life around and appeared at quite a few movie conventions, getting to meet his fans.
Wes Craven – Rest in Peace
I know I pretty much say it with every passing of someone from the horror genre, that because of the work they did and the fans that refused to let their work and their memories die, but for a filmmaker like Wes Craven, that statement really is true. Not everything Craven directed was a masterpiece. Far from it. Then again, it would be pretty tough to do that when you work in the business for over four decades. But how many filmmakers can say that they made quite an impact in the genre, not just once, or twice, but at least three times in their career? Not too many. And the funny thing is that those three groundbreaking features and so different from each other. Of course, I’m talking about Last House on the Left, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream.
Alex Rocco – Rest in Peace
I had planned on mentioning this when I first heard but missed out. But wanted to make sure I got it up here at some point. Ten days ago, on July 18th, we lost a great character actor with the passing of Alex Rocco. The man played in a million things, in both movies and television, and was always a treat to see. In the horror genre, you could spot him in films like Blood Mania (1970), Stanley (1972), The Entity (1982), or even Return to Horror High (1987).
Sure, most people know him from the role of Moe Green in The Godfather, taking one in the eye, but I have to say one of my favorites of his roles was that of a the caring and devoted father in The Lady in White (1988). This is one of my favorite ghost story flicks and is pretty much a perfect film and Rocco is great here, as is everyone else. So I know that for me, he will be remembered with each viewing of this film.
Our thoughts go out to his friends and family.
Irwin Keyes – Rest in Peace
I meant to post this earlier but was sidetracked a little with that thing called life. But I wanted to make sure that I mention the passing of character actor Irwin Keyes. Yes, most of us horror fans know him from his character of Revelli in Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses, but just looking has his resume you’ll realize the amount of work this man has done. He had small parts in a ton of films, such as in the original Friday the 13th. A constimate character actor, Keyes was one of those people that could only have a bit part in a film, maybe a scene or two, but was always memorable. Because of his look, he tended to play vilians or henchman, but like a lot of actors playing the monsters, it was completely opposite of what Keyes was like in real life. According to talent manager Travis Engle, “He was the nicest guy who played some of the meanest characters. In show business, it is very rare to meet someone as kind and gentle as Irwin was.”
Keyes passed away last Wednesday from complications of acromegaly. He was 63 years old. Our thoughts out to his friends and family.
James Horner – Rest in Peace
Film fans have lost a great composer this week. James Horner died in a single-engine plane that crash while he was flying, yesterday morning. He was only 61 years old. I’ve been a fan of Horner’s work long before I knew who he was. He started out working on low budget and films that are now considered cult films, but are ones that I still hold dear to my heart. Films like Humanoids from the Deep (1980), Wolfen (1981), Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983), and especially Aliens (1986), which he received his first of many Oscar nominations for best score. He would be nominated a total of nine times, winning twice.
His music always helped infuse a real feeling into the film. While the film Braveheart isn’t a film I would normally talk about on this site, Horner’s score is just incredible. I can’t listen to the ending of that without having my heart slowly ripped from my chest. It immediately brings back the images and feeling from the film and it is as if I’m watching it all over again, just by hearing his beautiful score. This shows the power that Horner and his music could create. He was quoted as saying this about his music: “I’m different from some other composers because I don’t look at this as just a job. I see music as art.”
Thankfully we will be able to remember this incredible talent and the passion that he gave millions of film and film music fans around the world. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family.
Rest in Peace – Christopher Lee
The news of the passing of Christopher Lee today is truly an end of an era. He really was the last of the great icons of horror, following the likes of Lugosi, Karloff, Chaney Jr., Cushing, Price, and Carradine. Lee worked very hard to stay away from being pigeon-holed just as a horror actor, and did an amazing job of it too, appearing in close to 300 films and television appearances in a career that spanned almost seven decades. From playing Scaramanga in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, as Count Dooku in the Star Wars films, or the wizard Saruman in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, not to mention countless other amazing performances he gave us, he was always a joy to watch. With such a screen presence, he brought his characters to life and always made them memorable.
When he played Dracula for Hammer, he was no longer some foreign aristocrat, but a dominating and powerful presence, one that he gave off in all of his roles. He was the one that made the mummy scary again, when he played the tormented Kharis in Hammer’s 1959 remake. So many roles in so many movies, he gave us horror fans hours upon hours of entertainment. He has now joined the rest of those icons of horror in another place. And like those before him, he will never be forgotten.
Rest in Peace, Sir Christopher.
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