​R.I.P. Stuart Gordon, Director of 'Re-Animator' and 'From Beyond'

​R.I.P. Stuart Gordon, Director of 'Re-Animator' and 'From Beyond'
By Sarah Murphy
Published Mar 25, 2020
Cult horror director Stuart Gordon has died. His family confirmed that he passed away yesterday (March 24). He was 72.
 
Gordon was best known for cult classics like Re-Animator (1985) and From Beyond (1986), though he was also a writer and producer for the Honey I Shrunk the Kids franchise. Other film highlights by Gordon include the underrated horror flick Castle Freak (1995), as well as The Dolls (1987), Robot Jox (1989), The Pit and the Pendulum (1991) and Fortress (1992), among others. 
 
In addition to film, Gordon was also active in theatre since his days at University of Wisconsin-Madison. He formed Screw Theater in 1968 at the school, getting arrested with his future wife for obscenity in the company's final production — a political rework of Peter Pan. After that, he cut ties with the university and formed Broom Street Theater in 1969, then the Organic Theater Company in Chicago later that year.
 
Gordon directed a one-man show called Nevermore… An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe in 2009, starring Re-Animator actor Jeffrey Combs.
 
In 2011, Gordon produced, wrote and directed Re-Animator the Musical, which played in Hollywood for six months before doing festival runs in New York and Edinburgh.
 
His final stage play was 2014's Taste, which told the story of the infamous "Rotenburg Cannibal," who killed an ate a voluntary victim that he found on the internet.
 
Gordon is surived by his wife Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, his three daughters and four grandchildren.
 
Read a selection of tributes to Gordon below.