Universal Studios

We've not posted for a while because we've been on vacation. 

Whilst on vacation we went to Universal Studios Florida and checked out the Horror Movie Make-up show that they put on there. It was informative, interesting and hilarious! It's in a very cool looking art-deco theater building, the foyer is furnished in deep reds much like old style movie theaters, and there are many display cabinets housing props and models from some of the best scary movies that came out of Universal studios: Jaws, The Thing, Child's Play, An American Werewolf in London, Psycho .......... etc, etc. That alone was pretty cool to look at, like a gruesome museum (a grueseum?), but that's only the waiting area...... the theater doors open and you are led into an auditorium where you sit facing a small but wonderfully set stage. It is full of horror props, bloodied cloths cover tables and workbenches whereupon sit piles of severed limbs and dismembered corpses. The shelves at the back of this 'kitchen' are heaving with heads of monsters and aliens and laden with bottles of blood and ooze. 

Check out the pic below and see how many familiar faces you can spy.

The presenter of the show comes out and introduces himself and tells us all about the great work that horror make-up and special effects artists do for the movies, he shows us a few clips on screen and then introduces a 'real' movie special effects artist. Of course he comes out with a knife embedded in his chest and play-acts a labored death for our entertainment, for the next fifteen minutes or so we are given a little insight into the backroom technology of horror films (of particular interest was the mechanical transformation head from "An American Werewolf in London") but mainly we are thoroughly entertained by the two actors. What impressed us the most was the interaction with the audience, we were all laughing out loud (often at the expense of one or two audience members that the presenters had "volunteered" for participation) and although it was clearly scripted, the actors were able to ad-lib to great effect. There was plenty of blood to keep us happy and a big hairy surprise at the end!

If you get to Universal Studios in Orlando FL make sure you go see this show. 

More vacation snaps

You may also want to check out the Halloween Horror Nights that Universal host each year, designed to excite and terrify this is the ultimate in Halloween fun!!