rick baker

In honor of the DVD and Blu-ray release of Joe Johnston's The Wolfman remake, Universal was kind enough to arrange an interview between Horror Squad and legendary makeup maestro Rick Baker. I'm not going to pretend like I wasn't intimidated to do it, either, but once the man behind a fleet of iconic masks opened the conversation with fond memories of his similarly-named friend, Kevin Peter Hall, who played Harry in Harry and the Hendersons, I knew there wasn't any reason to be intimidated.

What I didn't realize, however, was how candid Baker would be about his work on The Wolfman. The film quickly became notorious due to a torrent of production problems and, fortunately for us, Baker was happy to open up about what were actual problems with the film and what may have just been symptomatic of fan backlash.

Horror Squad: So why the pursuit of The Wolfman over any of the other projects in Hollywood? I know that you've said once you heard about the film you actively went after it, which is not something you normally do.

Rick Baker: It's one the films that made me want to do what I do for a living. It's one of the films that made me who I am. So many people of my generation all grew up with that shock theater package on television of Frankenstein, Wolfman, Dracula, Mummy, all the Universal stuff. And then we had Famous Monsters of Film Land magazine, we had the Aurora model kit stuff. It's a film that kind of just shaped my being, you know?

I, like practically everyone on the planet, have my vices. Aside from my deeply unsettling addiction to Italian post-apocalyptic cinema, my biggest vice would have to be the purchasing of DVDs and VHS tapes en mass. "But Brian/' you say, "everybody buys movies!" Silence lemmings! The difference is that I tend to buy movies I haven't seen based on the smallest of positive word-of-mouth. So I have quite a few titles languishing on my shelf that not only have not yet been viewed, but in many cases are still confined to their shrink-wrapped gulags. In an effort to be proactive, and quell my wife's urge to kill me, I will not buy another DVD or VHS until I watch every unviewed film I currently own.

Today's fare: Parasite

I have held on to hope regarding Universal's remake of The Wolfman despite the black cloud of troubling rumors, delays and reshoots that has been hanging over the film since we sensed something was amiss late last year. The first sign was a release date push from November to February 10--huge disappointment. Then there were changes in the crew. Composer Danny Elfman left the project and editor, Dennis Virkler, was booted from the film after an early cut screened in L.A. Finally, there were stories about reshoots because the special FX were not so special even though FX master Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London) was on board. What's a poor Wolfman to do in a case like this? Get legendary monster artist Basil Gogos to create the poster for your new film!

Gogos is an illustrator who has painted some of the most striking portraits of movie monsters in horror and is best known for the work he did with Warren Publishing's Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. The man has painted everyone from Dracula to the original Wolfman (1941) as well as famous horror icons Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Lon Chaney and many others. Gogos has also painted CD covers for musicians Rob Zombie and The Misfits. His 2005 book, Famous Monster Movie Art of Basil Gogos, is a delicious hardcover detailing his career and includes commentary from the artist.

Someone at Universal got it right with this one, big time. But my fingers are still crossed. Head over to CHUD to see the full poster.

Universal announced that their remake of the 1941 classic, The Wolfman, will have an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association of America when released February 10, 2010. Even though the studio has struggled with reshoots, delays and changes--fans can get excited about this movie again knowing that they haven't neutered old Wolfie with a PG-13 rating.

The trailers for Wolfman have promised R-rated worthy 'bloody horror, violence and gore' in telling the story of Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) who reunites with his estranged family after his brother vanishes. He discovers that a bloodthirsty beast has been terrorizing the town and while he and his father (Anthony Hopkins) try to hunt it down, Talbot discovers a horrifying destiny for himself. The film also stars Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving and Art Malik. Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London) will be handling the gory special effects, so you know it will be good.

A PG-13 rating opens the film up to a broader audience and sometimes proves successful. Take Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell; the film was highly entertaining, had plenty of gross-out and delivered far more than some R-Rated films even. Still, the debate continues as to whether PG-13 movies have a place in the horror genre, considering they often get their rating to ensure maximum profit for the studio. Or do we blame the filmmakers? Have too many people sold their soul to the uber profitable scary movie/hot teen drama combination?

If Hollywood's vast abundance of remakes, spinoffs and sequels weren't enough to kill your appetite for spending money on "new" entertainment, it seems like almost every one of these releases finds its way onto home video in multiple forms. Sometimes the studios issue different iterations of a film all at the same time, in a thankful moment of honesty that at least allows consumers the option which version they want. More often, though, the studios will re-release, expand and double-dip their top earners time and time again in order to wring out a few more dollars from the less dull entries in their back catalogue. And especially now, during the still-early days of Blu-ray, there's even more new and different editions being released in stores, some of which are honest-to-Jah improvements on the presentation and packaging, while others are merely the next generation of mediocrity.

As such, welcome to the third installment of "Making The (Up) Grade," a comparison of some of the more high-profile (or maybe just personally-preferred) Blu-ray releases with their previous home-video iterations. This week, we're taking a look at An American Werewolf in London, which Universal Studios Home Entertainment released late last month in a "Full Moon" edition.