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Check Out the Cover for Upcoming Practical FX Book ‘Monster Squad’
They made the impossible possible.
No genre has pushed the limits of practical effects more than the horror genre, and our friend Heather Wixson is celebrating the artists behind cinema’s most memorable creatures and gore effects with forthcoming book Monster Squad.
The book, which just revealed its cover art as the finishing touches are being put on it, is a love letter to the art of practical effects and the artists who pushed those limits.
Inside the pages of Monster Squad…
“Journalist Heather Wixson turns the spotlight on twenty special effects pioneers and artists who helped shape the landscape of modern horror and sci-fi cinema throughout the 1970s, 80s, 90s and beyond. Featuring in-depth interviews with the legendary and visionary creators who share their personal journeys through Hollywood, Monster Squad is a tribute to those who toiled endlessly to help make the impossible possible in so many of our favorite movies, and to all the “Monster Kids” out there who still believe in the magic of practical effects in film to this very day.”
The book features hundreds of behind the scenes photos, and is jam packed with over 75 hours of interviews with the likes of Alec Gillis, Steve Johnson, Bart Mixon, Tom Woodruff Jr., Tony Gardner, and Todd Masters.
Follow @MonsterSquadFX for updates and look for this one soon.
Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor best known for his role in 1993’s Jurassic Park, has passed away this week at 78 years old. In a statement shared on Neill’s Instagram page this morning, the actor’s family said that his passing was “sudden and unexpected.”
Neill had been diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in 2022, but stated the following year that he was in remission. The family notes that he “remained cancer free” at the time of his passing.
The family statement reads, “It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.
“They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”
In addition to his iconic role as Dr. Alan Grant in the original Jurassic Park and the sequels Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World: Dominion, Sam Neill left an indelible mark on the horror genre with memorable roles in Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, The Omen: The Final Conflict, John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, and sci-fi horror favorite Event Horizon.
Sam Neill’s vast resume in film and television began in the early 1970s and also includes the films Sleeping Dogs, Enigma, The Good Wife, A Cry in the Dark, Dead Calm, The Hunt for Red October, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Hostage, The Jungle Book, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, The Horse Whisperer, Bicentennial Man, Daybreakers, Escape Plan, and Thor: Ragnarok.
Sam Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
Steven Spielberg said in a statement to Variety, “I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him.”
Spielberg adds, “Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.”
Sam Neill in ‘Event Horizon’
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