Stuart Gordon director of Re-Animator has passed away at 72.

Gordon was a prince and gory architect of HP Lovecraft adaptations. His work on Re-Animator, From Beyond and Dagon were iconic inside of Lovecraft’s lexicon.

His complete film roster filled the void with not just Lovecraft but in every single direction he went for.

Re-Animator’s synopsis went like this:

Loosely based on HP Lovecraft’s classic horror tale, Herbert West is a young scientist who has a good head on his shoulders and another on the lab table in front of him.

Gordon was an absolute icon. Although, it isn’t my business writing about myself within a piece of news regarding a death… I just want to say this loss in horror is a cold bolt of lightning.

He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, daughters Suzanna, Jillian and Margaret Gordon, four grandchildren and his brother, David George Gordon. Variety reports.

Personally, I was able to meet Gordon on multiple occasions. I was able to tell him that his film Re-Animator was my gateway not only into horror but that it also formed a lasting relationship with my mom who had since passed away. He was a sweet, but stern an inclusive dude.

While, I was growing up, my mom owned a video store in my small town. I would beg her to watch films based on their covers which for the most part she would oblige. One of those VHS box covers I became obsessed with was for Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator. I referred to it a the one with “a guy with green ecotplasm with a bottle of ectoplasm”.

I thought it had something to do with Ghostbusters at the time. Little did I know that it was HP Lovecraft, or that it had a decapitated head performing oral sex on a tied down college student. However, luckily neither did my mom. She allowed me to watch the film as long as I promised to cover my eyes during nudity.

However, Gordon didn’t work off that nudity that I promised to cover my eyes during. It was smart. Audacious and ludicrous. It was brilliant material I couldn’t stop watching.

He didn’t just make a fan out of me but also gained a fan of my movie store owning mom. She loved, the fun that he brought to his material. She loved Gordon, she loved Combs. She found a way to bond with me through my new found horror obsession.

From there on, she would save whatever came into her video store that had Gordon’s name on it. She did that up until she passed away from cancer.

Gordon was an icon and beyond crucial in the genre. I feel lucky to have been able to make his work part of not only my everlasting film collection but also that whole thing that made me and my mom bond over something beyond special.

It didn’t just open my eyes to this sort of goopy horror, but it also made me love the craft, it felt like it belonged to the outsider. It ultimately gave me wonderful sea legs that wiggled to explore all things Lovecraft and Gordon.

Gordon wasn’t just a gateway for myself but, for all horror fans who loved to explore the goopier or the mad based flicks.

If you were a fan, please check out his film King of Ants. The man was a master and I’m having a hard time wring this without falling to pieces.

Gordon was a fucking mensch that will never be forgotten.

What is your favorite Gordon film? Let me know in the comments section.

Source: (Variety)