Jeff Burr was a filmmaker who worked on popular horror franchises like “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Puppet Master,” and “Pumpkinhead.”
- Died: October 10, 2023 (Who else died on October 10?)
- Details of death: Died in Dalton, Georgia, of a stroke at the age of 60.
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Jeff Burr’s legacy
Born in Ohio but raised in the rural community of Dalton, Georgia, Burr fell in love with movies from a young age, often making his own on a Super 8 camera. His debut came in 1982 with the independent film “Divided We Fall,” a Civil War drama, but it was his next film that set the stage for the rest of his career. Burr got the address of legendary horror actor Vincent Price (1911–1993), showed up at his door with a bottle of wine, and tried to talk him into appearing in a movie.
His ploy worked. Price appeared in Burr’s 1987 anthology film, “From a Whisper to a Scream” (also called “The Offspring”), and Burr established himself as a horror director. He worked on the “Stepfather” franchise next before taking on 1990’s “Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III.” He did not enjoy his experience, and as a result, he briefly switched gears to direct “Eddie Presley,” a dramady about an Elvis impersonator that included cameos by Quentin Tarantino and Bruce Campbell.
However, Burr soon returned to work-for-hire in horror, directing “Puppet Master 4,” “Puppet Master 5,” “Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings,” and more than a dozen others, establishing himself as a reliable director in the genre. Burr said of all his work, three stand out as films he is proud to call his own: “From a Whisper to a Scream,” “Eddie Presley,” and the 2004 war film “Straight into Darkness,” which he also wrote. His final work was the 2018 movie, “Puppet Master: Blitzkrieg Massacre.”
Tributes to Jeff Burr
Full obituary: The Hollywood Reporter
