Sadly, we must report that Waxwork and Hellraiser III director Anthony Hickox passed away October 9th, at the age of 64.
Hickox was born in 1959 in London, England to film director Douglas Hickox and Academy Award-winning editor Anne V. Coates. Filmmaking was in Hickox’s blood as he was also the great-nephew of Lord J. Arthur Rank of The Rank Organization, which dominated British cinema from the 1930s until the 1960s.
After a brief spell as a club promotor, Hickox relocated to L.A. in 1986, where he was able to entice Palla Pictures with Waxwork, a script he’d written in 3 days. Although not a box-office success, Waxwork sold well on the home video market, and would spawn a sequel in 1992.
Between Waxwork outings, Hickox directed the two films he is arguably best known for, 1989’s Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat and 1992’s Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth. Production on both films was turbulent, with Hickox often objecting to studio interference, and ultimately having Hellraiser III altered without his knowledge.
Following the sci-fi outing Full Eclipse and the 1993 horror sequel Warlock: The Armageddon, Hickox would step away from the genre for several years. His filmmaking credits during this time are a rather eclectic mix and include the 1995 crime-thriller Payback, 1997’s fantasy bomb Prince Valiant and the 2000 drama Contaminated Man starring William Hurt.
Known for his action offerings in more recent years, including films with Steven Segal and Jean Claude van Damme, Hickox would return to the genre in 2008 with the slasher-thriller Knife Edge. Since then, the director has remained in the action-adventure genre, with his final completed work being 2020’s Six Underground.
At the time of his death, Hickox had one completed film, and another one in production, so we are likely to see his name on-screen for a while to come.
The filmmaker is survived by his wife Madalina Anea and his sister Emily Hickox.
Rest easy, Anthony.
