Backwoods Horror

The Following From SHOCK TILL YOU DROP on the life and death of the memorable Zelda Rubenstein:

Zelda Rubinstein, the actress best known for her portrayal of Tangina Barrons Poltergeist has passed away at the age of 76.

Rubinstein was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center about two months ago after suffering a mild heart attack, and taken off of life support just prior to New Years.

Zelda worked as a medical lab technician before launching her acting career in her 40s, and made her film debut in the 1981 Chevy Chase comedy Under the Rainbow. The prolific actress accumulated a huge list of film credits which included Frances, Sixteen Candles, Teen Witch, Anguish and most recently Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon and Southland Tales.

She was also involved in plenty of activist work, such as forming the nonprofit Michael Dunn Memorial Repertory Theater Company in Los Angeles to help little actors book quality roles, as well as an AIDS activist having played the mother in L.A. CARES (Los Angeles Cooperative AIDS Risk-Reduction Education Service) campaign for AIDS awareness.

Genre fans will of course always remember her for her unforgettable performance as Tangina in the Poltergeist trilogy.

It’s so strange that Chas. Balun and Dan O’Bannon should pass within a day of each other…From Shock Till You Drop:

Fangoria reports Chas. Balun passed away on December 18 at the age of 61. He was battling cancer.

Chas. (Charlie) was a multi-hyphenate in the horror biz. An artist, a journalist and a fiction writer, he contributed to the likes of “Fangoria” and “Gorezone” magazines as well as the t-shirt company Rotten Cotton. His books on genre films enlightened readers, steering us clear from the detritus that polluted the horror landscape and pointing us to the meaty, more satisfying entries that, more often than not, shed the red, so to speak.

“Horror Holocaust,” “Beyond Horror Holocaust,” “The Gore Score,” and “More Gore Score” featured his acerbic wit and scathing criticism. The man told it like it is and we loved him for it.

Chas. was a cool cat; I grew up reading his articles and, later, got to know him when I first met the man at a horror convention here in Los Angeles. We didn’t see eye to eye on some films, however, we shared a mutual love for Lucio Fulci’s Zombie. I got quite a thrill when he e-mailed me enthusiastically one day in response to my review of “Beyond Horror Holocaust” when it was first published. Someone I looked up to as a writer was telling me he was a fan of my work.

A bold voice in horror has been taken from us and he will be missed.

I missed a few big deaths, it’d seem.  Dan O’Bannon, genius creator of one of my favorite zombie flicks of all time and the creator of the ZOM-COM at the same time: RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, died on Dec. 17th, 2009.  Below you’ll find an obituary from REUTERS.

O’Bannon, who also co-wrote the Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi action film “Total Recall,” died Thursday, the Writers Guild of America confirmed on Friday. Online media reports said he had suffered a brief, undisclosed illness.

A St. Louis native who grew up on horror films and monster comics like “Tales from the Crypt,” O’Bannon got his start collaborating with director John Carpenter on the screenplay for the 1974 sci-fi cult parody “Dark Star.”

O’Bannon also co-starred in the low-budget movie about four astronauts on a lengthy mission to clear a path through space by destroying planets that posed a navigation barrier.

His screenwriting credits also include the 1995 sci-fi thriller “Screamers,” which he worked on for over a decade, and the 1997 horror film “Bleeders.”

But his best known work was his screenplay for the 1979 space chiller “Alien,” the first of a film series starring Sigourney Weaver as a tough space hero who battles a colony of slimy, parasitic, insect-like creatures with razor-sharp teeth and voracious appetites.

One of the most horrifying characteristics of the aliens was their penchant for gestating inside the body of a human host before bursting out of the victim’s chest to prey on more people.

The original film, directed by Ridley Scott, garnered an Oscar for its visual effects. O’Bannon also shared credit in sequels for the characters he created. The first sequel, 1986’s “Aliens,” directed by James Cameron, won Oscars for best visual and best sound effects editing.

The latest in the franchise, an untitled “Alien” prequel set for 2011, was in production at the time O’Bannon died, according to the Internet Movie Database.

This news just popped up over at HorrorMovies.ca

The horror community must say goodbye to another on screen presence. Marilyn Chambers was found dead in her Los Angeles home at the age of 56. She apparently passed away late Sunday night but right now the cause of death is unknown and they are awaiting an autopsy report.

For those of you who were not familiar with her career her main claim to fame was being in one of the first pornographic films to reach mainstream theaters in the U.S. Most of us however will most likely remember her for her role in David Cronenbergs Rabid. Rest in peace Marilyn Chambers.

