Interview

Special/Visual Effects

“The Substance” of Nightmares: Oscar-Nominated Makeup Effects Master Pierre Olivier Persin on His Terrifying Transformations

Since its release last fall, writer/director Coralie Fargeat’s body horror thriller The Substance has artfully shocked Academy Award voters to the tune of five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Outstanding Actress nominee Demi Moore portrays aging actress Elisabeth, who gets way more than she bargained for after injecting herself with ...

By Hugh Hart  |  February 19, 2025

Interview

Hair/Makeup

“Smile 2” Prosthetic Makeup Designer Jeremy Selenfriend on the Sequel’s Gruesome, Grinning Details

Editor’s Note: The story contains spoilers to the movie Smile 2. Prosthetic makeup designer Jeremy Selenfriend is no stranger when it comes to creating blood-curdling horror. He grew up watching Freddy Kruger films and turned an interest of the spooky into a career of conjuring some of the most terrifying dread imaginable. “It’s a weird thing ...

By Daron James  |  October 29, 2024

Interview

Special/Visual Effects

“Monkey Man” Mask Designer Eddie Yang Gives Dev Patel a Primal Facelift

Dev Patel’s directorial debut, Monkey Man, is a kinetic, deeply felt revenge story set in Mumbai, a world that is rarely depicted with such punishing, propulsive energy and passion. Patel stars as the Kid, an anonymous young man nursing a wound so deep it becomes a source of inexhaustible rage and, ultimately, power. The Kid’s ...

By Bryan Abrams  |  April 25, 2024

Interview

Hair/Makeup

“Evil Dead Rise” Makeup & FX Artist Tristan Lucas on Loose Limbs, Buckets of Blood, & That Cheese Grater Scene

Evil Dead Rise keeps the spirit of the franchise alive by conjuring the living dead in the most emphatically gnarly way. The fifth installment in the horror franchise is a bloodbath of riches, full of wondrous practical effects and makeup. Most of the body horror in director Lee Cronin’s film is tangible, not computer generated, ...

By Jack Giroux  |  April 24, 2023