Yes, you're probably thinking, why is yet another company making film grain plates? Especially when there are already others doing it well, including CineGrain, which we've covered here before. Well, Rgrain is a little different, as their process does not involve scanning real film frames, but instead is a very close approximation of the real thing. This also gives Rgrain a huge advantage compared to the other guys: cost. Let's take a look at some samples:
Here is a tutorial for Rgrain using Premiere Pro CS5 - they also have tutorials for After Effects, Final Cut Pro X, and Sony Vegas:
At only $60, Rgrain is relatively inexpensive if you are looking to give some character to that clean digital footage. With less and less films being shot on actual film, I expect this technique to be used for years to come, as some projects or scenes require a bit of texture that digital images do not have. Here is a description from their website:
Seven 1080p ProRes 422 film grain plates at 23.976 fps (Each clip loops for 1min—5.6Gb total download.)
35mm, 16mm, and 8mm ultra-realistic film stock emulations
Looks and feels like the real thing
Includes a set of 8 aspect ratio hard mattes (PNG 24)
Removes the digital "plastic" look
Easy to use. No time consuming plugins to render
NO luminance or color shift to your footage when applying film grain
Smooth and natural flicker
Clean and dirt free plates unlike other film grain packages (Note: The "Super 8mm Nostalgia" and "16mm Old Stock" do have moderate damage)
Helps in dithering gradient banding. Better-looking compression on video-sharing sites
Works with all professional MAC or PC NLE and compositing suites
Great for special effect work / compositing
NO licensing fees. Use Rgrain on any projects, anytime
I personally think that there is a time and a place to use filters like this. For example, I could see the 16mm or 8mm filters being used to dirty-up a fashion video, or one of the cleaner 35mm patterns for a period film that was shot on a DSLR. Digital cinema has caught up and is now surpassing film in terms of overall image quality, but when it comes to motion characteristics and texture, film still has a specific advantage, and there are times when too clean can be a bad thing.
Is Rgrain better than CineGrain, or any of the other film grain companies out there? It's tough to say, but from looking at the Vimeo examples, Rgrain is doing a fantastic job emulating real film grain, and when the footage is online, I don't see too much of a difference. One of the benefits to Rgrain is that their pattern is "clean," meaning that the textures that aren't supposed to have film damage will not. This may or may not make much of a difference to you, but if you want just the grain pattern without any film damage, Rgrain should be a tiny bit cleaner.
I don't think we are too far off from film disappearing altogether, but if you're a purist, or you want to add a bit of texture, Rgrain is a good solution. At some point if I can get samples, I'll do an in-depth review of Rgrain, CineGrain, and GorillaGrain together.
Rgrain is also planning on adding 2K and 4K sometime in the future. Their introductory price may not last long, but if you order by March 15th, they will throw in an additional filter called Instant Vintage.
As indie filmmakers—especially in the genre space—sometimes we have to find creative ways to cinematically portray some crazy stuff. Heads exploding? Body transformations to bugs? Extraterrestrial predators disrespecting your boundaries and popping out of chest cavities?
You name it, we conceive it.
One of the great joys of movie making is figuring out exactly how to pull off all these crazy, often visceral moments in creative and visually exciting ways. Some of the greatest horror directors in history have made a name for themself by mastering the craft of the greatest intricate, believable practical effects moments of all time (eh-hmmm, David Cronenburg).
Well made practical effects aren't just cool to watch, they're also an art unto themself, with professional special effects artists dedicating their entire careers to designing crazy set pieces for our viewing pleasure.
Practical effects (SFX) also typically hold up much better than digital effects (VFX) allowing us to revisit and still immerse us into the a world created decades ago. That's pretty cool.
Below, we've compiled a top 10 list of some of the most impactful special effects in horror history. While this list is certainly not definitive, it was carefully thought out by which movies have been the most influential or impactful in our current moviegoing zeitgeist. Some are 80s classics you'd expect, others are modern special effects masterpieces that have instantly found themself in the cannon. We try to keep it interesting!
Please enjoy, as well as check out some accompanying education on how some of these moments were conceived and translated to the big screen, as well as some complimentary double feature pairings for your viewing pleasure.
