We Say Goodbye
H.R. Giger: The Man Who Gave Shape to our Nightmares
In case you haven't heard the news, the sci fi horror community lost one its most important creators today. HR Giger passed away this morning from injuries related to a accidental fall. As a community it seems appropriate that we spend this week in honor of a man who helped forge the modern scifi /horror scene with his illustrations and creations. So for this week after our review of The Wolf Man we will do a special viewing in honor of HR Giger.
Giger's works, often showing macabre scenes of humans and machines fused into hellish hybrids, influenced a generation of movie directors and inspired an enduring fashion for "biomechanical" tattoos."My paintings seem to make the strongest impression on people who are, well, who are crazy," Giger said in a 1979 interview with Starlog magazine. "If they like my work they are creative ... or they are crazy." [source]
The Wolf Man
This week we got to see the third iconic horror monster. Just as Dracula and Frankenstein have a visual depiction that immediately comes to mind so does the Wolf Man, and this was it. This on screen were wolf had a lot more bite than the previous version we saw. Not too mention that the makeup and costuming of the Wolf Man was miles ahead of the previous version. Credit for that goes to Lon Chaney Jr. who played the role in the 1941 version. He didn't have any hangups about his face being totally covered when transformed. Henry Hull who played the Wolf Man in 'Werewolf of London" was not okay with that level of make up and looked far less intimidating. It is an important movie not just for the fact that it influenced so many film makers of the future, but also because it was one of Universals three top tier horror monsters that was not based on an original literary work. In case you didn't catch the film, here is a quick clip of his transformation. The first time is just his legs and nothing special. The second time is focused on Chaney's face and shows just how detailed the make up and transformation was.
H.R. Giger
H.R. Giger was an artist who's work has influenced the creative industry for years. Calling him "The Man Who Gave Shape to our Nightmares" is very true for those of us from the 80's. The first time we saw the xenomorph in 'Alien' it was like our darkest dreams had come into the real world. This week everyone should go back and watch that first Alien film and relive the good old days of Scifi Horror. A special bonus, a short documentary about Giger and the making of Alien.Rent Alien via Amazon
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