I will miss ol’ Richard Franklin.
The Australian director of Psycho II, Cloak & Dagger, Roadgames, and seminal orangutan opus Link has left us thanks to that merciless killer, Cancer. He was a staple of my formative horror pre-teens and a constant Fangoria interviewee during their golden years [ah, I miss the old Fangoria], a director who never really got the fanboy love other staples of the era got but was always one of those sneakily smart filmmakers.
Roadgames is a blast and the man was often linked with Alfred Hitchcock through both his influence on Franklin and then in the manner of which the old master’s work and skills became a part of Franklin’s modus operandi. He was a man who could have rocked the screen had he been given a chance these days [a perfect Masters of Horror choice] or a few decades before he hit the scene.
Seriously, I liked this dude quite a bit and it’s a shame. Read this really dense and rich piece at Senses of Cinema for more.