Very, very sad news for B-Movie fans today as veteran director Albert Pyun has announced his retirement due to being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In a post on his Facebook page, Mr.Pyun said the following:
Well, the preliminary diagnosis is "full blown MS" and it's severe enough to where my current symptoms could be permanent and there's a chance it could get worst and nice things like blindness and paralysis are likely ahead. Its still a very rough early diagnosis and emphasizes worst case but I will likely be hospitalized next week. When the Doctor said I could go blind, in my mind, I thought "Well, that's okay. I have a eternity of images in my imagination that will fill the void".
As a long time fan, I am terribly saddened to hear about this. I never met Mr.Pyun face to face, but I did work with he and his partner, in film as in life, Cynthia Curnan, in attempting to get his most recent feature, Road to Hell, screened here in Ottawa. Sadly, this didn't come to pass, but Ms.Curnan was kind enough to provide me with a screener of the film. Road to Hell is a sequel, of sorts, to one of my all-time favourite films, the 1984 "Rock N'Roll Fable" Streets of Fire and it was tremendously kind of them to send it my way. This is not a big or exciting story by any means, but simply my one little bit of contact with someone I consider to be a huge talent. Clearly with a huge heart as well.
Mr.Pyun is probably best known for directing Jean Claude Van Damme's Cyborg, the cable TV staple The Sword and the Sorceress and the cult classic Nemesis.
I wish Mr.Pyun, Ms.Curnan and their friends and family nothing but the most sincere hope and respect during this difficult time.
Well, the preliminary diagnosis is "full blown MS" and it's severe enough to where my current symptoms could be permanent and there's a chance it could get worst and nice things like blindness and paralysis are likely ahead. Its still a very rough early diagnosis and emphasizes worst case but I will likely be hospitalized next week. When the Doctor said I could go blind, in my mind, I thought "Well, that's okay. I have a eternity of images in my imagination that will fill the void".
As a long time fan, I am terribly saddened to hear about this. I never met Mr.Pyun face to face, but I did work with he and his partner, in film as in life, Cynthia Curnan, in attempting to get his most recent feature, Road to Hell, screened here in Ottawa. Sadly, this didn't come to pass, but Ms.Curnan was kind enough to provide me with a screener of the film. Road to Hell is a sequel, of sorts, to one of my all-time favourite films, the 1984 "Rock N'Roll Fable" Streets of Fire and it was tremendously kind of them to send it my way. This is not a big or exciting story by any means, but simply my one little bit of contact with someone I consider to be a huge talent. Clearly with a huge heart as well.
Mr.Pyun is probably best known for directing Jean Claude Van Damme's Cyborg, the cable TV staple The Sword and the Sorceress and the cult classic Nemesis.
I wish Mr.Pyun, Ms.Curnan and their friends and family nothing but the most sincere hope and respect during this difficult time.