Shuler Hensley’s eventual makeup transformation into the Doctor’s creation took about four hours to complete (the same for O’Connor’s into Frankenstein’s/Dracula’s assistant, Igor). Hensley was enrobed in a zippered, silicon rubber body suit (three “hero” suits were created) with leg extensions, which raised the already tall actor to a standing height of about seven-foot-two; the extensions themselves utilized metal feet encased in shoes and were designed by a craftsman who builds artificial limbs for amputees. The facial makeup was comprised of nine separate molded prosthetics pieces plus a “skull” piece that allowed the actor’s own facial features to be incorporated into the Monster’s head. In addition to the Monster’s, Captive Audience also designed and completed all of the film’s extensive prosthetic makeup, including Igor’s and The Brides’.
“What was important to us was that the actor was never lost in the makeup,” summarizes Ducsay.
Sommers hopes to impress his respect for the classic Universal monster movies upon his audiences, paying homage to the films while taking the characters (and moviegoers) in new, revelatory directions. He closes, “What I like to do with my movies is transport audiences to new places they’ve never seen or imagined…and that’s what the Universal horror movies did for me. That’s what draws me to them again and again, and why I wanted to take their characters and combine them into something new. Every time I re-watch them, I see something I haven’t seen before. I hope audiences for Van Helsing have that kind of a great time.”
Movie Database
In Theaters
