Makeup artists are often the unsung heroes of horror movies.
From classic monsters to modern terrors, you won't believe what these creepy characters
look like behind their masks.
Although writer Clive Barker didn't name the lead Cenobite "Pinhead" in his novel "The
Hellbound Heart," the character's distinctive appearance earned the character the nickname
that's stuck throughout the "Hellraiser" series.
Ever since Barker adapted his own story to the screen in 1987, English actor Doug Bradley
has become synonymous with the soul-harvesting Pinhead.
"We have such sights to show you."
Bradley is part of a special group of horror actors who have played their haunting characters
at least six times in a row.
He's accompanied by Tobin Bell as Jigsaw, Warwick Davis as the Leprechaun, Brad Dourif
as Chucky, Christopher Lee as Dracula, and Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger — but he's
also developed a somewhat complicated relationship with the franchise.
Bradley opted not to return for 2011's "Hellraiser: Revelations," and the saga seems to have moved
on without him.
2018's "Hellraiser: Judgment" marked the second installment to feature a different actor under
the makeup, and 2022's "Hellraiser" reboot changed things up by casting Pinhead as a woman.
Still, Bradley will always be Pinhead to us, and we have to think that the majority of
franchise fans agree.
Tobe Hooper's 1974 horror flick "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" spawned several kooky and
bizarre sequels, but the original is notable for how much it stood out from other genre
entries from the era.
Heavily inspired by the horrific true story of Ed Gein, Leatherface got his name from
his revolting headpiece made of human skin.
While plenty of people have picked up the chainsaw since, we'll always remember Gunnar
Hansen for his original — and only — portrayal of the role.
Hansen set the standard for how to properly play a chainsaw-wielding maniac, utilizing
mannerisms that have been repeated time and time again in the character's other appearances.
Fans of the B movie "Mosquito" will also recognize Hansen as one of its main characters — who
actually uses a chainsaw to fight off enormous blood-sucking bugs.
Hansen turned down a number of later opportunities to play terrifying bad guys, opting instead
to focus on his passion for writing.
Eventually, Hansen returned to Hollywood, accepting roles in horror outings like "Swarm
of the Snakehead."
Sadly, though, Hansen succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 2015 at the age of 68.
Ridley Scott's "Alien" revolutionized both the science fiction and horror movie genres
in 1979.
When pre-production began, no one knew who was going to be cast as the film's titular
monster — but eventually, Ridley Scott was introduced to Nigerian design student Bolaji Badejo.
Badejo's lanky frame and near-seven-foot-tall height would help convince viewers that the
film's monster was not just a guy in a suit, but an extraterrestrial killing machine.
"You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you?
Perfect organism."
Badejo only played the alien in the first film of the franchise, but still left a heavy
impression.
Future "Alien" installments used puppetry and CGI to render their aliens, making Badejo's
Xenomorph a curious, yet uniquely threatening oddity.
Badejo ended up doing an amazing job to help sell the illusion, and the Xenomorph would
go on to become one of Hollywood's most fearsome and unforgettable sci-fi monsters.
Sadly, Badejo's "Alien" legacy would long outlive him — he was only 39 when he passed
away from sickle cell anemia in 1992.
Originally, Jean-Claude Van Damme was cast to play the Predator in the 1987 action flick
of the same name.
Unfortunately, the bulked-out appearance of star Arnold Schwarzenegger and the rest of
the cast made Van Damme seem way too small for the role — despite how amazing it would
have been to see his Predator's kung fu skills.
Van Damme was scrapped in favor of Kevin Peter Hall, who also starred as the towering title
character in "Harry and the Hendersons" the same year.
When you've got guys like Jesse "The Body" Ventura and Carl Weathers walking around a
jungle, you're going to want to make your movie monster a true behemoth, and not the
five-foot-ten muscles from Brussels.
Thankfully, Hall's tall frame made for a perfect Predator in both the 1987 original and its
1990 sequel, "Predator 2."
The year after the sequel's release, Hall passed away at the tragically young age of
35, his life and career cut short by AIDS-related pneumonia.
