I'm sorry to report
the death of Chicago horror icon/auteur Stuart Gordon. Though he was best known for his major masterpiece, RE-ANIMATOR, and, perhaps, his connection to
HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS (whereupon Disney almost broke him entirely), he made many of the greatest horror films of the 80s, 90s, and 00s, which always brimmed with dark comedy and social commentary––from the best Full Moon Picture
THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM, to the primordial suburban stew of
KING OF THE ANTS, to the best rock-em-sock-robot movie ever made,
ROBOT JOX (yeah, that's right, PACIFIC RIM), to the underrated mayhem of DOLLS, to his pitch-black indictment of modern indulgence
STUCK, to all his other Lovecraft adapations, FROM BEYOND, DAGON, and the oft-overlooked
CASTLE FREAK. He was a great theater director, too, and I was lucky enough to see
NEVERMORE in 2011 (his "Jeffrey Combs-as-Edgar Allan Poe" one-man-show) and wished for years for his production of
TASTE to come to NYC (it hasn't yet). He certainly left his mark on modern horror––and,
as Don Coscarelli remembers––he summed up the genre perhaps better than anyone:
"Horror films are a rehearsal for our own deaths."
2 comments:
Loved Stuart Gordon's Lovecraft pictures. Love all his work with Jeffrey Combs actually.
I need to rewatch The Pit and the Pendulum. I have more time to do this now. :\
Space Truckers was also pretty good. And yes, Stuck is a fantastic metaphor for modern fear-driven inhumanity.
Thanks for keeping this site going. Take care of yourself.
gweeps,
SPACE TRUCKERS is one of the few that slipped between the cracks for me, I'll have to check it out. Always good to hear from you––and stay safe out there!
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