Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Computer-Generated Imagery

Remember when horror movies--or any movie for that matter--required make-up to achieve an awesome special effect? Now they rely heavily on CGI. Look at The Incredible Hulk of the 1980's starring Lou Ferrigno, and now look at the computer generated hulk in the movies. **sigh**

Years ago, movie make-up artists worked very hard to achieve authenticity. Some artists still work hard today, but not like they did decades ago. It took a lot of time to achieve those looks. Make no mistake, the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes, had lots of hands-on make-up, but that's not true of a lot of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy movies of today. Don't get me wrong, there are movies that nail CGI, but not many, IMHO.



Night of the Demons (1988) is one of my favorite horror movies. The make-up on that so-called "B" movie received an 'A' from me. :-D Look at Angela. That face scared me more than a lot of villains ever have. By the way, if you haven't seen the movie, rent it. Make sure it's the original and NOT the remake.







Do you remember An American Werewolf in London? That movie scared the crap out of me as a kid. And what's more, John Landis did an outstanding job, IMHO. It remains a favorite of mine. That wolf transformation looked soooo real, which made it even scarier.



What do you think? Do you prefer the make-up styles of yesterday or do you prefer the computer-generated imagery of today?

P.S. And remember to "Keep off the moors, and stay on the road." ;-)

5 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I loved Night of the Demons too. A tremendously underrated show. I thought it was excellent.

Robin said...

I'm going to rent "Night of the Demons" now. It looks great!

I totally agree with you about CGI. A lot of it looks too, well, computer generated. With great make up artists I could get more lost in the story. I find myself thinking about the CGI too much these days. Was Freddie Kruger all make up? He scared me more than anyone. I couldn't even watch his movie trailers on TV when I was babysitting.

Marcia Colette said...

I *love* An American Werewolf in London for the exact same reason. The special effects scared the crap out of me. Werewolves didn't get any more real than that.

For me, CGI works if I can forget about it being CGI. Until the Lord of the Rings came out, much of the CGI that was out there really faked up the movie for me. Given the choice, I'll take the animatronics and makeup. To this day, Alien remains one of my all-time favorite movies and they didn't lean on any CGI to scare the shit out of me. Otherwise, the CGI is only as good as the storyline.

laughingwolf said...

no question, both styles of special effects require both talent and skill... like you say, a lot of cgi is overdone :(

Tyhitia Green said...

Charles,
Exactly. I agree. It is one of my favorites.

Robin,
Get it. The original--NOT the remake. And yes, Freddy was all make-up.

Marcia,
I love the originality of the hands-on make-up. Doesn't get better than that.

Laughing Wolf,
I don't like CGI...it just looks awful to me.