Herschell Gordon Lewis, the so-called "Godfather of Gore" who is widely credited with inventing the "splatter" sub-genre, has died. He was 87. During his brief career as a writer, director and producer of low-budget exploitation films, Lewis achieved infamy with titles like Blood Feast, Two Thousand Maniacs! and The Wizard of Gore, the first of which is generally considered the first "splatter" film and was so reviled by critics on release in 1963 that Variety deemed it "an insult even to the most puerile and salacious of audiences." Nonetheless, the film's boundary-pushing nature made it a huge hit with audiences, leading to a new acceptance of onscreen gore and paving the way for more artful filmmakers like Tobe Hooper, Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson. Born June 15, 1929 in Pittsburgh, Lewis earned a master's degree in Journalism at Northwestern University and had a varied early career, working alternately as a college professor, TV commercial director and voiceover artist.
- 9/26/2016
- by Chris Eggertsen
- Hitfix
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