Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Freddie Francis 1917-2007



Freddie Francis (smiling on the left) directed a lot of movies of varying quality, many of them horror movies. For every subpar film such as "Trog" (1970), there were more gems such as "The Evil of Frankenstein" (1964), "The Skull" (1965) and "Tales From the Crypt" (1972).

He was a an even more accomplished cinematographer nominated, and winning many international film awards for his work including two Academy Awards, most recently for "Glory" (1989). He also provided the cinematography for "The Innocents" (1961), Scorcese's "Cape Fear" remake, three of David Lynch's movies including "The Straight Story" (1999) and one of my favorite movies of all time "The Elephant Man" (1980).

His name was one of the first non-actor names I recognized as a kid, usually in garish hammer lettering or on an Amicus anthology movie. Either way, I knew I was in for a good time. Thanks, Freddie!

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