John Carpenter's low-budget 1978 slasher classic "Halloween" helped pave the way for a generation
of unforgettable killers with the film's lumbering silent psychotic villain— and future franchise
star — Michael Myers.
Carpenter added a heavy psychological aspect to the killer that we hadn't seen since Norman
Bates decades prior, and envisioned the film's location — fictional Haddonfield, Illinois
— as a typically idyllic suburb that turned unspeakably creepy after sunset on October 31.
After donning the mask in the first movie, Nick Castle's performance as The Shape would
be imitated for years to come.
He went on to enjoy a varied career, too — he co-wrote Carpenter's dystopian action flick
"Escape from New York," helped write the story for Steven Spielberg's "Hook," and has directed
an assortment of movies that includes "The Last Starfighter" and "The Boy Who Could Fly."
Forty years after making horror history, Castle came full circle, agreeing to reprise his
role as Michael Myers in the 2018 "Halloween" sequel.
How could we assemble a list like this without including the man of our dreams?
As much as Jackie Earle Haley chewed the scenery in the 2010 remake of "A Nightmare on Elm
Street," only one actor's name truly resonates with horror movie nightmares: Robert Englund.
Horror fans got to watch Englund wield the bladed glove for nearly two decades, as he
embodied the twisted character of Freddy Krueger over the course of eight films.
He even got his own anthology horror series — the aptly named "Freddy's Nightmares,"
which ran for two seasons.
There's no denying that Freddy is one of the most recognizable horror icons out there.
Sure, his antics became a lot sillier as the years went by, but "Wes Craven's New Nightmare"
was a proper return to form for the supernatural slasher.
Maybe someday, Englund will don the fedora, sweater, and bladed glove one last time for
a final trip down Elm Street.
Until then, we can only dream about it.
"Miss me?"
Yes, it's true: lots of people have played Jason Voorhees.
We've seen the character go through some dramatic changes over the years: he wasn't even the
main killer in the first "Friday the 13th" movie, and he didn't start wearing his iconic
hockey mask until the third.
A whopping ten actors have played the character so far, but we'd have to choose Kane Hodder
as the definitive Jason.
While he didn't even sign onto the series until "Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood,"
Hodder's role helped bring Jason into a new age of slasher flicks and made him the hulking,
unstoppable menace that we all love and remember.
He's also had the most experience playing Jason, as nearly every movie prior to "Part
VII" had someone different in the part.
Donning the mask for four films — "The New Blood," "Jason Takes Manhattan," "Jason Goes
to Hell: The Final Friday," and "Jason X" — Hodder remains a horror heavyweight champion
in our books.
Hodder isn't done with Jason yet, either: he did motion capture work for "Friday the
13th: The Game," offering fans a chance to be part of the action for a whole new series
of thrills.
If you've seen a film by director James Wan, chances are you've probably spied composer
Joseph Bishara's name amongst the credits.
His scores appear in "Insidious," "The Conjuring," "Insidious: Chapter 2," "The Conjuring 2,"
"Aquaman," and "Malignant."
He's also provided musical stylings for other films in The Conjuring universe — from "Annabelle"
to "The Curse of La Llorona."
But look closely, and you'll notice that Bishara enjoys more than just a composer credit in
a slew of these films.
Yes, the demonic beasties in Wan's films — and the larger Conjuring universe — are portrayed
by the same guy who wrote their killer soundtracks.
You can spy Bishara in the quick glimpses of the witch Bathsheba in "The Conjuring"
and as Malthus, the demonic entity possessing the titular doll in the "Annabelle" films.
However, Bishara's portrayal of the Lipstick-Face Demon in the "Insidious" films is his greatest
on-screen contribution to horror history.
Maybe it's because he looks like Darth Maul's cousin — or maybe it's his love of Tiny
Tim — but this child-killing demon is undeniably compelling thanks to Bishara's intimidating
screen presence.
It's hard to pinpoint the best part of "The Return of the Living Dead," the hilariously
bleak 1985 zombie horror film directed by Dan O'Bannon — but in a film full of nothing
but highlights, one goopy lad steals the show: Tarman.
After the character breaks out of a military-grade metal drum, he stumbles, sloshes, and drips
his way from the basement to the ground floor of a medical supply warehouse.
"Brains!"
"BRAINS!"
While some close-up scenes used a puppet, the longer shots required an actor.
That actor ended up being performer and puppeteer Allan Trautman, who some may know best for
his work on Jim Henson projects like "The Muppets" and "Dinosaurs."
Trautman is still bringing creatures to life, having lent his voice and puppeteering talents
to 2016's "The Jungle Book" and 2021's "Muppets Haunted Mansion."
Given that Trautman reprised his role as the goopy ghoul in "Return of the Living Dead
Part II," we're going to assume that, like us, the actor has a soft spot for this rotting
hunk of reanimated flesh.
Taking up the role of an already iconic horror movie monster can be a daunting task — one
that even the best actors aren't always up to.
Given how excellent Tim Curry is in the 1990 TV movie original, whoever stepped in as Pennywise
for the big-screen 2017 version of "It" was going to have some massive red clown shoes
to fill.
Thankfully, Bill Skarsgård was up to the task.
His performance differs greatly from Curry's — a smart choice, since it's typically best
to make something your own rather than imitate the original.
He's uniquely terrifying as Pennywise, more overtly sinister and inhuman than Curry's
frightening but undeniably carnival barker-esque turn.
"Come join the clown, Eds.
You'll float down here.
We all float down here."
Skarsgård comes from a family of Swedish actors: his brother Alexander and father Stellan
are also well known.
After appearing in a number of Swedish films, he found his break into the American market
as Roman Godfrey on the Netflix original program "Hemlock Grove" for three seasons.
Since the show wrapped in 2015, he's also made appearances in "Atomic Blonde," "Divergent:
Allegiant," and "Assassination Nation."
As far as horror goes, he also played a featured role in "Barbarian" and starred in the Stephen
King-inspired Hulu original series "Castle Rock."
If you're going into "Barbarian" for the first time, you might think that the bad guy is
going to be Keith, the suspicious fellow played by Bill Skarsgård — but writer-director
Zach Cregger has a few curveballs in store.
After the secret beneath the barbaric AirBnB is revealed, Keith falls victim to the film's
true villain: "The Mother," a large, naked, aggressive woman who lives in the tunnel system
below the house.
Matthew Patrick Davis, a 6'8" theater artist with a sketch comedy background, portrays
The Mother in all her glory.
Davis' on-screen work has been predominantly on TV shows and short films, making "Barbarian"
an interesting change of pace.
In a chat with No Film School, Davis revealed that he booked the "Barbarian" gig by sending
in a self-tape of himself half-naked "baby-birding" a pickle into an imaginary victim's mouth.
When asked about the most challenging part of his role, he responded —
"I think the night shoots, because I mean, I was ass out.
I was nearly nude, and so it was cold."
Davis' efforts paid off, though, as his performance helped make "Barbarian" one of the biggest
surprises of 2022.
Excuse us for being nostalgic, but we get a little wistful when we think back to the
days when superhero movies could flirt with the horror genre.
Case in point: 1998's "Blade," the first feature film that sees Wesley Snipes' day-walking,
katana-wielding vampire face off against a blood-sucking megalomaniac who aims to unleash
the "blood god."
In Blade and company's quest to save humanity, the gang tracks a suspicious human familiar
to a secret vampire club.
There, they meet Pearl, whose delicate name betrays the fact that this vampire is a grotesque
heap of flesh.
Pearl is a sight to behold — from his ferocious flatulence to his childlike high-pitch voice.
The latter aspect is especially disturbing in light of director Stephen Norrington's
statement on the DVD commentary that Pearl's blob-like size is the result of his endless
hunger for infants.
"And there's nothing you can do about it, daywalker!"
"Is that so?"
Somewhere deep beneath several inches of foam latex is actor Eric Edwards.
While Pearl took multiple crew members to fully operate, it's Edwards who gets the credit
for being entombed in 700 pounds of latex.
Born in Kansas, Edwards' other on-screen performances include supporting roles in "Sgt.
Bilko" and "Candyman."
Long before Godzilla became a digital CGI goliath, actors portrayed the king of all
monsters by stomping around in heavy, sweaty suits.