Rest In Peace, Marilyn…

From Bloody Good Horror:

Sad news today that veteran actor Lou Perryman passed away on April 1st.

Known as a long time collaborator with Tobe Hooper, Perryman was best known as L.G. from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2″ as well as behind the camera work on many films such as “Poltergeist”, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, “The Blues Brothers”, “Boys Don’t Cry” and many others. Perryman has been a long time resident of South Austin, Texas.

To make the situation even more grave, Austin local news has brought forth new information that Perryman may in fact have been a victim of foul play.

A South Austin neighborhood is on edge after police discover a body inside a small home. Now a man is behind bars in connection with that murder, after he reportedly showed up at the Travis County Justice complex with information that led police to the crime scene.

The story does not identify Perlman as the victim, but his daughter has already taken to her Facebook page announcing her father’s death, as well as confirmed to the horror site linked above that her father was the victim in the above mentioned story. Nothing is official at this point and no charges have been filed, but all signs are starting to point in the same direction.

You have got to be fucking shitting me.  Really?  What the FUCK kind of world do we live in where some piece of motherfucking shit goes and kills L.G.?  MOTHER FUCK!!!  It’s a good thing it’s Texas because I want that fucker to fucking FRY!  Torture the fucker first.  What the fuck, man.  This is just…it’s too fucking much.

You’ll be missed, man.

R.I.P

From Dread Central:

In some shockingly sad news “Angel”’s Andy Hallet has passed away due to heart disease at the much too young age of just 33.

Hallet played everyone’s favorite singing green-skinned demon Lorne on the show. The actor passed away at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles after a five-year battle with heart disease with his father Dave Hallett by his side.

Hallet delighted fans everywhere and has left us with some truly hilarious memories. I can think of no better way to send him off than with a song. Rest in peace, Andy, and thank you.

Wow, Count Yorga’s kicked the bucket.  Fangoria has a huge tribute to his memory on their site, so, check it out!

Here’s the link:  COUNT YORGA…DEAD AND LOVING IT.

How did I MISS THIS???!!!!

From Ain’t It Cool News:

Kim Manners, a prolific director and producer whose long showbiz career stretches from 1971’s “Valdez is Coming” to “Charlie’s Angels,” “Automan,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.,” “MANTIS,” and “Harsh Realm,” passed away Sunday night following a battle with cancer.

His last directorial effort was “Metamorphosis,” the Oct. 9 episode of “Supernatural.”

Manners directed 53 hours of “The X-Files,” including the 2002 two-hour series finale, “The Truth.”

Hailing from a showbiz family, Manners got his start as a second assistant director on the big-screen Burt Lancaster western “Valdez is Coming,” produced by his father Sam.

Joining “Charlie’s Angels” in 1977 as an assistant director and production manager, he eventually directed 11 episodes of that series, starting with 1979’s “Angels Remembered.”

His episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” was season one’s “When The Bough Breaks,” about impotent extraterrestrials who kidnap the Enterprise’s children.

“Supernatural” mastermind Eric Kripke issued this statement:

Everyone at ‘Supernatural’ is walking around in a daze, shocked and absolutely devastated. Kim was a brilliant director; more than that, he was a mentor and friend. He was one of the patriarchs of the family, and we miss him desperately. He gave so much to ‘Supernatural,’ and everything we do on the show, now and forever, is in memory of him.

Among those surviving Manners is sister and longtime assistant director Tana Manners (“Deadly Whispers”). A brother, Kelly Manners, was a producer on “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” and currently serves as a producer on the upcoming Fox series “Dollhouse.”

How could I have missed this shit? I’ve been so wrapped up in not getting fired from my job I’ve completely missed the death of Forrest J. Ackerman. Sad, really…sad he’s gone, sad I missed it.  Here’s the obituary from the AP:

The following courtesy of the Associated Press:

Forrest J Ackerman, the sometime actor, literary agent, magazine editor and full-time bon vivant who discovered author Ray Bradbury and was widely credited with coining the term “sci-fi,” has died. He was 92.

Ackerman died Thursday of heart failure at his Los Angeles home, said Kevin Burns, head of Prometheus Entertainment and a trustee of Ackerman’s estate.

Although only marginally known to readers of mainstream literature, Ackerman was legendary in science-fiction circles as the founding editor of the pulp magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland. He was also the owner of a huge private collection of science-fiction movie and literary memorabilia that for years filled every nook and cranny of a hillside mansion overlooking Los Angeles.

“He became the Pied Piper, the spiritual leader, of everything science fiction, fantasy and horror,” Burns said Friday.

