In 1951, Ray Harryhausen was approached by Jack Dietz for what would eventually become his first solo effort of creating special effects for a theatrical motion picture — The Beast from 20.000 Fathoms. In reality, Harryhausen had already made the majority of the effects sequences whilst working on Mighty Joe Young, with his mentor, Willis… Read More The Rhedosaurus
Despite all the issues the crew met with the full-size models, the biggest challenge for Dragonslayer would be animation. “We knew the dragon had a lot more importance to this film than some of the incidental things that appeared in only a few shots in Star Wars or The Empire Strikes Back,” Johnson said. “The dragon… Read More Vermithrax Pejorative – Part 3
Paramount struck a co-production deal with Walt Disney Productions; as such, full-scale models of the dragon were commissioned to Disney’s special effects company — headed by Danny Lee. Tippett’s final dragon maquette was shipped to the Disney shop — where construction of the full-size models began. “They have a fantastic facility there, with a mill,… Read More Vermithrax Pejorative – Part 2
By the early 80s, spanning from The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad to The Brothers Lionheart, there was an ostensible lack of iconic dragon villains in motion pictures. Audiences had yet to see a fire-breathing beast that would terrify them — and this was the objective Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins set for themselves: they wanted… Read More Vermithrax Pejorative – Part 1
A meteor falls in the woods near an unspecified town of America. In the tradition of The Blob, the meteor actually houses a visitor from outer space: the Deadly Spawn. Devoid of any eyes, the fleshy creature hunts by sound, using its more than toothy mouth to mince its preys to death. Ted A. Bohus,… Read More Spawn from Outer Space
Peter Benchley’s Creature is a miniseries based on Peter Benchley’s White Shark — published in 1994. The producer of the film, Richard Lewis was adamant about the title change. He explained to Fangoria: “I hated the title White Shark. I just felt it was misleading — it isn’t a shark, it’s an amphibious creature. So… Read More Peter Benchley’s Creature
Every five thousand years, the entire universe is threatened by the physical reincarnation of the Great Evil — an ancient entity from another dimension, whose coming in our world is triggered by certain planet and star alignments. The key to defeating this being is a weapon of divine design, which is triggered by the placement… Read More The Mondoshawans
In the third act of The Cabin in the Woods, all the monsters, and supernatural characters kept in the facility are unleashed, resulting in a bloody massacre. The characters and creatures were brought to the screen through both computer-generated imagery and practical effects, although the AFX Studio crew focused primarily on the latter technique. “I’ve… Read More An Army of Nightmares
“I have a background in genetic engineering,” said Kevin Grevioux, co-writer of Underworld — and the actor portraying Raze in the series. “Given that, I wanted to take a different approach to the worlds of Werewolves and Vampires in this film. I wanted to use science as a basis, rather than mysticism.” However powerful and… Read More Lycans of the Underworld
And there was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground. -J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
