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RIP Jim McCullough Jr. of “MOUNTAINTOP MOTEL MASSACRE,” “CREATURE FROM BLACK LAKE,” etc.

Monday, May 23, 2022 | News

By MICHAEL GINGOLD

A key figure behind regional cult-horror favorites has left us.

The Shreveport Times reported that Jim McCullough, Jr., a.k.a. Jimmie Bradford McCullough, Jr., died May 10; a cause has not been reported. In the 1970s, he joined forces with his father (who passed away in 2012) on Jim McCullough Productions, which made numerous films in Louisiana and elsewhere in the South. Among the best-known are 1976’s CREATURE FROM BLACK LAKE, about the search for a Bigfoot-like creature, which Jim Sr. produced with Jim Jr. scripting and playing a key supporting role (pictured above), and Joy Houck Jr. directing. The McCulloughs encored as producer and writer, respectively, with Sr. also directing, on a backwoods slasher initially titled MOUNTAINTOP MOTEL, and released by New World Pictures in 1986 as MOUNTAINTOP MOTEL MASSACRE with the memorable tagline, “Please do not disturb Evelyn. She already is.”

The duo’s last genre outing was the 1988 direct-to-video serial-killer flick VIDEO MURDERS, with McCullough Jr. once again providing the screenplay while his dad produced and directed. Other films on which they collaborated were the sci-fi opus THE AURORA ENCOUNTER and the religious sports drama THE SAINT TAMMANY MIRACLE.

Michael Gingold
Michael Gingold (RUE MORGUE's Head Writer) has been covering the world of horror cinema for over three decades, and in addition to his work for RUE MORGUE, he has been a longtime writer and editor for FANGORIA magazine and its website. He has also written for BIRTH.MOVIES.DEATH, SCREAM, IndieWire.com, TIME OUT, DELIRIUM, MOVIEMAKER and others. He is the author of the AD NAUSEAM books (1984 Publishing) and THE FRIGHTFEST GUIDE TO MONSTER MOVIES (FAB Press), and he has contributed documentaries, featurettes and liner notes to numerous Blu-rays, including the award-winning feature-length doc TWISTED TALE: THE UNMAKING OF "SPOOKIES" (Vinegar Syndrome).