Movies
R.I.P. Robert Hall: Special Effects Makeup Artist Who Directed ‘Fear Clinic’, ‘Laid to Rest’, and “Teen Wolf”
One of my first jobs in Los Angeles was at Brainstorm Media, a production/sales entity in Beverly Hills that would provide me with the initial taste of the Hollywood business.
Knowing I had a horror website, one of the executives there asked me if I wanted to attend a premiere for one of his friend’s genre films, which would end up being Robert Hall‘s directorial debut, the independent thriller Lightning Bug (2004).
I hit it off immediately with Rob, an incredibly gifted special effects makeup artist who founded Almost Human FX, and the more recent PostHuman FX. I spent a lot of time with him on sets and connected with his love of the genre. He was one of the very few people who welcomed me as a friend, and not someone they could use for coverage on Bloody Disgusting. He never talked about himself or boasted about his talents. He let his work do the talking for him. He was an extremely hard worker who brought his “A” game, even when he was on smaller projects like Room 6 or House of the Dead 2.
Rob was a huge part of the horror community who regularly invited people into his life and shared his success with them, often throwing house parties or even Halloween parties at his warehouse. Everyone loved being around him.
While Rob got his start in special effects makeup, he channeled his love for practical effects with his second feature, Laid to Rest, an absurdly violent slasher that starred his longtime friend Nick Principe as Chromeskull and ex-wife Bobbi Sue Luther. It would lead to a sequel, as well as the popular “Fear Clinic” series (and film) starring Robert Englund, and MTV’s “Teen Wolf”.
His talents can be seen all over the place, from The Island of Dr. Moreau to Wishmaster, “The X-Files”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Firefly”, “Angel”, Dead Birds, Vacancy, Superbad, Prom Night, Pineapple Express, The Burrowers, Quarantine, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”, The Crazies, Devil, Paranormal Activity 2 + 3 + 4, No One Lives, and The Collection, among many, many others.
I lost touch with Rob over the years, but he was an important part of my life and someone I think about often. I took him to see Metallica, he slathered me in zombie makeup. But it was more than that. A huge part of the Bloody Disgusting family can be traced back to those years I spent around Rob. When I look back and say, “Those were the times,” Rob is a centerpiece.
He will be missed greatly. Andrea and I send our thoughts and prayers to all of his friends and family.
Nick Principe offered the following statement to Bloody Disgusting:
“With an extremely heavy heart, it crushes me to announce that late afternoon on May 24th, my dearest friend and brilliant filmmaker Robert Hall has passed away in LA County.
“Official Cause of Death is presently unreleased and awaiting an autopsy.
“He leaves us with so many beautiful dark creations … too many to count. But his sly smile and big heart will be sorely missed.
“Chromeskull gave me a career in acting in films. Rob gave me Chromeskull. Everything I have is because of him.
“A memorial will be held in Los Angeles in the near future.”
Rob’s personal assistant Shaun Blayer shared the horrible news on Facebook last night.
“RIP ROBERT GREEN HALL.
“ONE OF THE BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS ARTIST AND DIRECTOR
“I LOVE YOU BROTHER. I LOVE YOU BROTHER
“I am Robert Hall’s Personal Assistant. I just heard my best friend, my brother from another mother PASSED AWAY today at 1pm. Not only was he a friend but the best damn boss. I helped him when he was down. He helped me so much when I was down.
“He’d ALWAYS make special visits to me. Always checked on me. He was such an amazing guy I am honored to have him as a boss. He picked me up and bought me business cards anything I needed.
“He ALWAYS ALWAYS made sure I been ok and always checked on me. That’s what a real friend is. I never cared how many films and tv shows he did. I cared about him as a person. I’m still in fuckin shock and don’t know how to handle this.
“RIP BROTHER. I FUCKIN MISS YOU
Shaun Blayer.”
From Alan Robert:
“I had the pleasure of knowing and working with Rob a few times over the years. He created some incredible makeup for my Wire Hangers graphic novel cover and most recently for Ghouliana from The Beauty of Horror in some commercials. We met over a decade ago through my buddy Nick Principe who played the iconic Chrome Skull from Rob’s Laid to Rest series. He was a true talent and had a huge heart. He will surely be missed. Gone too soon. Rest in peace, my friend.”
Ghostface is back on the big screen this weekend… well, sort of… with the release of Scary Movie, which marks the Wayans brothers’ return to the horror spoof franchise for the first time since Scary Movie 2 back in the day. It’s likely to be the talk of the horror community for the weekend, but don’t overlook the other six genre movies that were freshly unleashed today.
Here’s all the new horror that released on Friday, June 5, 2026.
The horror spoof franchise is back with Scary Movie now playing in theaters!
Marlon Wayans (“Shorty”), Shawn Wayans (“Ray”), Anna Faris (“Cindy”), and Regina Hall (“Brenda”) reunite for the new Scary Movie, with the cast also including Dave Sheridan, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, Jon Abrahams, Damon Wayans Jr., Gregg Wayans, Kim Wayans, Benny Zielke, Cameron Scott Roberts, Heidi Gardner, Olivia Rose Keegan, Ruby Snowber, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park, and Felissa Rose.
