Joseph R. Masefield, the multihyphenate who co-wrote the 1979 film “Don’t Go in the House” and supervised sound editing on Sam Raimi’s “The Evil Dead,” died Sept. 24 in Brooklyn, New York. He was 92.
Born in 1933, Masefield served as the supervising sound editor on “The Evil Dead” in 1981, as well as “Alone in the Dark” in 1982 and “Savage Dawn” in 1985. He edited the footage for “A New Life” in 1981 and the effects for “Naked Came the Stranger” in 1975.
He also worked as a production manager on early Imax documentaries “To Fly” and “Living Planet” in 1976 and 1979, respectively. His screenwriting debut, “Don’t Go in the House,” was a horror film that he penned with Ellen Hammill and director Joseph Ellison. The film starred Dan Grimaldi, Robert Osth
and Ruth Dardick. He followed up “Don’t Go in the House” with “Massacre at Central High,” which he co-wrote with director Rene Daalder.
In 1971, Masefield joined Costello Productions, where he directed and produced numerous educational and industrial films. In front of the camera, he appeared as an actor in 1963’s “Sin You Sinners” and 2010’s “White Irish Drinkers.” The latter’s director, John Gray, remembers Masefield as “a force of nature, a renaissance man, and he not only loved movies, but he loved the movie business with a fierce passion.”
At the end of his life, Maesfield was putting together a collection of his poetry.
He is predeceased by his grandson, Gabriel and his wife, Sheila. He is survived by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
An interment will be held at Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn.