Top 10 Scariest Practical Effects In Movies
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#10: Frank Returns “Hellraiser” (1987)
This pivotal scene from Clive Barker's 1987 gorefest is a testament to what can be accomplished using practical effects. The sequence sees Frank, an occultist who claws his way back to the land of the living, reconstitute his body in an iconic and gruesome sequence. The scene relied on animatronics for the arms, but some of the best visuals were accomplished using reverse photography of a wax model being pulled apart and melting. The oodles of slime and squirming, half-formed body parts still look frighteningly real even to this day. We have such sights to show you indeed!
#9: Tina’s Death “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984)
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The original Elm Street movie has some of the best cinematic deaths of the decade - like the scene where a pint-sized Johnny Depp is turned into a blood geiser. But our favorite has to be the demise of poor Tina. After being chased down in her dreams by Freddy, the helpless teen is sliced up by unseen claws and pulled screaming onto the ceiling. The sequence was accomplished using an upside down room, the same one used to pull off the aforementioned blood geiser. The sight of Tina writhing in agony on the ceiling has an appropriately nightmarish quality to it. It’s an incredibly simple effect, but oh so effective at making us never want to sleep again.
#8: Devoured by The Blob “The Blob” (1988)
Director Chuck Russell’s take on “The Blob” is definitely one of our favorite horror remakes ever, and a lot of that love is aimed squarely at the visual effects. When an unstoppable slime monster attacks a small town, numerous unsuspecting victims are dissolved after being caught by the oozing monstrosity. These sequences are endlessly creative and stunningly realized, with enough grasping tentacles and melting faces to keep horror fans more than satisfied. The film’s effects were created by SFX artist Tony Gardner, who’s gone on to work on everything from the Chucky franchise to the Zombieland movies, and his mastery of his craft is on full display in this horror classic.
#7: "Choke on 'Em!" “Day of the Dead” (1985)
Villains as gleefully unlikeable as Colonel Rhodes need satisfying death scenes, and he definitely gets one when he’s pulled in half by a horde of zombies. The effect was accomplished using a false floor the zombie actors would stand on, while actor Joe Pilato poked his head up through a hole. A fake body filled with pig intestines was then used to achieve the gory effect. Unfortunately for Pilato, the intestines accidentally went rancid when a fridge on-set was unplugged, meaning . . . that expression on his face? That ain’t acting. He just got a faceful of rotten meat. Honestly, that’s almost as scary as the scene itself.
#6: Regan MacNeil “The Exorcist” (1973)
This now-classic horror film allegedly had audience members fainting back when it first hit screens, and it’s not hard to see why. The transformation of the sweet, wholesome Regan into a pea soup-spewing demon required the use of extensive makeup and effects by Dick Smith, the same effects artist who turned Marlon Brando into Don Corleone. Smith created lifelike molds of actress Linda Blair’s head for the infamous head-spin scene, as well as masterminding effects like her green vomit and welts. Some people may find this film dated, but we’re still reaching for the holy water whenever we watch it.
#5: David's Transformation “An American Werewolf in London” (1981)
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A good werewolf movie can be made or broken by its transformation scenes, and this iconic entry in the genre has the best one ever. This scene sees protagonist David transform into a ravenous werewolf for the first time, with Sam Cooke’s “Blue Moon” serving as musical accompaniment. Effects legend Rick Baker spent over a week on the effects for this short sequence, which also required actor David Naughton to spend over ten hours in the makeup chair each day. The year after this movie came out, the first ever Academy Award for Best Makeup was awarded to Baker for his work on the film.
#4: Brundlefly “The Fly” (1986)
Another excellent remake of a horror classic that arguably surpasses the original, this favorite from director David Cronenberg traces a young Jeff Goldblum’s slow, agonizing transformation into a fly-human hybrid. The film is essentially one long makeup effect, and what an effect it is. What begins with fingernails falling out and strange hairs soon escalates into a nightmarish transformation that we still can’t forget. While much of this was accomplished using extensive makeup effects, the final sequences used animatronics, including a full-sized animatronic puppet nicknamed “the spacebug” by the crew. Whatever you call it, the final result of Seth Brundle’s transformation is one of the most grotesque and shocking creatures in horror history.
#3: The Pale Man “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006)
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Fairy tales don’t come scarier than this. A dark fantasy film set in post-Civil War Spain, Guillermo Del Toro’s fan-favorite can be enchanting and horrifying in equal measure. Without a doubt, the film’s most frightening creature is the Pale Man, a fleshy, faceless creature that nearly makes a meal of heroine Ofelia. Like many of Del Toro’s creatures, the Pale Man was brought to life by actor Doug Jones, whose creepy body language and rake-thin frame helped bring the creature to life, along with extensive makeup. We don’t even care that the creature’s eyes, arguably the most terrifying part, were animated with CGI. This thing is just plain terrifying.
#2: The Chestburster “Alien” (1979)
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There’s a reason that this scene almost single-handedly changed sci-fi horror movies forever. Violent, shocking and immensely disturbing, the sequence begins innocently enough with the crew chatting over dinner on the starship Nostromo. But dinner is decidedly spoiled when Kane has an infant alien violently burst from his stomach. The scene was accomplished entirely using practical effects, with actor John Hurt sticking his head through a hole in the table in front of a fake body. A simple effect in principle, but the results were so shocking and radical that they’ve been ingrained in the landscape of both horror and sci-fi cinema ever since. Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. The Head Explosion “Scanners” (1981) Patient Zero “REC” (2007) Face Peel “Poltergeist” (1982) Face Melt “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981)
#1: The Chest Chomp “The Thing” (1982)
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This sci-fi horror classic has enough incredible scenes to make picking just one almost as hard as finding an alien shapeshifter. The first time we see the titular creature is terrifying enough! But if you put a flamethrower to our head, we’d have to pick the unbelievable result of the defibrillator scene. In this sequence, an attempt to revive a heart attack victim goes incredibly awry when the man’s chest bursts open to reveal rows of teeth. Special effects designer Rob Bottin created the effect using lifelike molds of actor Charles Hallahan’s body and a hydraulic rig. The doomed prosthetic arms were worn by a double amputee in a mask. The results speak for themselves!
