Dean Cundey

Cundey's first assignment as a director of photography was the revenge outing No Mercy Man. Other horror and exploitation movies Cundey shot during his salad days include Witch Who Came from the Sea (1976), Bare Knuckles (1977), Creature from Black Lake (1976), Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976), Black Shampoo(1976), Satan's Cheerleaders (1977), Roller Boogie (1979), Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979), Galaxina (1980), and Without Warning (1980).
Cundey received a great deal of attention and accolades for his exemplary work on five films for John Carpenter's: Halloween (1978) (Cundey's expert use of a fluid prowling camera, one of the first-ever uses of what became known as a Steadicam, became a key motif in a spate of slasher pictures made in this breakthrough independent smash's influential wake), The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981), The Thing (1982), and Big Trouble in Little China (1986). Cundey's collaborations with Robert Zemeckis are likewise fine and impressive: Romancing the Stone (1984), all three Back to the Future features, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (Cundey was nominated for an Oscar for his outstanding contributions to this movie), and Death Becomes Her (1992).