The death of Herschell Gordon Lewis was announced today, the American writer-director-producer of low budget exploitation movies who helmed everything from nudist flicks to children's stories, but with the release of Blood Feast in 1963 his reputation as the Godfather of Gore was made. He followed this with Two Thousand Maniacs!, Color Me Blood Red and The Gore Gore Girls, among others, then left the business to pursue a career in marketing; he returned thirty years later with Blood Feast 2. Lewis' generally poor production values, amateur actors and shaky plotting were all forgiven by his fans, and though regarded as the lowest of the low in cinematic terms by most, without him the landscape of decades of horror would be very different. Call him an pioneer.
