Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood Director John Carl Buechler Loses Battle With Cancer

Sadly, I have to report that we have lost another Friday The 13th and horror legend. The past few weeks, our site and many other groups in the horror community have been sharing a link on social media to help raise funds for John and his family to pay for his medical expenses while he fought the cancer in his body. Unfortunately, he lost his battle and passed away on Sunday March 17th, 2019.

John worked on just about every major horror film throughout the 1980’s with his special effects company Magical Media Industries, including Halloween 4, A Nightmare On Elm Street 4, and of course, directing Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood. John’s franchise directorial effort was ambitious bringing numerous practical and mechanical effects to a series of films that had never been seen before.

Perhaps one of John’s greatest contributions to the Friday The 13th franchise was bringing in Kane Hodder to portray Jason Voorhees. Kane’s passion for the films has resonated with fans for more than 30 years and he has always been grateful for the opportunity that John gave him.

We have all lost a legend in the industry and this is indeed a very sad day for us all. I know that I will be raising a few glasses for the man today that brought us so much joy in the Horror genre and one of the most kick ass Jason’s in the franchise. Thank you Mr. Buechler for the life you have lived!