Twenty-six years after outrunning a suspiciously familiar masked killer (“Ghostface”), the Core Four are back in the killer’s crosshairs and no horror movie IP is safe…
Scary Movie will slash through reboots, remakes, requels, prequels, sequels, spin-offs, elevated horror, origin stories, anything with the word legacy in it, and every “final chapter” that absolutely isn’t. A whole lot has changed in the horror genre since the Wayans Brothers were in charge of the franchise; their involvement ended with Scary Movie 2 back in 2001!
Michael Tiddes (A Haunted House) directs Scary Movie 6 from a script written by Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, original Scary Movie director Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans (Scary Movie 2), and Rick Alvarez (A Haunted House).
From IFC, shark attack movie Chum is now available on Digital.
Alice Eve (Haunting of Queen Mary) stars in shark attack movie alongside Eric Michael Cole, Jim Klock, Elle Haymond, Lisa Yaro, Johnny Gaffney, and Sarah Siadat.
This one sounds very similar to last year’s Dangerous Animals…
Here’s the plot: “A newlywed couple joins friends on a Mediterranean yacht excursion, only to find themselves caught between a predatory shark and a psychopathic killer in their midst-transforming a sun-drenched escape into a fight for survival.”
Jonathan Zuck directs Chum, from a script by Jonathan Zuck and Joe Leone.
Samara Weaving (Ready or Not 2: Here I Come) and Kyle Gallner (Strange Darling) come together in Carolina Caroline, a sexy crime thriller now playing in theaters.
It’s not a horror movie, mind you, but it’s worth a mention here all the same.
Kyra Sedgwick (Family Movie) and Jon Gries also star in the romantic crime thriller.
Director Adam Carter Rehmeier’s film stars Samara Weaving as Caroline Daniels, whose desire to leave her small Texas town brings her into the orbit of a charismatic con man (Kyle Gallner), and together they weave a path of crime and passion across the American Southeast.
Adam Rehmeier previously directed the films Dinner in America and Snack Shack.
Tom Dean wrote the screenplay for Carolina Caroline.
Similar to Steven Spielberg’s upcoming big screen blockbuster Disclosure Day, Signal One explores humankind’s enduring question: what if we aren’t alone in the universe?
The sci-fi thriller is now available on Digital.
Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan), Josh Hutcherson (Five Nights at Freddy’s), David Thewlis (Harry Potter), Raoul Bhaneja (Possessor), Emma Ho (“The Expanse”), and Dennis Quaid (The Substance) star in Signal One from director Jonathan Sobol (The Art of the Steal).
When tech billionaire Sam Houston (Quaid) hires the brilliant computer scientist Annika (Fuhrman), she ventures to an isolated facility run by the brilliant, nihilistic creator of LITTLEMOUTH, a machine which can communicate with alien intelligence.
Annika soon learns some humanity-altering facts: that we are not alone in the universe, that alien intelligences are communicating around us at every moment, and that we are likely too primitive to even remotely understand what they are trying to tell us.
When the goal of the endeavor shifts from listening to talking back, the project rapidly devolves into chaos. With contact comes consequences, and soon Annika and the team must work to ensure the very survival of our species.
A schoolyard dare becomes an urban legend in the creepypasta-inspired horror anthology The Summoning. The indie film is now available on Digital from Brainstorm Media.
“A babysitting gig becomes a nightmare of urban legend when three teens summon Baby Blue. Survival depends on uncovering the past to escape a mother’s wrath from beyond the grave.”
Felipe Vargas (Rosario, Hive), Sergio Gonzalez, Brandon Piskorik, Corey Benson Powers, and Brian Sepanzyk direct the segments. Valeria San Martín, Justina Ceballos, Daniela Flombaum, Nannu Spannauss, Agustín Olcese, and Giovanni Onetti star.
The Summoning is written by Camilo Zaffora.
Happy Death Day actress Jessica Rothe stars as a mom struggling to keep her grip on her sanity and memory in the mind-bending Affection, now available on Digital at home.
In Affection, “Afflicted by a mysterious condition that resets her memory, Ellie becomes trapped in a cyclical nightmare with a man who claims to be her husband. She soon must uncover the horrifying truth of her existence—before she forgets it all again.“
Joseph Cross (“Big Little Lies”) and Julianna Layne (“Chicago P.D.”) also star in the sci-fi horror thriller. Affection marks the feature debut by writer/director BT Meza.
Daniel Kurland wrote in his review out of the film’s premiere, “Affection is steeped in existential questions and fears that plague modern society, while it embraces the ethos of the ’80s through bold body horror. Add to that Rothe’s revelatory performance, and Affection is a hidden gem that will connect with your mind, body, and soul.”
Lucile Hadžihalilović’s latest dark fairy tale, The Ice Tower, loosely reimagines Hans Christian Andersen’s fable “The Snow Queen,” and it’s now streaming on Shudder.
In the ’70s set film, “Jeanne, a 15-year-old orphan, witnesses the shoot of a film adaptation of the fairy tale The Snow Queen, and she becomes fascinated by its star Cristina (Marion Cotillard), an actress who is just as mysterious and alluring as the Queen she is playing.“
Clara Pacini stars as Jeanne. August Diehl and Marine Gesbert also star in The Ice Tower, and look for a cameo from director Gaspar Noé (Climax, Irréversible).
“For me, The Ice Tower solidified Lucile Hadžihalilović’s place amongst the most fascinating creators of fairy tales today,” said distributor Yellow Veil Pictures co-founder Joe Yanick.
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