Friday, March 16, 2012

MONSTERS UNLEASHED! MAKE-UP ARTIST 95


You have probably noticed by now that this week's monster make-up special features have been largely derived from a publication called MAKE-UP ARTIST. Indeed, MUA is even the subject of this week's MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD SPOTLIGHT site as well. All this is for a good reason . . . actually, three: MUA is a great 'zine, it's the only newsstand magazine that I am aware of that focuses on media make-up, and it is worthy of your attention if you have any interest at all in this fascinating industry.

Monster movie make-up has come a loooong way since Jack Pierce first spirit-gummed a hunk of yak hair onto Lon Chaney Jr.'s mug, thus turning him into the iconic Universal screen monster, The Wolf Man. But that doesn't keep a slick and hip modern make-up mag like MUA from never forgetting where all this came from -- it's roots, so to speak.

Inching closer to their centennial, issue #95 is now on sale, and it features an awesome cover image of a sculpted figure of the aforementioned Mr. Pierce putting the "final wrap" on a figure of Boris Karloff as The Mummy. To say the image of these two figures is life-like is a gross understatement. All one has to do is take a look at Karloff's eyes, or the frozen pose of Pierce lovingly tending to his creation.

This phenomenal cover is so impressive to me that I believe it could easily stand up against the competition for next year's Rondo's "Best Cover" category. Just to prove my point, take a look at the exclusive, "Behind-the-Scenes" video of the cover shoot on the MAKE-UP ARTIST web site.

Click HERE to watch the video.



All this grandeur is a result of the artistry of one Mike Hill, sculptor of monsters. His work is featured in this issue. An on-set interview with Mr. Hill can be found at the MAKE-UP ARTIST website. Here he discusses his craft, and even lets us know which is his favorite monster, his favorite Jack Pierce make up, and his discovery of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND magazine as a kid!


Click HERE to watch video.

Now, make no mistake, MUA isn't a "monster magazine", per se, but not hardly an issue goes by where a monster, science-fiction, fantasy, or other genre film or media subject isn't covered.

Slick, high-quality paper, crisp color photography throughout, and a reasonable cover price makes MAKE-UP ARTIST magazine a can't miss publication.


No comments: