News
‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre III’ Director Jeff Burr Has Passed Away
Bloody Disgusting has learned the sad news tonight that prolific horror filmmaker Jeff Burr, who notably directed Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, has passed away.
Jeff Burr was just 60 years old.
Prior to making his mark on the Chainsaw franchise with the fan favorite third installment, Jeff Burr directed 1987’s Vincent Price-starring From a Whisper to a Scream and 1989’s Stepfather II: Make Room for Daddy. He later directed 1993 sequel Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings.
Jeff Burr’s directorial credits also include 1990s horror movies Puppet Master 4, Puppet Master 5, and Night of the Scarecrow, as well as The Werewolf Reborn!, Phantom Town, The Boy With the X-Ray Eyes, Straight into Darkness, Devil’s Den, Resurrection, Gun of the Black Sun, Tornado Warning, and in more recent years, Puppet Master: Blitzkrieg Massacre.
Friend/writer Shane Bitterling writes on Twitter tonight, “Just got an awful phone call. One I’ve had far too many of recently. Our pal, Jeff Burr, suddenly passed away last night. One of my first friends in L.A., and one of the best. Sad sad sad days.”
Bitterling adds in a follow-up tweet, “We all know Jeff Burr for his horror movies (TCM III, etc.) but please seek out his Straight into Darkness, maybe his finest and one he was the most proud of. Called by somebody at a test screening, Mario Bava’s Thin Red Line. A visually stunning poem of war brutality.. and freaks.”
All of us here at Bloody Disgusting send our deepest condolences to Jeff Burr’s family, friends, and colleagues. He was one of us, and his mark on the genre will be felt for decades to come.
Rest in Peace, Jeff.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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