29/09/2024
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/theridgefieldpress/name/john-grissmer-obituary?id=56368024
Art Ettinger wrote:
Bruce Holecheck of Cinema Arcana just informed me that one of my heroes, John Grissmer, died this month at the age of 91. Who is John Grissmer?
In the sixth grade, I started going to see as many horror movies that played in my hometown of Buffalo, NY as I could. Late in that school year, a movie I hadn't heard of, Nightmare at Shadow Woods (aka Blood Rage), opened at the Boulevard Mall movie theater. The Boulevard Mall was a troubled four-screen multiplex that seemed to always have one screen dedicated to low-budget horror / exploitation flicks. Excited to see something new, I went to a Saturday matinee of Nightmare at Shadow Woods. The screening was surprisingly crowded, and the rowdy audience loved the film. I was blown away. Even though it was the mid-'80s, it was clearly an early 1980s production, and I loved every goofy minute of it.
I later rented the uncut, gory version from Video Factory under the title Blood Rage and taped the theatrical cut as Nightmare at Shadow Woods off of late night cable. I talked Nightmare at Shadow Woods up for years, but didn't meet many fans, surprising given how strong of a slasher it is. I reviewed it in Ultra Violent in 2005, trying to help spread the word about its brilliance.
Eighteen years after first seeing Nightmare at Shadow Woods, I was talking to Shade Rupe at Chiller Theatre about how much I love director John Grissmer's three films (Grissmer also wrote The House that Cried Murder and wrote and directed Scalpel). Shade hooked me up with John Grissmer, and I interviewed Grissmer for Ultra Violent in early 2006. My interview with Grissmer remains his only print interview regarding his exploitation film career.
Fast-forward to the summer of 2014 when Ewan Cant, who was working for Arrow Video at that time, asked me for John Grissmer's contact information. I asked Grissmer if I could share his information. At that time, Grissmer said that he wasn't interested. I told Cant that based on my Ultra Violent interview, I believed that Blood Rage was owned by its producer, Marianne Kanter. That fact panned out and Arrow began working on their incredible three-disc set of Blood Rage, which was released on Tuesday, 12/15/15. John Grissmer ended up participating in Arrow's extras-loaded release after all.
The point of this story? A geeky kid went to the movies in 1987 and spent three decades trying to help spread the word about the cinematic gem he saw that day. Watching the fantastic new restoration of Blood Rage was a dream come true. More importantly, Blood Rage finally has the fan base it deserves, frequently cited as one of the all-time great slasher movies. "That's Not Cranberry Sauce" is now a popular meme. We won!
I kept in touch with Grissmer over the years. He was nothing but kind to me. 91 years old is no joke. I am glad he lived a full life, I am honored that I conducted his only in-depth print interview, and I am privileged that I helped catapult a childhood favorite film into canonical status.
View John M. Grissmer's obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.
