Professional organization the Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) is giving director Sam Raimi its Filmmaker Award, recognizing "outstanding contributions to the art of cinema," the group said today. The award will be given to Raimi at the MPSE Golden Reel Awards ceremony scheduled for February 27 at the Westin Bonaventure in downtown Los Angeles.

"Sam Raimi has been the creative force behind some of the most popular, entertaining and scariest films of our time,” said MPSE President Frank Morrone in a prepared statement. “He has been a major influence on other filmmakers the world over. We are very pleased to honor his work and many contributions to the entertainment industry.”

Raimi made his name in 1982 with The Evil Dead, then considered an over-the-top gorefest with style to burn. Two sequels (and eventually a Starz TV series) emphasized the comic aspects of Raimi's approach to horror, and he eventually went on to direct three wildly successful Spider-Man movies starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. "My career as a director began with a low-budget horror picture that relied heavily on sound to compensate for what we couldn't afford to show on camera,” Raimi said in a statement released by MPSE. “As it turns out, in cinema, some of the most powerful moments are induced not by what we see, but by what we hear."