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From HouseofHorrors.com Recent Reviews
Problem is that most of us just don't have the talent to pull it off and that would be why we hold our FX artists in such high regard. Dick Smith, Tom Savini, Rick Baker, Stan Winston, these are the folks that made me cringe with delight in the darkened theater and also are the main topic of the new STARZ documentary FANTASTIC FLESH which hits DVD this Tues. Jan. 27th. What it basically is is a greatest hits copulation of some of the best FX moments ever filmed. They touch lightly on the origianl masters, folks like Lon Chaney and Jack Pierce but it's not enough for this classic horror fan though. They quickly move on to the more modern masters like Dick Smith, Rick Baker, Tom Savini, you get the idea. They do spend a significant amount of time chronicaling the career of Dick Smith and it is nice to see the man most responsible for make up as we know it today getting his due. The bulk of the presentation though revlolves around the work of KNB FX. We see a whole lot of Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger and a lot of time is spent on the CHRONICLES OF NARNIA work and rightfully so I guess seeing that the work did get the Academy Award. After a while though it did get to seem a little bit more like a KNB Fest then anything else. But hey, those guys do great work although a little self indulgent it is still damn entertaining. One of the best segments is on how they did the crash scene for DEATH PROOF. Really good stuff. For my money though I would have loved to have learned more about the classic horror days when they were building directly out of kits. They lightly brush over the fact about Jack Pierce's work and how he had to create the FRANKENSTIEN make-ups from scratch everyday and they took roughly nine hours to put together. Can you imagine? I would have loved to have heard more on that then on how CG when used properly can so enhance a physical effect but hey, no one asked me.. All in all though FANTASTIC FLESH is a very well put tother piece of work that should really be required viewing for anyone slighly interested in how they make the stuff on the screen look so damn good. Here is the official press release on the project: From classic creatures to modern gore, special effects makeup has always been at the dark heart of movie magic. Now, film fans will go skin deep – and beyond – with Fantastic Flesh: The Art of Makeup EFX, coming from Anchor Bay Entertainment on January 27th, 2009. In this informative and engaging Starz Original documentary, viewers will meet the masters of the craft and discover its incredible history. SRP is $19.97. From the silent era to today’s blockbuster, this fast-paced documentary examines the techniques, reveals the secrets, and emphasizes the impact that special effects makeup has had on filmmaking for more than a century. Before CGI effects became the norm, special effects makeup was often accomplished through invention, ingenuity and, in some cases, sheer luck! This in-depth documentary features exclusive interviews with some of the biggest names in Hollywood filmmaking, including Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street), John Carpenter (the original Halloween, The Fog), Eli Roth (Cabin Fever), George A. Romero (the original Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead), John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption), Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn), Mick Garris (“Masters of Horror”), Tom Savini (Dawn of the Dead, Friday the 13th, Creepshow), Dick Smith (The Exorcist) and Academy Award winner Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2), as well as clips from such classic horror and fantasy films as Frankenstein, The Exorcist, Planet of the Apes, The Chronicles of Narnia, An American Werewolf in London, The Thing, Grindhouse, Sin City, Transformers, Day of the Dead, Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2, Total Recall, Cabin Fever, The Howling and many more. Directed by filmmaker and visual effects artist Kevin VanHook (Death Row, The Fallen Ones, Slayer Moon) © Copyright by HouseofHorrors.com |
