When Rick Baker “Monster Maker” was last featured in FM, there wasn’t even an Oscar for Effects Makeup. Over three decades later he returns to our pages with enough Academy Awards (7) to open his own Cash 4 Gold franchise. But behind all the accolades is a humble, quiet man who never lost the genuine, passionate, and endearing love of monsters that so often gets left behind with childhood. Whether with painting, sculpting, sketching, Z-Brush, Photoshop, or Effects Makeup, it becomes clear very quickly that Rick Baker is quite possibly the greatest ambassador in Monsterdom.
F
M. We hear the term Monster Kid thrown around a lot. But what exactly is a Monster Kid? RB. Right here. This is a monster kid. I think so many people of my generation who were kids in the 60s became Monster Kids because of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND mostly. It was this magazine that focused on horror movies and science fiction and fantasy films, and was so prevalent in that particular age group because TV was new. I was one of the first of this generation to grow up in front of a TV. We were all watching these movies on TV. I first found FM when I was in a supermarket with my mom. I thought, “wait, it’s a magazine about all this stuff I love.” I just became hooked. Then Aurora models came out. The 60s was a really cool monster time. FM. So many people proclaim that the Universal monster movies were such massive influences on them. But what is it about them that gives them such a memorable and influential quality? RB. They’re my favorite. I think they’re the favorites of a lot. I don’t know exactly what it was. But I think that they treated horror with respect. Usually those movies are B-movies. But those were A-movies. BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is a really well-made film. I think they really had their finger on the pulse of how to make a monster movie. They didn’t look down at it. I’ve worked on films where everyone on it, despite having the title practically tell you it’s a monster movie, everyone on it was ashamed to be working on a monster movie. I was an exception, of course. I’m not ashamed to be making monster movies. I wish I was making more. FM. So what were the Universal films that most influenced you? RB. I love them all.
But the FRANKENSTEIN and WOLFMAN
series were the ones that got me. The Jack Pierce makeup on Boris Karloff is still one of the greatest makeups ever. And Lon Chaney, Jr., the tortured soul that he was in those movies, you really felt for him—and he turned into a really cool monster. Karloff as the
24 FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND • SEP/OCT 2011 Rick Baker as KING KONG (1976)
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