The Further
Building the Demogorgon for Universal’s Horror Nights “Stranger Things” Maze
“Stranger Things” is a main attraction at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando, Hollywood and Singapore. Fans from around the world are coming to get scared by the demogorgon, so the designers of the maze knew they had to deliver. On TV, the demogorgon is a CGI creature. To cast real-life demogorgons, they had strict criteria.
“We cast performers that are well over 6’ tall, a minimum of 6’3,” David Hughes, manager of the scenic department and designers at Universal Orlando said. “We gave them lifts so they can be taller. Then we have the mask itself, which is the flowering head, that added another eight inches. So they can be anywhere from 7.5 to even possibly eight feet tall. So those were the full-bodied costume characters.”
You’ll only see those tall performers for a second when they jump out and scare you, so a stationary head is fine for that effect. Still, Hughes wanted to present the opening face of the demogorgon in other areas of the maze.
“We wanted to make sure we can deliver that as well so we have coming out of what we call ‘boo holes’, we have puppeteered flowering heads,” Hughes continued.
“So that that character, the demogorgon, can burst through the hole with the mouth closed and the maw closed and then it flowers open with either an air burst or a water burst and a loud screech. So it brings the character to life in a different way than our full-bodied characters can be.”
Even for performers over 6’3”, the demogorgon costume is not exactly one size fits all. Patrick Braillard, creative development show director for Universal Orlando, explained.
“Certain accommodations need to be made for torso length and leg length and arm length,” Braillard said. “It was very important to us to make sure that as far as the body size of our performers were concerned, we got them all as close to each other as humanly possible. The window of our normal height ranges is everything from 4’10” and up and various build sizes. For this character it needed to be a minimum of 6’3” to 6’6” And they needed to be very, very skinny so that they could fit into the mold of what is that character.”
Portions of the demogorgon costume stretch so that different body types can fill them out.
“That’s why with the flex suit, there was flexibility that if one person has a larger stomach or larger hips, it still fits,” Hughes said. “It wasn’t so restricting that only one person could wear that particular costume.”
Even though it’s October, Orlando, Florida is still hot. Wearing a full demogorgon costume is brutal, but they have experience keeping their performers comfortable in full costumes.
“Given the years of experience our costumers have here at universal, we have characters out in the park in the Florida sun,” Hughes said. “They build muscles suits for other characters that are beathable. They can withstand the heat so the performers can withstand the heat. They kind of started with that philosophy and tailored it to the demogorgon.”
Halloween Horror Nights continues through the first weekend of November. GET TICKETS HERE.
The Further
5 of This Week’s Coolest Horror Collectibles Including a ‘Scooby-Doo: Zombie Island’ Blu-ray Double Feature
Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.
Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!
Matinee 4K UHD from Shout Select
Shout Select proudly presents Matinee on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on June 25. The 1993 comedy has been newly restored in 4K from the original negative, supervised by director Joe Dante, with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos sound.
John Goodman stars as a filmmaker loosely based on B-movie legend William Castle. Cathy Moriarty, Simon Fenton, Omri Katz, Kellie Martin, and Lisa Jakub round out the cast. Charles S. Haas (Gremlins 2: The New Batch) penned the script.
Special features include: a new commentary by film critics Drew McWeeny and Eric Vespe; new interviews with Martin and David Clennon; interviews with Dante, Moriarty, Jakub, production designer Steven Legler, editor Marshall Harvey, and director of photography John Hora; MANTastic! The Making of a Mant; vintage making-of featurette; and more.
Suspiria Button-Up from Middle of Beyond
I’d drape myself in Suspiria‘s lavish aesthetic every day if I could. Middle of Beyond’s new button-up shirt — with an all-over print featuring many of the film’s iconic visuals — is the next best thing.
It costs $60, and you can complete the outfit with matching shorts for the same price.
Stopmotion will bring your nightmares to life on Blu-ray on June 11 via IFC Films. The British psychological horror film marks the feature directorial debut of Robert Morgan (ABCs of Death 2).
In her review, Meagan Navarro said, “Morgan’s knockout debut opens up the veins of a turbulent artist, delivering one creepy melding of mediums to an unsettling, powerful degree.”
Aisling Franciosi stars with Tom York, Caoilinn Springall, Therica Wilson-Read, and Stella Gonet. Morgan co-wrote the script with Robin King.
Special features include: Behind the Scenes of Stopmotion and interviews with Morgan and Franciosi.
John Carpenter Shirt + Flexi Disc from Fright Rags
Fright-Rags has released John Carpenter’s latest single, “He Walks By Night,” on flexi disc with a matching shirt featuring artwork by Aaron Lea. Limited to 500, the set costs $45 and is scheduled to ship the week of May 24.
The track appears on Carpenter’s new album, Lost Themes IV: Noir, due out May 3 from Sacred Bones Records.
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island / Return to Zombie Island Blu-ray from Warner Archive
1998’s Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island and 2019’s Scooby-Doo Return to Zombie Island will be released on Blu-ray together as a Hanna-Barbera double feature on May 7 via Warner Archive.
Zombie Island is directed by Jim Stenstrum (Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost) and written by Glenn Leopold (The Prowler). Frank Welker, Billy West, Mary Kay Bergman, B.J. Ward, Scott Innes, Adrienne Barbeau, Jim Cummings, and Mark Hamill star.
Return to Zombie Island is directed by Cecilia Aranovich (Harley Quinn) and Ethan Spaulding (Avatar: The Last Airbender) and written by Jeremy Adams (Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge). Frank Welker, Grey Griffin, Matthew Lillard, and Kate Micucci star, with an appearance by Cassandra Peterson as Elvira.
No special features are included, but pre-orders are only $14.99.
For more merch madness, peruse the Killer Collectibles archives. You can also visit Broke Horror Fan.
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