Director Bob Clark died today in a head on collision while driving the Pacific Coast Highway. While you might not know the name right off, I'm sure that his films are surely some of your faves. He began his career with success in the horror genre. He directed the cult classick, Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things in 1972. Two years later he made waves with the original Christmas-themed horror film, Black Christmas (which pre-dated Christmas Evil and Silent Night, Deadly Night significantly). But it was in the 80s that this director truly made his mark.

In 1981, Clark practically invented the teen sex comedy genre with the smash hit Porky's, which he wrote and directed. He followed that up the next year with the sequel, Porky's II: The Next Day, but it was in 1983 that he would return to his roots with a holiday film (a comedy this time) and give the world what was surely his greatest gift. Considered by many to be the greatest holiday film ever (even topping It's A Wonderful Life on many polls!) A Christmas Story is a true American classic and a yearly tradition for nearly everyone.

As the decade went on, he released a number of other landmarks of 80s cinema. Universally panned, 1984's Sylvester Stallone/Dolly Parton vehicle Rhinestone was a pop culture punchline (until the release of Warren Beatty's Ishtar, anyway). HBO staple, Turk 182! was one of the earliest films to bring the idea of culture-jamming to the masses in 1985. And, for my money, the 1987 Judd Nelson vehicle, From the Hip, is one of the most underrated comedies ever.

Recently, Clark had been working on a remake of his earlier film Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things and was in the earliest stages of remaking Porky's.

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