[Interview] FX Artist Mark Viniello on How Halloween Shaped a Movie Monster Maker
Makeup FX artist Mark Viniello has helped bring some of the most memorable monsters to life in many of our favorite movies and series from the past 30 years, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Spider-Man to True Blood, Stranger Things, Trick ‘r Treat, and many more, and we were delighted to learn that it all started with a passion for Halloween and classic horror.
In a our video conversation earlier this week, Viniello discussed finding his calling while working at an upstate New York haunted house (check out Kevin McCurdy’s Haunted Mansion) as a teenager, leaving his hometown to find his destiny as a monster maker who could live Halloween 365 days a year in Los Angeles, breaking into the industry in the 1990s, and much more.
Mark also provides unique insight recalling his experiences on the sets of some of the most successful and iconic films and TV shows of the past three decades, working with and learning from all of the greats in the industry, including makeup FX legends Dick Smith, Stan Winston, Bob Keen, and many others, eventually playing a Xenomorph in Alien: Resurrection and a baby Godzilla in the 1998 Roland Emerich kaiju film, later helping to create the original Demogorgon for Stranger Things‘ very first episodes.
Most recently, Viniello supervised the practical animatronic pumpkin headed Stingy Jack creature in Netflix’s 2022 Halloween adventure comedy The Curse of Bridge Hollow, just the latest in a very long line of memorable and often iconic monsters that Mark has helped create.
As a practical FX artist, while he has literally had a hand in making so many movie monsters, Viniello has never stopped being a true fan of the genre. He says he still gets excited when a new film project is announced that he hopes to work on, and when he doesn’t get the job, he remains just as excited to watch it in the audience with the rest of us, because, of course, he is one of us.
Watch our exclusive video interview with Mark Viniello below, or listen on the Halloween Daily Podcast
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