“Constantine” effects wizard Conor McCullagh talks to iHorror about assembling monsters for a living, competing on Face Off and working with legends. His hard work literally paid off, winning season 1 of SyFy channel’s hit show, and securing his place in the industry as a skilled makeup effects artist. Currently, he is working on NBC’s Constantine, but teases there is something big in the works for 2015.

McCullagh said he discovered Fangoria magazine as a kid, and from there his interests in worlds beyond Earth was born. The bloody, glossy, color pictures of Tom Savini and Rob Bottin’s work were splashed across its pages, and those images would eventually generate enough interest for McCullagh to practice makeup effects on himself, “When it came to learning the techniques at home, I was only able to fool my father the first couple of times. He soon caught on to what I was doing.”

He explains that he was inspired by some of the most iconic horror movies of the time; when effects were mostly done in real-time and not by software, “Some of the most influential films I saw as a kid were Poltergeist, American Werewolf in London and The Thing. At the time, it never occurred to me that I could actually do this for a living but I was always fascinated with science fiction and fantasy.”

McCullagh’s interest eventually got him hired for his first film, helping to create the effects for 1991’s Xtro 2: The Second Encounter. Although undoubtedly thankful to be a part of this film, he feels the movie only represents the beginning of his potential, “Xtro II  was my very first feature film and I was the low man on the totem pole. But most of us who were involved on that project were very new to the business and I think it’s kind of obvious if you watch the film.” He said.

After moving to Los Angeles, McCullagh became an apprentice for John Caglione Jr., a master of the trade who is responsible for makeup effects in horror movies such as The Blob, Poltergiest III, and the cult favorite Basket Case. Caglione would eventually go on to win an Oscar® for his work on 1990’s Dick Tracy, starring Warren Beatty.

In 2011, with films such as Mars Attacks and Freddy vs Jason in his portfolio, McCullagh joined the cast of a new SyFy channel reality/competition show called Face Off. The show pits makeup artist against makeup artist in a series of challenges that have a specific theme. Ultimately the contestants present their finished pieces in front of a panel of industry legends, where they are judged and the work is hopefully good enough for them to stay in the game. McCullagh was good enough, in fact, he took home the top prize.

McCullagh says the pressures of on-the-spot challenges and trying to make the judges happy was daunting. Scoring high in almost every contest, the artist never let these distractions affect his work. He explains that his experience on Face Off  gave him the opportunity to compete with the judges three years later.

“The most difficult part of faceoff (sic),” he says, “was the pressure I put myself under and trying to guess what the judges wanted to see in each challenge. I think the most impressive competitors I went up against were the ones that I got to work with in the Judge Match. The competitors were all champions and finalists from previous seasons so there was some real talent on that episode. I also had a lot more fun doing the judge match then I did doing season 1 because I didn’t feel like I was under any pressure to win…I just got to enjoy it for once.”

After winning season 1 of Face Off the artist eventually went on to do effects for Seed of Chucky, The Hunger Games films, and Oz the Great and Powerful. His busy schedule barely gives him time to work on his company Nightmares ETC. With DIY tutorials on applications and techniques, Nightmares ETC streams tutorials for the working make-up artist, but with enough detailed narrative to give the novice a chance to practice the craft as well.

Starting from his beginnings in Canada and working on various projects through the years, McCullagh is currently working on a major network horror series, “I just completed keying the makeup effects for season 1 of Constantine, along with my department head, David Dupuis. The show is airing Friday nights on NBC. Given the very tight shooting schedules, we are very proud of what we were able to pull off in each episode. We also had help from some great Atlanta makeup artists including a couple of Face Off veterans including Roy Wooley.”

McCullough also tells iHorror that he is working on something special for horror fans in the near future, “It looks like I already have my schedule lined up for 2015 and, although I can’t go into detail right now, I’m very excited about what’s in store. Maybe check in with me in early Spring.”

As a horror fan and special makeup effects professional, you can be sure McCullagh won’t disappoint when this secret project comes to light. iHorror will be there to break the news for you as soon as it’s revealed.

Constantine the TV Series airs on NBC Fridays at 8/7 Central.

Episodes can be streamed for free through NBC here.

Season 1 can be streamed through Amazon.com here.