INFAMOUS Hollywood film director Herschell Gordon Lewis, whose blood thirsty films earned him the sobriquet 'the Godfather of Gore' has died aged 90.

Lewis, a former insurance salesman, struck gold when his gory film Blood Feast became an unexpected hit in 1963. The film was so blood thirsty that it was banned outright in the UK for more than three decades and was classed as a video nasty.

Lewis went on to add several more films to his crimson coloured CV including The Gore, Gore Girls, Color Me Blood Red and 2000 Maniacs.

Although he retired in the mid-1970s his films achieved cult status among horror lovers. He died on Monday at his home in Pompano Beach, Florida.