I've been putting together a Letterboxd list with films I found to have some astonishing practical effects https://boxd.it/zHg2Y
I think it is mostly horror movies and I'm always trying to get to my hands on new films that I haven't seen yet.
Wanted to ask if you guys have any further suggestions.
by Tobi18x
16 Comments
Recently watched Society (1989) and while I thought it was pretty bad the last 30 minutes have insane practical body horror.
This Avatar film was crazy. It had a bunch of tall people in blue makeup just doing crazy stuff and riding on aliens. Now I know the animals were probably CGI but I’m pretty sure they just had all the actors get knee lengthening surgery for the characters
Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola
he used all classic staging special effects
check out “The Thing” for some wild practical effects, it’s a classic. also, “Mad Max: Fury Road” has some insane work too, both are must-sees for your list!
Jurassic Park
Sure everyone remembers the groundbreaking CGI, but without the practical effects of the dinosaurs close-up, it wouldn’t have nearly the same impact.
Nightbreed, Hellraiser, American Mary and The Terminator.
Very different approaches.
The Fountain
Aliens
Harbinger Down.
It’s not a good movie, per se. The movie is just there to get you from amazing practical set piece to amazing practical set piece. The ‘plot’ is fan-film level. Everything shot outside of the effects scenes is weirdly flat and video-like. But holy *crap* are the effects baller. From my understanding, the effects crew who did it were ex VFX artists on the reboot of the reboot of The Thing and they were mad that the practical stuff all got painted over with CGI. It’s glorious.
The newly released Project Hail Mary used practical effects that were so convincing I didn’t even notice them while watching the film.
As someone who likes to see practical effects being used well in movies, they usually stand out to me in a good way where I’m like “oh no way they used practical effects here that’s awesome” whenever I spot them.
It wasn’t until the day after I saw the film that I stumbled across an interview with the directors and had this realisation that they had made significant use of practical effects throughout the movie.
It’s not that the practical effects LOOK like CGI to be clear. It’s moreso that while watching the film nothing stood out to me in a way that made me notice on the spot that it was practical and not CG. Looking back now it seems obvious that it was practical, but at the time I simply didn’t take note of whether it was practical or not and just subconsciously must have assumed that if anything it would be well executed CGI.
The transformation scene in ” american werewolf in london” no cgi just practical effect.
And “dog soldiers” 10 foot tall werewolves walking around in the woods.
Pan’s Labyrinth
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Thing (1982) still makes modern CGI look like a school project.
[Dragon Slayer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWVJr7JbJZc) (1981). The dragon is legit.
The Thing (1982) is prob the first one everyone will say, but for good reason. Still looks insane today. Also check out An American Werewolf in London, the transformation scene alone is worth it…if u want something a bit different, Mad Max Fury Road is packed with practical stunts even if it doesn’t look like it at first. And for horror, The Fly (1986) and Hellraiser have some wild practical work that still hits.