Hollywood lost a legend Sunday with the death of effects wizard Stan Winston at the age of 62 after a seven-year battle with multiple myeloma, a cancer of blood plasma cells. Winston was responsible for some of the most memorable creature effects in modern cinema, including Aliens, Predator, the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, Terminator, Edward Scissorhands, and most recently Iron Man.

I’ve always loved movies and still have a penchant for sci-fi and horror. If I saw Winston’s name on the credits on the latest film I’d just plunked down my cash to see, I knew, if nothing else, I’d be getting some quality effects work. I even dragged a few friends to a midnight showing of his creature-feature directorial debut, Pumpkinhead, just based on the fact that Winston was directing. Not a great film, but we still had a lot of fun, and isn’t that why you go to a movie in the middle of the night?

So from that dorky teen who once sat in a darkened theater and watched a metallic killing machine, an intergalactic hunter, an army of xenomorphs, and a park full of dinosaurs–who watched, was amazed, entertained, inspired, and believed every second of it all–thank you, Stan, and rest in peace.