Top 25 Monster Movie Special Effects Makeups
Sept 30, 2017 11:59:48 GMT -5
Pharozonk, Roquefort Raider, and 2 more like this
Post by Jesse on Sept 30, 2017 11:59:48 GMT -5
Top 25 Monster Movie Special Effects Makeups (2017 Edition)
Prologue
Throughout the month of October I will be posting a list of my all time favorite movie monster special effects makeups which mostly includes designs created from 1922 through the late 1980s and early 90s. I will post one every day or sometimes every other day until the week before Halloween. This list is made up of my own personal favorites and people are welcome and encouraged to share their own as well as any other thoughts as I go along. I would ask for people not to post about movie monsters that haven't appeared yet as it may spoil later reveals for other readers. There will also be an Afterthoughts & Worthy Mentions section afterward that features special effects that I didn't include in the initial list for whatever reasons.
In order to do this I first had to decide exactly how I wanted to define these makeups so I had to set a few parameters that would allow me to compose a comprehensive list. First I decided the monster special effects makeups must be worn by an actor and not puppeteered off screen. That means no animatronic puppets (sorry Gremlins), no stop motion animation (et tu Ray Harryhausen) and definitely no CGI (I won't even go there). I have made allowances for special effects that make use of animatronics though as long as an actor is still wearing them. I also had to disqualify masks that were static and that didn't allow the character to emote any facial expressions. Secondly they must be horror themed or related in some way so no Jim Henson Ninja Turtles and no Rick Baker M.I.B. aliens or Stan Winston dinosaurs, etc. Thirdly I wanted the monsters to only appear on film and not in a TV series which actually excludes quite a bit of great special effects makeups. However I decided to make an exception for TV mini series as well as one episode of a long running sci-fi horror TV series that I think other fans like myself will appreciate. Some of the other criteria I used to rank these monsters are; the overall designs of the characters, the quality of the application of the makeups, how well they've held up over time, how influential they are (if at all) and of course nostalgia and personal taste both played a factor as well.
Some times each post will point to a specific makeup in a film but other times a post might highlight multiple practical special effects throughout a movie or film series. Certain artists, actors, directors, sub genres and monster types will appear repeatedly throughout the list. One thing to note is that I consider this list incomplete as although I've been watching horror movies most of my life obviously I haven't seen all of them and will continue to watch them for as long as possible so this list will likely continue to change overtime. Admittedly I am by no means an expert on film or visual effects but I do consider myself a life long fanatic and if you feel any facts here are incorrect or you think I've misinterpreted any of the research please point it out so that I may make the correction. Just a warning for those who might be faint of heart or without strong stomachs to proceed with caution because a few of these monster makeups could be considered disturbing, may contain elements of gore and may be nightmare inducing. However I won't be posting screenshots of the gorier stuff as I feel it probably wouldn't be appropriate for this forum. Otherwise I hope everyone has as much fun reading this as I had revisiting my favorite horror movies to create this list.
Prologue
Throughout the month of October I will be posting a list of my all time favorite movie monster special effects makeups which mostly includes designs created from 1922 through the late 1980s and early 90s. I will post one every day or sometimes every other day until the week before Halloween. This list is made up of my own personal favorites and people are welcome and encouraged to share their own as well as any other thoughts as I go along. I would ask for people not to post about movie monsters that haven't appeared yet as it may spoil later reveals for other readers. There will also be an Afterthoughts & Worthy Mentions section afterward that features special effects that I didn't include in the initial list for whatever reasons.
In order to do this I first had to decide exactly how I wanted to define these makeups so I had to set a few parameters that would allow me to compose a comprehensive list. First I decided the monster special effects makeups must be worn by an actor and not puppeteered off screen. That means no animatronic puppets (sorry Gremlins), no stop motion animation (et tu Ray Harryhausen) and definitely no CGI (I won't even go there). I have made allowances for special effects that make use of animatronics though as long as an actor is still wearing them. I also had to disqualify masks that were static and that didn't allow the character to emote any facial expressions. Secondly they must be horror themed or related in some way so no Jim Henson Ninja Turtles and no Rick Baker M.I.B. aliens or Stan Winston dinosaurs, etc. Thirdly I wanted the monsters to only appear on film and not in a TV series which actually excludes quite a bit of great special effects makeups. However I decided to make an exception for TV mini series as well as one episode of a long running sci-fi horror TV series that I think other fans like myself will appreciate. Some of the other criteria I used to rank these monsters are; the overall designs of the characters, the quality of the application of the makeups, how well they've held up over time, how influential they are (if at all) and of course nostalgia and personal taste both played a factor as well.
Some times each post will point to a specific makeup in a film but other times a post might highlight multiple practical special effects throughout a movie or film series. Certain artists, actors, directors, sub genres and monster types will appear repeatedly throughout the list. One thing to note is that I consider this list incomplete as although I've been watching horror movies most of my life obviously I haven't seen all of them and will continue to watch them for as long as possible so this list will likely continue to change overtime. Admittedly I am by no means an expert on film or visual effects but I do consider myself a life long fanatic and if you feel any facts here are incorrect or you think I've misinterpreted any of the research please point it out so that I may make the correction. Just a warning for those who might be faint of heart or without strong stomachs to proceed with caution because a few of these monster makeups could be considered disturbing, may contain elements of gore and may be nightmare inducing. However I won't be posting screenshots of the gorier stuff as I feel it probably wouldn't be appropriate for this forum. Otherwise I hope everyone has as much fun reading this as I had revisiting my favorite horror movies to create this list.
