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Post by Jesse on Oct 29, 2017 14:33:13 GMT -5
#1. The Mummy (1932 film) Directed by Karl Freund I think people might be surprised that I put this one so high on the list but it is my all time favorite Jack Pierce makeup and of course is worn by the legendary Boris Karloff who is also my all time favorite horror movie actor. I particularly love the scene at the beginning of the film where Imhotep is lying in his sarcophagus and begins to wake up after being dead for thousands of years. The close up shots reveal an impressive amount of detail on the skin and mummy raps. The makeup looks like a full body suit and was very time consuming to create taking a full 8 hours just to apply. Not including the hours the actor spent finishing his scenes and then another two just to clean up. There is no latex rubber used in this makeup it's all clay, spirit gum, glue and cotton which Karloff mentioned was actually painful removing saying it was one of the most trying ordeals he ever had to endure. The more subtle version of this makeup that appears later in the film manages to be just as effectively creepy and the character is made all the more frightening by Karloff's menacing stare. Although the cultural and historical depictions in the film itself are inaccurate it's still easily the best of the Universal Studios Mummy series and I can't recommend it enough.  
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2017 14:56:52 GMT -5
I'm kind of surprised myself here and I prefer the original Mummy Movies than the movies that following it. This is an excellent pick at Number #1 and I'm very pleased with this countdown from Number 25 to the end. These films are a tour de force films that really iconic and I'm really impressed with your knowledge of makeup and how it's applied on these legendary actors that portrayed these Monsters that delights us all with their scary looks. Great Countdown and I was very entertained by it.  |
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Post by Jesse on Oct 30, 2017 16:37:19 GMT -5
Afterthoughts and Worthy MentionsAfterthoughtsI really had fun doing this although it turned out to be a little more difficult that I was anticipating. As can be seen from the size of the Worthy Mentions section this could almost have been a Top 50 list and narrowing it down as well as putting it in order required more work than I would have thought. Mostly I kept moving things around and some things were in the top 25 for a long time until finally being moved and vice versa. It's kind of funny but I felt like I was reordering the list up until the last minute and even after I started posting them I wanted to reorder them still. I had looked through a few similar lists from various movie sights and while some of the monsters from those lists also appeared on mine those felt like they catered more to mainstream audiences and big studio movies. Which makes sense because those films would have had the budgets to create lots of cool visuals. For my list I wanted to also highlight some of the more underrated or sometimes even unknown B-Movies that I think mainstream audiences often overlook for whatever reasons but at the same time are probably also well regarded by horror fans and aficionados. While making this I decided that it would be fun to expand the list to 50 in the future and maybe do an video essay or something similar in a different format with an updated version of the list. Once again if there is anything anyone feels I left off of the list please let me know. Worthy Mentions List(In Chronological Order) - Häxan (1922)
- The Man Who Laughs (1928)
- Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
- It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)
- The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
- Salem's Lot (1979)
- The Howling (1981)
- John Carpenter's The Thing (1982)
- Night of the Creeps (1986)
- Cellar Dweller (1988)
- Night of the Demons (1988)
- Stephen King's It (1990)
- Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
- Braindead (1992)
- Leprechaun (1993)
- From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
- Wishmaster (1997)
- Jeepers Creepers (2001)
- Dog Soldiers (2002)
- Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
- Slither (2007)
- The Midnight Meat Train (2008)
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Post by Jesse on Oct 30, 2017 17:27:19 GMT -5
I'm dumbfounded by your choice at Number 16 and I thought it would be in the top 10 for sure. This is a shocker for me ... Freddy was actually in my top 10 for a long time. Eventually I think I decided that stripped of all the other elements the makeup itself is essential just a burn makeup. Maybe the best burn makeups ever but I'm not sure I'd rank it over a full body suit for example. In hindsight I think the whole Nightmare on Elm Street series could have been mentioned as one post but I found doing a whole series and mentioning all the cool effects I wanted to to be exceedingly difficult. Maybe something I will address in a future version of the list. |
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Post by Jesse on Oct 30, 2017 17:29:15 GMT -5
I haven't seen Pumpkinhead yet ... Looks really cool. It is! Loved the witch almost as much as Pumpkinhead. "Goddamn you woman! Goddamn you!" "He already has, Ed Harley! He already has!" Can't believe I forgot to mention the witch another great set of makeups in that series. |
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Post by Jesse on Oct 30, 2017 17:35:06 GMT -5
^^^ Tim Curry's best performance IMO Yeah one of my favorites performances of his. And I can't believe that Tom Cruise disowned this movie. You stand by Cocktail, but not Legend? Sure the dialogue is corny, but the set pieces and Curry's whole look as Darkness are fantastic. I rewatched it for the first time in over a decade within the last year or so and thought it held up incredible well. Rob Bottin was one of the true greats in makeup/practical effects. Wish he would come out of retirement. Yeah his work in The Howling especially is one of my favorites from him. |
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Post by Jesse on Oct 30, 2017 17:36:30 GMT -5
The eyes really creeps me out and it's done in a professional way and I didn't think very highly of this film Jesse and I would had ranked this movie a bit lower in this countdown. I saw this movie twice and had a hard time enjoying it. Originally Fulci's Zombie was ranked higher than Day of the Dead but it was one of those I switched last minute. Both excellent movies and Zombie is for me undoubtedly more influential art wise but Day just holds a special place for me. |
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Post by Jesse on Oct 30, 2017 17:40:48 GMT -5
I love An American Werewolf in London (it's my favorite movie), but The Howling takes the cake for best werewolf transformation and design. Originally An American Werewolf in London and The Howling were tied but eventually I decided to do away with ties and expand the worthy mentions list. Interestingly I read Rick Baker was originally suppose to work on The Howling but left to work with Landis instead. Thankfully his is protege Rob Bottin took over and did one hell of a job too. I always really liked Robert Picardo's creepy performance in that one. |
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Post by Jesse on Oct 30, 2017 17:47:08 GMT -5
Haven't read all of these, but The Thing '82 also has truly grotesque effects - probably the most disgusting monster effects I've seen in a film - and I mean that as a compliment! One of John Carpenter's best and the effects don't get better than Rob Bottin and Stan Winston collaborating. I didn't want to mention until the list was done but I left this one off because I made the stipulation that the monster effects should be worn by an actor and while I havne't watched it in awhile I remember the alien in this one mostly being animation puppets. At least I can't think of an instance where an actor was wearing a makeup in this that stood out to me. |
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