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Exclusive: Elm Street Makeup Artist Talks What Went Wrong With Remake Freddy Makeup

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It was announced last week that New Line is developing a new Nightmare on Elm Street remake, and right about now it’s hard not to have visions of 2010’s abomination dancing around in your head. Freddy’s makeup in the first remake was a particular problem, and we sure hope they do better this time around.

The idea behind Freddy’s new look was to depict him less like a cartoon character and more like a real-life burn victim, and though it might not sound like a bad idea on paper, the execution proved otherwise. Rather than looking cool, scary, or badass, remake Freddy quite frankly looked like… a turtle.

So what went wrong? And who dropped the ball? We recently had a chance to sit down and talk with makeup effects artist Bart J. Mixon, who worked on both Freddy’s Revenge and Dream Master. His career came full circle with the remake, and it was he who applied the makeup to Jackie Earle Haley.

But Mixon wasn’t exactly happy with the end result, and he blames a rampant overuse of CGI: enemy number one of modern horror films.

freddy remake makeup

I thought the make-up looked pretty good when Jackie [Earle Haley] left our trailer. It looked more like a real burn victim, less monster-ish and more realistic,” Mixon told us. “The plan was always to have digital put a few holes in specific places, adding depth that’s impossible with a head under there. But the trouble with a lot of digital guys is they have to screw with stuff. Even during the shoot, they kept trying to do more different stuff, and the producer had to keep telling them to stick to the approved design.”

However, once shooting had wrapped and that producer was gone and they were into re-shoots and the second or third digital house, there was no one there to slap their hands and make them do what they are supposed to do – so they were pretty much out of control and were able to talk who ever into letting them screw up the make-up by adding senseless holes all over his face. I don’t think they even matched from one shot to the next, and by the time we were into our last batch of re-shoots Andrew [Clement] was having to alter the appliances to match the changes digital had made in the make-up. Crazy. I don’t think Freddy looks bad in the movie, but he looked much better before digital got their pixels on him.”

The artist also opened up to us about the 2010 Nightmare on Elm Street remake as a whole, echoing the sentiments of most fans.

Like most remakes or reboots, it is sort of a waste of time,” Mixon admitted. “I thought Jackie was a great choice for Freddy, and I like the fact that he towers over the children, but they are bigger than him as adults. But any scenes that are direct copies of what was done in the original just fail to improve in any way over the original. Maybe by the time Freddy is going to Hell and Jason is going into space it IS time to start over, but try something a little different. At least the FRIDAY remake combined the first three movies into one.

Please don’t screw this up again, New Line. Pretty please?

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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