It's was only about a month ago when it was revealed that legendary special effects artist John Carl Buechler had been diagnosed with Stage IV prostate cancer, and we've all been rooting for him as he went through this ordeal. Unfortunately, this morning brings the sad news that Buechler passed away last night at the age of 66.
The work of Buechler's that has surely been seen by the most viewers would be his contributions to the "big three" slasher franchises. He did FX work on A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4, FREDDY'S DEAD, HALLOWEEN 4, and HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS. He designed one of the coolest versions of Jason Voorhees with his "meat Terminator" approach to the character in FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD – a film he also directed, and chose Kane Hodder to play Jason in.
Outside of those franchises, Buechler also racked up a ton of credits working with producers Charles Band and Roger Corman on titles like RE-ANIMATOR, GHOULIES, TERRORVISION, FROM BEYOND, DOLLS, DEMONIC TOYS, CARNOSAUR, and THE GINGERDEAD MAN.
Buechler also directed several films aside from his F13 sequel, including TROLL, CELLAR DWELLER, GHOULIES GO TO COLLEGE, WATCHERS REBORN, and THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE.
While the MPAA totally butched the gore effects Buechler had crafted for THE NEW BLOOD, he got a chance to make up for that on another slasher when Adam Green hired him to do the effects for the first HATCHET. Buechler brought a glorious bloodbath to the screen in that one.
He would sometimes step in front of the camera to appear in the projects he worked on, and HATCHET was an example of that: he appeared in that film and HATCHET II as the ill-fated, urine-drinking Jack Cracker.
Buechler worked in the entertainment industry for more than 40 years, and he contributed a lot of spectacular work to our beloved horror genre during those decades. We would have been missing out on some awesome sights if he had never gotten into the business, and it's sad to know that we don't have any more of his work to look forward to in the future. At least his work will continue to be seen quite often as viewers go back to the many movies he's credited on.
Beuchler is survived by his wife and children. We send out our condolences to his family, friends, and fans.
R.I.P.