Editor's note: These are in no particular order. Sue me.
'Videodrome'
Oh man. Videodrome.
It wouldn't be a SFX "best of" list without nodding to the grandfather body of horror himself David Cronenburg. In most cases when you watch one of his films you can expect to see some sort of body deformation or head explode in some of the most gnarly, creative set pieces put to screen.
It was a tough choice which of his babies to elect for the list, but I chose Videodrome simply because I think out of everything I've seen it got under my skin the most. I mean, between a TV becoming flesh and James Woods literally inserting a VHS tape into his torso, Videodrome has it all, baby!
Special make up effects artist Rick Baker says it best when he states "we have to do some pretty disgusting things in this movie".
See also: The Fly (one of my all time faves and a masterclass in SFX in its own right)
'Terrifier' (Franchise)
Jumping from classics to modern, the Terrifier franchise has made a name for itself for its shameless gonzo-slapstick splattercore ethos. With Terrifier 3 opening this weekend and tracking to blow out tentpole Joker: Folie a Deux, it's safe to say that Art the Clown has earned his keep amongst the big leagues of slasher fam.
Considering Terrifier originally made a name for itself precisely for its over-the-top practical effects, I feel like it's earned its keep amongst the big wigs of culturally relevant SFX icons.
See also: In a Violent Nature (another modern slasher with a shameless love of practical kills)
'Evil Dead II'
Sam Raimi made waves in the independent horror space with his certified classic, Evil Dead. If that wasn't enough, he did it again with the sort of remake, sort of reimagining of Evil Dead, Evil Dead II.
Writers Raimi and Scott Spiegel have famously said their approach to their sequel was essentially "what if we did the first one but bigger and funnier", and they certainly achieved that in spades. And what comes with bigger and funnier? More practical effects, baby. Between Ash fighting his hand and and claymation deadites, the in-camera master work still inspires filmmakers to this day.
It's groovy.
See also: Evil Dead (2013) (Fede Alverez went full-blown practical for his brutal remake and it elevates it to arguably the scariest Evil Dead ever made)
'The Substance'
The Substance
Mubi
Need I say more than "Monstro Elisasue"?
I will, because Coralie Fargeat certainly doesn't hold back leading up to her tortured creation. Between the procedural body horror of Margaret Qualley crawling out of Demi Moore's back to an unfortunate dream sequence with a chicken leg, The Substance is a no-holds-bared practical body horror masterpiece.
For more on the making of Monstro Elisasue, check out Vulture's super cool SFX breakdown here.
See also: Society (this arguably deserves it's own spot for it's flesh blending orgy scene, but we'll leave it here to pair for some nice "satirical comedy in body horror" tidiness)
'Re-Animimator'
Re-Animator is one of those movies that when I watched it for the first time I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks. What starts as an innocently campy Lovecraft adaptation quickly escalates to arguably one of the most fucked up movies I've ever seen.
I wouldn't consider Re-Animator one of my favorites ever, but it's certifiably one of the craziest. Putting some of these set pieces into words is a little out of my comfort zone, so I'll let you see for yourself if you haven't already. That being said, it makes the list for its impeccably well-executed use of practical effects for lingering fear.
One of the best arguments for the dead staying dead there is.
See also: Color Out of Space (a great Lovecraft double feature. A family that rides together gets their flesh stuck together)
'The Blob' (1988)
The Blob is, dare I say, a perfect movie. Practical effects are more or less the catalyst of this remake to a (also very good) classic, elevated beautifully with its heavy reliance on practical guck.
If you still want to go into a phone booth or hospital after checking this out... Good luck, bub.
See also: The Stuff (a perfect double feature. Blobs and stuff? give me a better pairing)
'The Thing' (1982)
If this list was ranked in a particular order, The Thing just might take the cake for all-time best. The above video's title says it all—the effects are insane, and the amount of work and artistry that went into building this world is a masterclass in how to utilize practical effects to elevate your movie to elite status.
On top of that, it's also an amazing movie taking the idea of "hell is other people" to elegant shape-shifting extremes.
