A true fan of H.P. Lovecraft would absolutely understand the madcap genius that came from the mind of Stuart Gordon. A fan of the author’s writing he himself went on to create some of the best adaptations of the author’s work, creating projects of quality; Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1986), & Dagon (2001) are all marvelous exercises in imagination in spite of their limitations of scope & means. I am aware that the man also adapted the short story “The Outsider” into the ham-fisted, albeit well-intentioned, Castle Freak (1995)…but I’m chalking that up to people are allowed to make mistakes, try and fail at things…besides, a man has died- let’s leave it at that.
You don’t get to have 80’s horror without having Stuart Gordon. For a generation of video store kids, he was a legend; a man who rightfully deserves adulation and respect, even by those unfamiliar with his body of work. Personally, how could I not relate to Gordon? We even shared a birthday! Born August 11th, 1947 in Chicago Illinois, Gordon first studied to be a commercial artist at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Gordon had wanted to go into film, but finding all of those courses full, he enrolled in acting courses and eventual switched his major to being in Theatre. Still a student, in 1968 he founded his own theater company, eloquently titled “The Screw Theater.” He produced his own guerilla style theater troop performances- and his production of the highly controversial play “Game Show” that same year made some serious waves. A scathing social commentary on the apathy of society, actors would insult, humiliate and (only with the planted actors) would faux beat and sexually assault members of the audience. If you had seen Brian DePalma’s Hi, Mom! (1970), it sounds eerily similar, and you may be able to picture what the theater performances were indeed like…that is for only a few moments, as each of the times the play was performed it ended with rioting and being shut down prematurely.
“The Screw Theater” didn’t last long- Gordon’s productions got him arrested by the Chicago PD for obscenity charges, but on the plus side, he met his wife Carolyn Purdy when they were both taken in by the police after one of the performances. They married that same year and founded The Organic Theater Company- which continues to this day. Over the course of his life Stuart would go on to produce and direct over 37 plays with his company. His first big foray into features started rather innocuously. Gordon wanted to adapt Lovecraft’s 1922 short story “Herbert West: Re-Animator” into as stage play to be put on by the Organic Theater. Through conversations with a special effects technician Bob Greenberg, who had previously worked with John Carpenter on his first feature Dark Star (1974)- convinced Gordon that he would have better luck doing horror as a film, not a play. Greenberg introduced him to Director Producer Brian Yuzna, and a lifelong partnership was formed.
Initially thinking they would create a limited run series, Yuzna took Gordon to LA to meet with schlockmeister (and a favorite of ours) Producer/Director Charles Band, who at the time was running his company Empire Pictures. Re-Animator was going to be a feature film, shot on a shoestring budget of $900,000 and utilizing at the time an up and coming cast, including a young Jeffery Combs and Barbara Crampton- the film was a hit – going on to gross over $2 Million at the box office. He followed it up with From Beyond (which is a particular favorite of mine) but for those of you who prefer to lead a less spicy existence- but you still enjoy things of quality- Gordon was still a force to be reckoned with. Getting together with Yuzna and writer Ed Naha, the three men penned a small script that would go on to be the sleeper hit of the summer of 1989 for Walt Disney Studios.
A little Joe Johnston flick called Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. It was made for a cool $18 million and wound up grossing over $222.7 million at the box office. Gordon of course has had other projects over the years- mostly low-budget affairs, almost always competently made, most often straight to video fare, like Space Truckers (1996) but he had some real gems there as well- like his humorous adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998) based on his story by the same name. And all the while, he was still doing what he loved- producing and directing stage theatre. You can imagine the collective shock when it was announced yesterday that Stuart Gordon passed away on March 24th from complications of total organ failure, at (the still young-to-me) age of 72.
He is still survived by his wife, and their three children and as the day has gone by I am heartened to see that his contemporaries, the actors who worked with him on both stage and screen have nothing fond things to share about him- praising him for his generosity and warmth. The LSCE will dim the lights tonight in honor of Stuart Gordon’s passing, as we are all the richer for having had him in this world, and it will seem a little drabber without him. On behalf of our fellow video store kids, thank you, Mr. Gordon. Rest in peace good sir.
~Management