The horror and sci-fi community received some sad news Friday as reports of the death of Dan O'Bannon blazed across the internet.
If you're not a hardcore horror or sci-fi fan, the name may not be familiar to you–but I'm almost certain you've seen his work. O'Bannon is best known for writing the screenplay for Ridley Scott's Alien, and if all he'd done was give us Ellen Ripley and those terrifying creatures, his place in geek cinema history would have been secure. However, O'Bannon worked on many films during his career–and the majority of them are beloved by fans of the cinema of the fantastic.

O'Bannon's early career was marked by work on 1974's Dark Star (John Carpenter's directorial debut), the underseen Dead & Buried, the B-17 segment of Heavy Metal and the Roy Scheider vechicle Blue Thunder.

If Alien hadn't secured his place in the pantheon of horror icons, then his screenplay for 1985's Return of the Living Dead would have sealed the deal. O'Bannon, much like George Romero, played a major part in shaping the landscape of zombie cinema. In fact, it was O'Bannon who came up with the now universal concept of zombies eating human brains.

From there, he worked on films like Lifeforce and the much loved Total Recall.

Picking a favorite O'Bannon film is nearly impossible. Alien seems the obvious choice, but I adore Return of the Living Dead, too. Plus, how can you not consider Total Recall? That highlights why we're going to miss Dan O'Bannon–his work wasn't pigeonholed by genre; it spread across film categories, yet always kept us interested. Genre cinema lost a legend Friday, but Dan O'Bannon will live on in the work of the countless writers and creators who were inspired by his legendary output.

Jump past the break to read remembrances from other members of the Horror Squad.


Peter Hall:

I can cite knowing the name Dan O'Bannon as one of the first signs I was becoming a film buff. I didn't have the luxury of growing up in sync with his cinematic output, but I distinctly recall the first time I started putting two-and-two together and realizing that the man who had written the brilliant script for Alien, the man who had given the world Ellen Ripley, was also the same guy who wrote John Carpenter's Dark Star, Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce, and Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall. I remember the first time I stumbled across what was no doubt common knowledge among every other film geek on the planet and thinking, "How did I not realize that this one man was responsible for so much coolness in the world?"

And then once I became full-fledged film geek and came to know more about the man, about his career, and about all of the projects he was involved with but never got off the ground, it just made me long for how much of O'Bannon there could have been on the big screen. I know I don't have the same attachment to his career that those who grew up with it will have, but it's sad to think he'll no longer be foraging new sci-fi paths for cinema.

Alison Nastasi:

I have a confession to make. I love Dan O'Bannon's The Return of the Living Dead more than several of Romero's zombie films. O'Bannon's film is drenched with the stuff that I remember about my miserable teenage existence. And that's before the zombies even enter the picture. Everything from the cemetery party scene, to the soundtrack and the fatalistic, morbid conversations about death and the worst ways to die felt so relevant back then. Characters with names like Scuz, Trash and Spider were simultaneously heroes of bad assery and lovable morons. The film's shift from horror to comedy is seamless (send more paramedics!) and there are some truly creepy, gory bits--mostly where the zombies are concerned. There's nothing more depraved and despairing than a ravenous zombie torso, strapped down and pleading for brains. O'Bannon clearly has a soft spot for the undead and obviously had a blast making the film. Though Romero's Night of the Living Dead is a fun story component, the film could stand apart from that given O'Bannon's clever treatment of the script. I realize this may be the last film O'Bannon fans think of as his finest moment, but I have a lot of love for it and the man will be missed.