See also: They Live (while not crazy on practical effects, the creature design itself earns its keep as a great Carpenter practical effect-heavy paring. Plus, it rules—bubble gum or no)
'Nightmare on Elm Street'
No one does practical effects quite like Freddy.
Outright, Freddy Krueger's character design is one of the most iconic looks out of any slasher villain—can we think of a better example of a slasher villain with a classically distinguished look that isn't wearing a mask?
On top of that, Nightmare on Elm Street has the genius advantage of dream logic, where pretty much anything the filmmaker's mind thinks of (in this case our guy Wes Craven) goes. It's a playground of creativity the entire franchise utilizes in beautiful fashion, but the first is so good it set the standard for how to use practical effects to make a long-lasting classic with some of the most intricate practical set pieces out there.
Hell, Wes designed an entire rotating set to pull of a scene where he rains blood on his final girl in her bedroom. If that's not bad ass filmmaking, I don't know what is. Even despite the near of an electrician's worst nightmare (if you don't know what I mean, see above).
See also: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (considering Leatherface and Freddy Krueger are boys that match each others freak too well, this pairing goes without saying. Texas Chainsaw also happens to stand as one of the scariest movies ever made thanks to the practical flair Tobe Hooper added to the Sawyer family's entire space)
'Sleepaway Camp'
Sleepaway Camp
UFDC
Sleepaway Camp is one of those horror movies that got lost in the shuffle in the slasher boom and is rightfully getting more attention as time goes on. Crazy twist ending aside (that is also one of the best jump scares of all time), Sleepaway Camp is a movie that wears its affection for horror via practical effects on its sleeve. We love it for that.
If you're looking to know more about how it all came together, check out this awesome breakdown.
If you're reading this, Angela, please don't come after me next time I go camping.
See also: Pieces (a lesser known slasher that puts the "gnarly" in gnarly)
The 'Alien' Franchise
Alien
film-grab.com
The Alien franchise is one of the most consistently well-made, expertly crafted franchises out there—and much of that is due (and thanks) to the reliance on practical effects. The world building, the horror, everything. Alien is an all time classic, and the quality of H.R. Geiger's concepts made real by practical effects goes to show its lasting impression.
See also: Event Horizon (hell in space? It's practically rendered hell in space)
Honorable Mentions
Scanners
film-grab.com
Look, there's a lot of good stuff out there—we can't hit them all.
Sometimes, for the sake of organizing an intuitive top 10 list, you have to make some tough choices and leave out some gems. Whether they have a wild head explosion or elegant, practical depiction building of hell itself, here are some great examples of expert practical effects that are more than worth your time.
Without further ado...
Possession: Are we going to talk about the demonic tentacle monster in the room?
Pans Labyrinth: There's a guy with eyes in his hands.
House of the Devil: Maybe a stretch but with the Greta head shot and blood moon ritual it earns it.
X Trilogy: Each entry has at least one moment worthy of SFX prestige .
Scanners: The ultimate head blow up.
Talk to Me: When they say smash up heads, they mean it.
Maniac : Goopy slasher goodness.
Eraserhead : Nothing says parental existentialism quite like that weird baby.
Oddity: This one has good head booms and wooden man monster.
Abagail : Radio Silence really goes for high concept horror fun here and it's a blast.
Barbarian: A scary creature design for the ages.
Friday the 13ths: When Jason hits, he hits.
The House That Jack Built: Lots of good stuff here, but that ending really takes the cake.
American Werewolf in London: Best werewolf transformation out there, Landis family be damned.
Night Breed: This movie has so much going on and it all looks amazing.
Love Lies Bleeding:Two words: "Dave Franco"
From Beyond: The ultimate practical effect face
Comment with any we forgot to mention... Or else (we might even add it to the honorable mentions list)!
Yes, you're probably thinking, why is yet another company making film grain plates? Especially when there are already others doing it well, including CineGrain, which we've covered here before. Well, Rgrain is a little different, as their process does not involve scanning real film frames, but instead is a very close approximation of the real thing. This also gives Rgrain a huge advantage compared to the other guys: cost. Let's take a look at some samples:
