#14. Legend (1985)

Directed by Ridley Scott


While I would consider this a fantasy film it uses enough dark elements for me to rank it here and overall I think the film holds up pretty well today. There a bunch of creepy makeups used for the goblins and other forest creatures but it's the big bad in the movie that really left an impression on me as a young viewer. Tim Curry gives an incredible performance as the imposing Lord of Darkness and the design while cliche immediately communicates what the character is about. The makeup designs for the film were done by a huge team almost too many to list here but most notably award winning artist Rob Bottin. Bottin got his start working for Rick Baker and has worked on many excellent horror films including John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), The Fog (1980) and The Howling (1981). I read that this was the largest special effects makeup crew ever dedicated to one movie at the time and it was a huge ordeal to apply the makeups to each actor with about three different artists dedicated to each character. The most difficult character to create each day being the Darkness with Curry having to sit through five and a half hours of makeup each day applying the three-foot fiberglass horns and having his entire body painted. Another really impressive full body makeup is the character Meg Mucklebones who was played by the actor Robert Picardo which I think may be the absolute creepiest character in the entire film.

#13. Zombie (1979)

Directed by Lucio Fulci

Warning these special effects makeups are gross.


I rank this film as the one of the most important post-Romero zombie films ever (second only to Night of the Living Dead) and one of the reasons for that is because of the special effects makeups. I read that when it was released it was considered one of the goriest horror films every made. One of the things that impressed me the most about this was that the zombies actually look like rotting corpses which I'm not sure had been done before of this quality. I think the most impressive scene as well as my favorite has to be the zombie fighting a shark scene which was done with a real life shark. The artist Giannetto De Rossi known for his detailed and gruesome effects gives us the most realistic looking zombies at the time and sets an important quality standard moving forward. I feel the zombie makeups in this are actually an improvement over Dawn of the Dead (1978) which came out several months earlier and I can't help but think it likely made Tom Savini and Gregory Nicotero want to step their game up by the time they did Day of the Dead (1985) granted that was many years later. De Rossi also created the gory special effects in the Fulci films The Beyond (1981) and The House by the Cemetery (1981) both of which I recommend.

#12. The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

Directed by Terence Fisher


The first Hammer Films horror movie in color and also one of the earliest depictions of gore on film gives birth to a entirely new era of horror films. The make up is of course worn by legendary actor Christopher Lee. The makeup artist Phil Leakey who along with his assistant Roy Ashton was actually forced to create a unique design for the Creature because of Universal Studios objection that this film not look anything like their version (which will appear on the list later). Leakey did incredibly well here considering how low budget it was and his design holds up very well today. I think there is such a great Gothic look to the character from the creepy looking dead eye to the scars across the forehead and the all black outfit he wears later in the film. The scene where the character rips off his bandages to reveal is grotesque face is genuinely shocking. While his version of the Creature may not be as endearing as its predecessor it's certainly very ominous and menacing looking. Leakey would go on to work on the sequel Revenge of Frankenstein as well as the Horror of Dracula film which may be the first time we see actual blood in a vampire movie. He would later leave Hammer Films and Ashton would go on to work on many horror movies for them including The Mummy (1959) and The Curse of the Werewolf (1961).

#11. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)

Directed by Wallace Worsley


While some technically might not consider it a monster movie it's an incredible film if you haven't seen it and it does utilize elements of horror particularly the design of the hunchback Quasimodo once again worn and created by the legendary Lon Chaney Sr. The wax face sculpt alone is incredibly detailed from the distorted facial features to the dead eye and the fang-like false teeth, even the goofy wig doesn't look out of place. I read the prosthetic leather hump he wore was quite heavy and weighted almost 70 pounds. Considering he had to carry it around for long hours while performing his scenes makes it all the more impressive. Despite his grotesque deformities Chaney's portrayal makes Quasimodo one of the most endearing movie monsters ever on film.

#10. The Exorcist (1973)

Directed by William Friedkin


This demon possession makeup was worn by young actress Linda Blair and was created by veteran makeup artist Dick Smith. Smith was actually a mentor to Rick Baker who worked as part-time assistant on the film. I've always found the special effects in this movie to be very disturbing which I also think is partly due to the context of the story as well as the brilliant performances by the actors. Smith's work was groundbreaking for combining makeup with practical special effects like in the rotating head scene and the projectile vomiting scene which are probably some of the most disturbing moments in the film as well as the most memorable. There's also a very realistic old age makeup worn by actor Max von Sydow in the film that I'm not sure most viewers are even aware of. In an interview Smith admitted he worked on the old age makeup for six weeks using photographic references for every wrinkle. There are some interesting documentaries and interviews about the making of this film that are absolutely worth checking out.

#9. The Fly (1986)

Directed by David Cronenberg

Warning aspects of these special effects makeups are gross.


There are several stages of makeup designs used to depict the devolution of the main character Seth Brundle played by Jeff Goldblum throughout the film. Some of the later designs look like it must have been a grueling process for the actor to sit through although I believe the last two stages of the character's transformation were in fact animatronic puppets. Goldblum's character pulling his own fingernails off is one of the most disturbing things I've ever watched and I still find it very hard to sit through without cringing. The make up effects were designed by an award winning team led by artist Chris Walas who also worked on two of Cronenberg's other films Scanners and Naked Lunch. I read that it took over three months to design all the various stages of transformation with the final version of the "Brundlefly" being created first then the other stages afterwards. The several distinct stages of the transformation include everything from facial appliances, wigs and special contact lenses to a full body foam latex suit. Another notable artist who worked on this process was Stephan Dupuis who also worked with Walas and Cronenberg on Scanners.