Through forced perspective, human-sized costumes appeared to be towering giants, capable of
easily crushing cars, buildings, and historical landmarks.
Of all the actors tasked with bringing kaiju to life, one name reigns supreme: Haruo Nakajima.
Born in 1929, Nakajima began his film career as a stuntman in samurai movies and war films,
including Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai."
Nakajima then portrayed Godzilla in twelve consecutive films, making him one of the most
beloved and prolific "suit actors" in the kaiju genre.
In a 2017 video interview with Great Big Story, Nakajima shared that he would observe animals
at the zoo on lunch breaks to find inspiration for Godzilla's walk.
He also explained that because rubber was in short supply in Japan following World War
II, the suit for Godzilla was made out of mixed concrete in the early days, making it
extremely heavy.
Nakajima retired from suit acting in 1972 and passed away from pneumonia complications
in 2017.
The filmmaking team behind 2019's "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" dedicated the film to
his memory.
Despite being the Universal Monster with the least amount of credits to his name, Gill-man
is one of the most compelling creature designs out there.
Debuting in Jack Arnold's "Creature from the Black Lagoon," Gill-man's design was, until
recently, unsung handiwork by Disney animator Milicent Patrick.
Gill-Man is the perfect balance of pathos and practicality.
Without room for words, it fell to the men behind the airtight molded sponge rubber masks
to humanize the creature's dexterous webbed hands, powerful legs, and accusatory gaze.
While Ben Chapman, who portrayed the Gill-Man above water, certainly deserves recognition,
it's the other man behind the suit who has inextricably linked himself with the Creature:
Ricou Browning.
At 23, Browning worked at Weeki-Wachee Springs, a freshwater roadside tourist attraction.
Some out-of-town Hollywood types asked him to help with location scouting, and before
long, they were asking him to portray the titular creature in the film's underwater scenes.
While Browning ultimately pivoted to working behind the camera — as a writer, director,
and stunt coordinator — he reprised his role as the underwater Gill-man for two sequels.
Ever since Gaston Leroux published his horror story "The Phantom of the Opera" in the early
1900s, the story of Erik and Christine has been adapted dozens of times.
But of all the interpretations — from Broadway musicals to "Phantom of the Paradise" to "Phantom
of the Mall: Eric's Revenge" — it's the Phantom of the 1925 film that haunts our dreams
most, played by the legendary Lon Chaney.
Born on April Fool's Day 1883 to two deaf parents, Chaney developed a reputation for
being the "Man of 1,000 Faces."
A self-taught makeup artist and a talented thespian, Chaney's screen presence and transformative
power reverberate through the decades with undeniable clarity.
The "uncanny valley" defines Chaney's Phantom: his cavernous mouth, pit of a nose, engorged
eyes, and sunken cheeks almost seem inhuman.
When asked about his methods, Chaney told American Cinematographer —
"I'm supposed to have evolved some magic process of malforming my features and limbs.
It's an art, not magic."
For the Phantom, Chaney contoured his face and cheekbones, flattened his ears to his
skull, wore an exaggerated bald cap that elevated his forehead, and used wires to manipulate
the curvature of his nostrils.
Frankenstein's monster is one of the most recognizable characters in horror history,
and no version of the man-made man is more iconic than the one in Universal Pictures'
series of films.
In 1931, Universal's "Frankenstein" hit theaters, featuring Colin Clive as the doctor and Boris
Karloff as his monster.
Born William Henry Pratt, Boris Karloff got his start on the Canadian stage in the early 1910s.
He ultimately made his way to Hollywood, appearing in silent films where his Anglo-Indian heritage
led to castings in Arab, Indigenous, and Asian roles.
Karloff racked up eighty-one credits before being cast in "Frankenstein" and its sequel,
"Bride of Frankenstein."
Jack Pierce, who had previously worked on Universal Pictures' "Dracula," conceived the
makeup for Frankenstein's monster.
Of all the details that make up the monster's final appearance — the rectangular skull,
the overhanging brow, the towering height — one of the subtler features was something
of a happy accident.
As James L. Neibar relayed in "The Monster Movies of Universal Studios," Karloff and
Pierce achieved the creature's sunken cheeks by removing the actor's dental plate.