José Antonio Pérez Giner
Born 1934
One person that is really needed to make movies happen is the producer. They are the ones that get the money to be able to make the money. Even on the lowest of budgets, someone needs to make sure things are happening, from having a crew, getting them paid, if they are even getting paid, or at least fed while their working. But it is also finding the right people for the job. So while they might not have their hands directly in the creative aspect of the filmmaking process, it is still a very important job.
In the Spanish film industry, José Antonio Pérez Giner was one man who help bring a lot of my favorite Spanish horrors to the screen. He started as a production manager, working on films like Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), as well as a couple of Paul Naschy’s films, such as The Werewolf vs the Vampire Women (1971). But he moved into the producer role, getting films made like Naschy’s Horror Rises from the Tomb (1973) and Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (1974), as well as Amando de Ossorio’s Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972) and Loreley’s Grasp (1974), as many, many other great films. Also love knowing that there are some producers out there that understand the importance of the horror genre, even if they know it is a profitable one, they still want to create something magical. And I think he did just that.
In 2003, he was awarded the Career Award at the Sant Jordi Awards. In 2008 at Sitges, he was presented the Time-Machine Honorary Award.
This has been a rough year for horror fans, losing so many people that have given us so much pleasure over the years. And now, news of yet another one. Actress Valerie Gaunt passed away this last Tuesday the 27th. Now Gaunt only appeared in two films in her very short career, but those two made quite the impact in the horror world, not to mention the British film industry.
The acting world has lost another great talent recently, Fritz Weaver. Now he might not have appeared in a ton of genre pieces, but he definitely did his share. He had little parts in plenty of sci-fi/horror TV shows, like the original Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, X-Files, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Friday the 13th: The Series, Monsters, and Tales from the Darkside (which featured Tom Savini’s directorial debut). But he also appeared in a few feature film, like Demon Seed (1977). But for me, the role that I will always remember him from, which just happens to be one of my all-time favorites, the 1982 film Creepshow, where he plays Prof. Dexter Stanley, who comes face to face with the contents of The Crate!
