Creating a Monster
With even the most imaginatively conceived movie monsters looking more technically awesome than truly frightful these days, early Hollywood’s thrills and terror reign supreme. Celebrating those scares,
Classic Monster Movie Week will feature some top monsters of yesteryear, saluting the man who, with materials as basic as cotton and grease paint, created their look.
Jack Pierce: The Maker of Monsters, a documentary by Strephon Taylor, profiles Pierce, the Greek-born stuntman, actor, and eventual makeup artist behind the faces of Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Mummy, and other Universal Studios characters. While some reviled his methods — Lon Chaney Jr. wasn’t delighted about having yak hair glued to his face and was singed with an iron for his Wolf Man role — Pierce was widely praised by actors as a master. The doc will screen daily throughout the weeklong series, double-billed with 1930s and 1940s classics. On the slate are
Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, Dracula, and
House of Dracula.
— Anita Katz
415-221-2184
