Monster Gallery: Naked Lunch (1991)
Main Article: Denizens of the Interzone
Category: Movie Monsters
Denizens of the Interzone
“Exterminate all rational thought.” Creating the fantastic and hallucinatory creatures for David Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch was a task for Chris Walas Incorporated. The two had already collaborated to resounding success on The Fly, but this time the creature effects roster would have a different purpose — representations conjured by main character William Lee’s tortured psyche… Read More Denizens of the Interzone
A Siege of Werewolves
“I always thought werewolves were just a really cool monster that was kind of underrepresented inmovies,” said director Neil Marshall. “There were so many vampire movies out there and not nearly so many werewolf movies. And having done it now, I know the reason for that is because they’re really hard to do, and to… Read More A Siege of Werewolves
Teenage Werewolf Girl
Before it became a film about werewolves, Ginger Snaps began with director John Fawcett’s fascination with bodily transformations. He had written a short script “way back about a female biologist who turns into a tree,” he said, “and that sounds really stupid but it was a really interesting concept to me and there were a… Read More Teenage Werewolf Girl
The Thing on the Wing
The notion of Gremlin dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, when myths among airmen began circulating that such creatures — often likened to small men, or imps, or sprites — were responsible for aircraft sabotage. The urban legend was then popularized around the time of World War II, with flight crews often… Read More The Thing on the Wing
A Dragon Scorned
Spanning from the 1998 Godzilla to the Moorwen from Outlander, production designer Patrick Tatopoulos had crafted dragon-like creatures before Damsel, but never an actual flesh-and-blood dragon. He thus strived to deliver an innovative design. “I had to create this amazing, ancient, female dragon from scratch, and I was ecstatic,” he said.
They Came From The Red Planet
Director Tobe Hooper first approached Rick Baker and Rob Bottin for the creature effects of his Invaders From Mars remake. Although both of them could not sign on due to scheduling conflicts, they suggested he contact Stan Winston; when he came on board, concept art William Stout had already drawn some conceptual iterations — which… Read More They Came From The Red Planet
Sound Snatchers
A Quiet Place director John Krasinski elaborated the origin and properties of the film’s creatures, drawing inspiration from the effects of invasive species of Earth. Rather than being sapient invaders with a defined goal, the monsters would be nothing more than hyper-evolved animals from another world, introduced into Earth’s ecosystems. “One of my favorite movies… Read More Sound Snatchers
Eldritch Femme Fatale — Species, Part 3
Throughout the film, Sil experiences erotic dreams of mating with a male counterpart of herself. “I did try, in some dream sequences, to add a Gigeresque feel to the film,” said Donaldson. “This occurred in the swirling abstract shots where a male and female creature from Sil’s home planet perform an elegant mating ritual that… Read More Eldritch Femme Fatale — Species, Part 3
Eldritch Femme Fatale — Species, Part 2
In spite of the physical distance to the special effects shop, Giger remained an active participant in the design process. Contact with the filmmakers and XFX was maintained on a daily basis through persistent phone calls and faxes, as well as mailed videotapes of special effects sequence dailies. According to Johnson, the calls would sometimes… Read More Eldritch Femme Fatale — Species, Part 2
