We are Monster Kids, there are no ways around it. We love monsters, horror and the art of bringing these terrors to life. To celebrate the approach of haunt season, BTT will feature the men and women who make up our nightmares, and make them real. These monster makers range from film, television, and even our favorite haunted attractions. From now until the end of haunt season, join us for our “Monday Monster Makers” series, a celebration of the artists, directors, actors, and creators who send the shivers down our necks and make us worried about the things that go bump in the night.
This week Monday Monster Maker focuses on one of the biggest names in Hollywood: Howard Berger. The man has worked on over 200 films-whether it been in the makeup department, acting, producing, or directing- and has no intention of stopping. He is one of the most noteworthy artists of the field and has brought to popularity monsters that continue to haunt our pop culture.
Howard Berger was born in Los Angeles in 1963. He began a love affair with film and special effects at an early age during childhood. At the age of 13 Berger met his idol- special effects master Stan Winston. Winston was taken by young Berger’s work and offered him a job when he graduated high school. At eighteen years old, Berger would be working for the Stan Winston Studio on horror films such as “Pumpkinhead” and “Aliens”.
Howard Berger would go on to work on the George Romero film “Day of the Dead” where he would meet his friend and creative partner Greg Nicotero. In 1988, Howard Berger would found one of the biggest special effects studios in Hollywood- KNB Effects- with Nicotero and artist Robert Kurtzman.
Quickly after its founding, KNB Group found work on horror films and TV Shows such as Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness, From Dusk Til Dawn, and Misery. Working on such films was just the beginning for the group-expanding their gallery of work to include The Green Mile, nearly every Quentin Tarantino film, Chronicles of Narnia (for which Nicotero and Berger won Oscars for), Hitchcock, and The Walking Dead. .
Without a doubt, Howard Berger’s work will continue to both influence future generations and scare the beejesus out of us. The Walking Dead will have yet another house at Halloween Horror Nights Orlando where you can see work based off of Berger’s and the rest of the KNB effects team’s designs. It should be also of note that Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood will feature a house based off the film “This Is The End”, which the work of the KNB Effects studio can also be seen.
Tune in every Monday for more Monster Maker mayhem, where we will explore different people from the haunt industry, and the monsters they create.
If you know of someone you’d like to see featured, or if you make monsters yourself, email us at Staff@behindthethrills.com.
Stay tuned for more Monster Mayhem, and be sure to get social with us on Facebook and follow along with us on Twitter @BehindThrills for the latest updates!
