Bruce Campbell pays tribute to late 'Phantasm' star Angus Scrimm

Ash vs Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell has paid tribute to Phantasm actor, and fellow horror icon, Angus Scrimm, who died on Saturday at the age of 89. Campbell and Scrimm both appeared in the 1992 film, Mindwarp.

“Angus Scrimm. Class act. Soft spoken. Old school,” Campbell wrote on Twitter early Sunday. “Honored to work with him. Credit to his craft. Safe passage.”

Campbell is not the only notable member of the horror community to have paid tribute to the Phantasm franchise’s terrifying “Tall Man” on social media. Director Mick Garris, who created the Scrimm-featuring Masters of Horror TV show, described the actor’s death on Facebook as, “Horrible, horrible news! A sweet and gentle, talented, articulate man. So great to be able to know him. He was so much more than The Tall Man. We will all miss him.”

Meanwhile, filmmaker Glenn McQuaid, who directed Scrimm in the 2008 film I Sell the Dead, remembered him on Instagram as “a charming, intelligent man, always full of good cheer and devilment. Feeling his loss.”

House of the Devil director Ti West wrote on Twitter that Scrimm “was a genuinely wonderful man who I feel lucky to have spent time with,” while Wrong Turn 2 and Everly filmmaker Joe Lynch tweeted, “Rest In Peace Angus Scrimm, one of the most terrifying sweethearts I’ve ever met. He was a true class act.”

Finally, Graham Reznick, who wrote an episode of the audio play series Tales From Beyond the Pale starring Scrimm, seemed to sum up the feelings of the horror community at large by his tweeted tribute: “Goodbye Angus Scrimm—an all time great actor and one of the last true old fashioned gentlemen.”

News of Scrimm’s death was announced Saturday by filmmaker Don Coscarelli, who directed the actor in the first four Phantasm films and co-wrote the forthcoming Phantasm: Ravager, in which Scrimm also appears.

“Angus Scrimm passed away peacefully tonight surrounded by his friends and loved one,” Coscarelli wrote to EW, via email. “[His] performance as the Tall Man is a towering achievement in horror film history. He was the last in a long line of classic horror movie stars. He was a terrific actor and an even better friend. He will be missed.”