Stan Winston, 1946-2008

The effects maestro was a spectacular craftsman as well as a deft self-promoter—the acceptable face of gore effects, some might say. Genre fans like myself admired him because (among other things), for all that, he had no problem owning up to being a twisted specemin specimen in much the way many of us genre fans are twisted. For more illumination on this point, go below the fold, unless you're squeamish.

Told ya. This is a screen cap from the infamous needle-in-the-eye bit from Gary Sherman's legendary 1981 horror pic Dead and Buried. Winston himself goes into some detail on how the effect was achieved in a featurette that's part of the nifty Blue Underground DVD of the film. After which he notes, quite sincerely, "It gives me a lot of pleasure to know I brought that kind of gruesomeness to the screen."

He'll be missed.

Comments

[Mark]

The Terminator, Aliens, Predator, Terminator 2, Jurassic Park...hell of a resume. Thanks for everything Stan.

[Dan]

Man, this is sad. At least the family had time to prepare, although I'd no idea he was suffering from cancer.