So Long, And Thanks For All The Porn Horror
Stuart Gordon, best known as the director of the horror-classic Re-Animator (1985), is dead at age 72. The film is loosely based on H.P. Lovecraft’s serialized short story named “Herbert West – Reanimator”, which ran through 1922.
“The Lovecraft purists are always very upset with me because I’m always throwing all of this nudity into these movies, and there is no nudity in Lovecraft.
But my argument is that there is a tremendous sexuality about Lovecraft, and a fear of sex, taking the reproductive act and turning it into something monstrous.
Although he doesn’t get explicit with it, he’ll refer to it constantly in his stories. And in a movie, you have to use images to show things.”
The co-founder of the Honey, I Shrunk The Kids franchise headed three other Lovecraft film adaptations – From Beyond, Castle Freak and Dagon.
You Are Not Where You Belong
Directing 2005’s Edmond departed from horror, but is no less a fun, weird ride.
William H. Macy stars an emasculated, middle-aged man who visits a tarot reader on the way home. Her words prompt a spiral into questionable life changes in an attempt to shed his old life and escape himself.
This film feels like a really good episode of The Twilight Zone.
Other Notable Horror/Sci-Fi
The Dolls
Something I saw hundreds of times on the shelf in the Horror section of my local video store before finally giving in. Creepy toymakers and haunted dolls? Yes, please.
The Pit and The Pendulum (1987)
Starring Lance Henriksen (who if you didn’t know, pisses excellence) as Torquemada, the Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition in 1492.
Fortress
Schlocky goodness with Christopher Lambert locked up in a dystopian futuristic prison for violating the “one-child law” with his wife.
Masters of Horror (2005 – 2007)
The short-lived Showtime horror anthology where Gordon directed two episodes.
“The Black Cat” focused on Edgar Allan Poe’s alcoholism and writer’s block.
“Dream In The Witch House” was a modern interpretation of Lovecraft’s short story of the same name.