Every Saturday morning that he was home, Ackerman would open up the house to anyone who wanted to view his treasures. He sold some pieces and gave others away when he moved to a smaller house in 2002, but he continued to let people visit him every Saturday for as long as his health permitted.

“My wife used to say, ‘How can you let strangers into our home?’ But what’s the point of having a collection like this if you can’t let people enjoy it?” an exuberant Ackerman told The Associated Press as he conducted a spirited tour of the mansion on his 85th birthday.

His collection once included more than 50,000 books, thousands of science-fiction magazines and such items as Bela Lugosi’s cape from the 1931 film “Dracula.”

His greatest achievement, however, was likely discovering Bradbury, author of the literary classics “Fahrenheit 451″ and “The Martian Chronicles.” Ackerman had placed a flyer in a Los Angeles bookstore for a science-fiction club he was founding and a teenage Bradbury showed up.

Later, Ackerman gave Bradbury the money to start his own science-fiction magazine, Futuria Fantasia, and paid the author’s way to New York for an authors meeting that Bradbury said helped launch his career.

“I hadn’t published yet, and I met a lot of these people who encouraged me and helped me get my career started, and that was all because of Forry Ackerman,” the author told the AP in 2005.

Later, as a literary agent, Ackerman represented Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and numerous other science-fiction writers.

He said the term “sci-fi” came to him in 1954 when he was listening to a car radio and heard an announcer mention the word “hi-fi.”

“My dear wife said, ‘Forget it, Forry, it will never catch on,’” he recalled.

Soon he was using it in Famous Monsters of Filmland, the magazine he helped found in 1958 and edited for 25 years.

Ackerman himself appeared in numerous films over the years, usually in bit parts. His credits include “Queen of Blood,” “Dracula vs. Frankenstein,” “Amazon Women on the Moon,” “Vampirella,” “Transylvania Twist,” “The Howling” and the Michael Jackson “Thriller” video. More recently, he appeared in 2007’s “The Dead Undead” and 2006’s “The Boneyard Collection.”

Ackerman returned briefly to Famous Monsters of Filmland in the 1990s, but he quickly fell out with the publisher over creative differences. He sued and was awarded a judgment of more than $375,000.

Forrest James Ackerman was born in Los Angeles on Nov. 24, 1916. He fell in love with science-fiction, he once said, when he was 9 years old and saw a magazine called Amazing Stories. He would hold onto that publication for the rest of his life.

Ackerman, who had no children, was preceded in death by his wife, Wendayne.

Thanks to SHOCK TILL YOU DROP for the Pic

R.I.P. Michael Crichton. This from FANGORIA:

The Los Angeles Times reports that author/screenwriter Michael Crichton died yesterday in LA. The creator of JURASSIC PARK and numerous other science-fiction thrillers, who had been privately battling cancer, was 66.

crichtonobitnews
The Chicago-born Crichton was an English major at Harvard University before dropping out to travel across Europe, then returned to Harvard to study medicine-a background that served him well both in his novels/screenplays and as creator of TV’s hit series ER. His first novel to hit the big screen was THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, about a team of scientists trying to halt the spread of a deadly extraterrestrial virus, filmed in 1971 by director Robert Wise; a new ANDROMEDA adaptation aired last year on A&E. Crichton made his feature directorial debut (following the 1972 TV movie PURSUIT) with 1973’s WESTWORLD, which he also scripted, set in a futuristic amusement park populated by robots that violently turn on the guests.

Subsequent writing/directing credits include 1978’s COMA, 1981’s LOOKER and 1984’s RUNAWAY, but easily the best-known feature bearing his name is 1993’s JURASSIC PARK, based on his best-selling book. Under director Steven Spielberg and with the aid of groundbreaking digital FX, the film (which Crichton co-scripted) brought dinosaurs to frightening life on screen like never before and became a massive box-office hit, spawning two sequels (with another currently in development). Further films derived from Crichton’s genre tomes were 1995’s CONGO, 1998’s SPHERE and 1999’s THE 13TH WARRIOR (based on EATERS OF THE DEAD). As a bit of horror trivia, he wrote the 1996 weather-porn hit TWISTER with his then-wife Anne-Marie Martin, an actress who previously appeared in genre flicks like THE BOOGENS and (under the pseudonym Eddie Benton) THE DARK RIDE (a.k.a. KILLER’S DELIGHT), SAVAGE HARVEST and the original PROM NIGHT.

I wonder who’s next. Uncle Forry’s on his way, and these things always come in threes.  I hope it’s not Uncle George, I haven’t met him yet…AND, he still has to redeem himself due to that atrocity DIARY OF THE DEAD.