{"id":3413,"date":"2016-09-26T18:07:59","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T02:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottcolburn.com\/blog\/?p=3413"},"modified":"2023-06-15T16:53:09","modified_gmt":"2023-06-16T00:53:09","slug":"hg-lewis-dead-at-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottcolburn.com\/blog\/?p=3413","title":{"rendered":"HG Lewis – Dead at 87"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

First Brad and Angelina, now THIS<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Horror filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis, known as the \u201cGodfather of Gore\u201d for his bloody exploitation movies that launched the splatter genre in the 1960s with films such as \u201cBlood Feast\u201d and \u201cTwo Thousand Maniacs,\u201d died Monday at 87.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Something Weird Video site<\/a> announced his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBlood Feast,\u201d made in 1963 in Miami, was considered to be the horror genre\u2019s first splatter film. Variety called it a \u201ctotally inept shocker\u201d that was \u201can insult even to the most puerile and salacious of audiences,\u201d with a \u201csenseless\u201d screenplay and \u201camateurish\u201d acting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His films supplied grindhouse cinemas and drive-ins with titles including \u201cA Taste of Blood,\u201d \u201cThe Wizard of Gore,\u201d \u201cThe Gruesome Twosome,\u201d \u201cScum of the Earth!\u201d and \u201cShe-Devils on Wheels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning in the 1960s, his early films with the late producer David F. Friedman <\/a>were skewed toward soft-core erotica. Lewis\u2019s other films also took on subjects that were taboo at the time including the birth control pill \u201c(The Girl, The Body, and The Pill\u201d) and wife-swapping (\u201cSuburban Roulette\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He took a lengthy break from directing after 1972\u2019s \u201cThe Gore Gore Girls\u201d to work in direct marketing but returned in 2002 with \u201cBlood Feast 2: All U Can Eat,\u201d<\/a> which included a cameo from a longtime fan, John Waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to being a filmmaker, Lewis taught college literature, worked in radio and produced and directed TV commercials. He wrote several books on marketing and copywriting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personal Favorite!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wizard of Gore<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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