The 2016 Horror Society Awards will be taking place in a few days, but before we celebrate the best in horror film, I’d like to take a moment to honor all of those that we lost in 2015. This year was certainly a struggle, a year when we lost a lot of beloved talent and one man, especially, who shaped the genre into a completely different beast and inspired many generations of directors and many more generations yet to come. I’d like to start this off by honoring Mr. Wes Craven (born on August 2, 1939) who died on August 30, 2015 after a brave battle with brain cancer. As if you didn’t know, the writer/producer/director extraordinaire created the Hills Have Eyes, Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream franchises as well as stand alone flicks Cursed, The Last House on the Left, My Soul to Take, The People Under the Stairs, Red Eye, Shocker and Swamp Thing. He is truly legendary and is greatly missed.
Next, I would like to honor Sir Christopher Lee (born on May 27, 1922) who died on June 7, 2015 of heart failure. Not only did Christopher appear in titles such as Gremlins II, Howling II, Meatclever Massacre, Sleepy Hollow and The Wicker Man, but he was also the most notably face of count Dracula, playing the villain in Horror of Dracula, Prince of Darkness, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, Count Dracula, Taste the Blood of Dracula, Scars of Dracula and Dracula A.D. 1972. Plus, who could forget his contribution to the Lord of the Rings trilogy? Another science fiction icon, Leonard Nimoy (born on March 26, 1931) passed away on February 27, 2015 due to complications stemming from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Nimoy is of course best known for playing Spock in almost every Star Trek adaption and spin-off.
Speaking of Star Trek, the franchise suffered a series of losses this year. Aside from Nimoy, writer and producer of the Star Trek movies #2 through #5, Harve Bennett (born on August 17, 1930) passed away on February 25, 2015 as well as Grace Lee Whitney on May 1, 2015; Whitney having played the role of Yeoman Janice Rand. Another series, the popular FX anthology “American Horror Story,” lost two of its ‘Freak Show’ cast members when Ben Woolfe passed away on February 23, 2015 and Rose Siggins passed away on December 12, 2015. “The Twilight Zone” also lost writers Melissa Mathison and George Clayton Johnson and popular character actress Donna Douglas.
Getting back to this year’s biggest losses, the Godmother of All Villains, Betsy Palmer (born on November 1, 1926) passed away on May 29, 2015. She’s an icon for playing Jason Voorhees’ mother in Friday the 13th and Friday the 13th Part 2. She also had roles in Fear: Resurrection and Bell Witch: The Movie. Robert Z’Dar (born on June 3, 1950), an indie horror and action favorite, passed away on March 30, 2015 after going into cardiac arrest. The actor is most known for starring in the Maniac Cop trilogy as well as Evil Alter, Grotesque and Night Stalker. Geoffrey Lewis (born on July 31, 1995) died on April 7, 2015 of natural causes and old age; the actor having appeared in cult classics like Night of the Comet and Salem’s Lot as well as The Devil’s Rejects. Also from Rob Zombie’s family killer franchise – Tom Towles died on April 2, 2015 and Irwin Keyes died on July 8, 2015.
I would like to acknowledge Catherine E. Coulson (born on October 22, 1943) who played The Log Lady in “Twin Peaks” and the feature film adaption Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. Coulson died of cancer on Sepember 28, 2015. Puppetteer and special effects artist N. Brock Winkless (born in 1959) died on July 18, 2015 of an unconfirmed neurological condition. Winkless is responsible for bringing to life iconic characters such as the evolved creatures in Alien III, killer doll Chucky and The Crypt Keeper. Louis Jordan (born on June 19, 1921) passed away on February 14, 2015 of old age. He was 93 and starred in Ritual of Evil, Swamp Thing and its sequel Return of Swamp Thing. Gunnar Hansen of Texas Chainsaw Massacre fame passed on November 7, 2015. Finally, one of the last losses of the year, I’d like to acknowledge Brooke McCarter who died on December 22, 2015. He played Paul in The Lost Boys and had one of the most awesome kills in the movie.
Incase this wasn’t enough, here’s a list of more stars who died in 2015. Writers, stuntmen and cinematographers are included, too!
Robert Loggia – (January 2, 1930 – December 4, 2015) – Psycho Ii, The Believers, Innocent Blood, Independence Day
Rex Reason – (November 30, 1928 – November 19, 2015) – The Creature Walks Among Us, This Island Earth
Warren Mitchell – (January 19, 1926 – November 14, 2015) – The Crawling Eye, Curse of the Werewolf, Blood Beast from Outer Space
Terrence Evans – (June 20, 1934 – August 7, 2015) – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
Alex Rocco – (February 29, 1936 – July 18, 2015) – Blood Mania, Return to Horror High, The House Across the Street
Patrick Macnee – (February 6, 1922 – June 25, 2015) – Dead of Night, The Howling, Waxwork, Lobster Man from Mars
Rick Ducommun – (July 3, 1952 – June 12, 2015) – The Burbs, Little Monsters, Gremlins 2, Ghost in the Machine, Scary Movie
Richard Johnson – (July 30, 1927 – June 5, 2015) – The Haunting, The Night Child, Screamers, Zombie, What Waits Below
Andrew Lesnie – (January 1, 1956 – April 27, 2015 – cinematographer The Lord of the Rings
James Best – (July 26, 1926 – April 6, 2015) – The Killer Shrews, Return of the Killer Shrews, Death Mask
Richard Dysart – (March 30, 1920 – April 5, 2015) – The Thing
Darren Shahlavi – (August 5, 1972 – January 14, 2015) – stunts Legion of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, Bloodrayne, Slither
Rod Taylor – (January 11, 1930 – January 7, 2015) – The Birds
