The original Faces of Death, released in 1978, is one of the most infamous films of all time, purporting to showcase real footage of real death. In actuality, much of the footage seen in Faces on Death is staged, with gory special effects often being paired up with real footage to create the illusion of gruesome reality. The writer and director of the movie, along with the many sequels it spawned, was credited under the name Conan le Cilaire, whose real name was John Alan Schwartz. Sadly, we’ve learned this week that Schwartz has passed away.

Joan Alperin-Schwartz paid tribute to her late husband through his Facebook page.

“This morning John passed away. He is now with the angels. But I have a feeling he will be back. He died peacefully. He was one of the funniest, most unique, original, creative and magical person I’ve ever known. Living with him was an adventure. He cried at sad movies, laughed hard and made others laugh hard. He’d wake up everyday with a new idea for a tv show or a movie. He brought the writer out in me and brought me coffee and a bagels in bed every day for twenty two years. He shared the same passion for travel as I did and we went on some really extraordinary adventures and threw some amazing parties. John was a great cook and loved having dinner parties…Although he never ate at them. He was always too full from tasting the food he was creating. He was as passionate about animals as I was. He loved talking to people and he’d ask them the most intimate questions and because people knew was being sincere they would reveal to him there deepest secrets. He was definitely one of a kind. I think John and I knew each other in another life. The second I saw him I knew in every cell of my body that we were going to be together forever and on some level we will be. Goodbye Johnny. You will be missed.”

In the wake of Faces of Death, Schwartz directed Faces of Death II, Faces of Death III, The Worst of Faces of Death, Faces of Death IV, Faces of Death V, Faces of Death VI and Faces of Death: Fact or Fiction? between 1981 and 1999. More recently, he penned the book My Faces of Death: A Deadly Memoir in 2004, sharing his memories of the controversial franchise.

For many horror fans, the Faces of Death films were a rite of passage, passed around like urban legends on videotape. And they will surely continue to be for many years to come.