I recently rewatched Army of Darkness for the first time in forever and I was so charmed by all the practical effects. The eyeball in the shoulder still gets me lol. Practical effects aside, the whole movie was a lot of campy silly fun. It’s just a gem of a movie.
What’s your favorite movie that uses lots of practical effects?
Do you have a favorite practical effect of all time?
Any movies like Army of Darkness you’d recommend?
Aliens.
Still holds up in 4K nearly 40 years on. The drop ship, the mother alien, the armoured carrier, all incredible looking.
Sigourney Weaver battling the queen alien in that loader is one example that often pops into my head when this sort of question comes up.
Good answer!!
Probably watched that movie 100 times. Last year I put it on for my wife, sat and really watched for the first time in ages. My god, came out when I was a child, still a perfect movie.
Yes!!! Me too!!! I recorded it onto a VHS tape off the TV as a kid and I’m probably at a similar watch count to you. It’s my favourite movie of all time.
Dead Alive and Bad Taste come to mind.
Peter Jackson’s early work is a wonderful showcase of horror practical effects.
I was talking to someone about dead alive earlier this evening at my 8yo bday party. Such a classic.
“I kick ass for the LORD!”
Gotta go with The Thing. Seriously next level and gross special effects. One of John Carpenters best movies.
Yeeesssssssss nothing has looked so good to me since. It’s not that the effects look photorealistic to anatomy or something tangible, they do but that’s not what sells it. it’s that they’re textured and made by someone who is inspired by things that are tangible.
Beth Cavener is a sculptor from Washington who’s got a similar grasp on that vibe
Also stop motion animation moves creepy
Amazing artwork, thanks for sharing
You’re welcome CUNO :D
Yeah, think about that rabid CUNO shit
Rob Bottin, who was responsible for the effects, was only 21 when he did them! He also worked himself into hospital care with exhaustion, double pneumonia and a bleeding ulcer and was the one who came up with the idea of the Thing not having a definitive form.
Literally anything that Stan Winston had a hand in.
Hellraiser
Not at all like Army of Darkness, but my fave hasta be 2001: A Space Odyssey
Never a bad time to drop some acid and watch 2001 A Space Odyssey. I’ve been tripping everytime I’ve watched it but I’m pretty sure the story makes no sense if you’re sober
Somewhere out on the web one can find 2001 with Pink Floyd replacing the movie audio. Don’t settle for just the last bit. Get the whole movie with alternate (flyod) audio. A cursory look suggests the full replacement isn’t on youtube, but since I’ve seen it in the past, I’m sure it still exists somewhere.
Soundtrack details here: https://moviesyncs.com/pf_syncs/sync_pf_i.html
This movie still looks stunning!!
Also 2010, just beautiful!!
Velocipastor. Here a Screenshot from the intro:
Be Kind, Rewind
Kind of a joke answer because if you don’t know it, the entire premise is some guys remaking classic movies based on their memory and just a bunch of whatever junk they can find. It’s adorable, clever, inventive, and bewilderingly creative. It’s by the director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, several White Stripes videos, the Daft Punk video for Around the World, and so much other brilliant stuff.
There are a lot of digital effects in that film.
The question wasn’t “film that uses no digital effects”, it was “film that uses a lot of practical effects”. I called this movie out because it’s basically all about practical effects.
Watch the original Gone in 60 Seconds, from 1974. The car stunts are absolutely insane, to the extent that they probably shouldn’t have been allowed to make the movie the way they did, but it happened and I’m glad that cameras were rolling. The Nic Cage remake was trying to make a movie safer, slicker, and more coherently, but there’s no replacement for a bunch of insane stunt drivers risking their lives and the lives of everyone around them.
Dark City. When the city transforms overnight. I wish there was more behind the scenes footage of how they pulled some of them off.
I feel like I’ve heard of this before but never did. Is this the 1990 or 1998 Dark City?
The 1998 one. If you do search it out, make sure to go for the Director’s Cut. The theatrical release has a voiceover in the first few minutes that spoils the whole movie.
One of the few movies where the Director’s Cut substantially changes things for the better.
What’s your favorite movie that uses lots of practical effects?
The Thing has to be up there if the criteria is just an overall great movie heavy on practical effects.
Do you have a favorite practical effect of all time?
The “digital” wireframe view of the city from Snake’s glider in ‘Escape From New York’.
It was accomplished with miniature buildings which is rad.
The Thing is a great one that I haven’t seen in too long. I’ll add it to my list.
That is super cool about the digital wireframe!
Thats super interesting about the wire frame intro to Escape From New York. I’ve seen that movie a ton of times but I always thought that part was early digital.
That Mad Max with Tom Hardy had great rrsl stunts.
Cool I’ve been meaning to watch the Mad Maxes. What is an rrsl stunt?
Typo. R is real close to e and s is real close to a.
I haven’t seen it mentioned, but I think Tremors (1990) is very much in the same genre as Army of Darkness, and I’m pretty sure the whole movie is pure practical effects.
John Carpenter’s The Thing is the peak. It does not go higher.
The Terrifier films are unbeatable for practical gore.
David Cronenberg’s The Fly is also a must-watch if you like practical creatures.
The Empire Strikes Back
Yeah all three original Star Wars movies. That was awesome to watch. When I got older and saw the making of movies… holy!
