Making Monsters: Images of Spooky Special Effects

Freddy Kreuger

Acid Burn

An acid burn effect used in "Let Me In" (2010).

Livecasting

A special effects team "livecasts" a model to create a mold used to sculpt life-like replicas.

Modeled Head

Upside down livecast — (Image credit: Andrew Clement, Creative Character Engineering)

A head model used in 2010's "Let Me In." This victim needed to appear hanging upside down in the movie, so Clement and his team livecasted the actor tilted upside down. The result is a face realistically distorted by gravity.

Side By Side

The upside-down body replica for "Let Me In" (2010) next to the real thing.

Chest

A realistic-looking chest used on the television series "ER."

Dark Shadows

Makeup from the 2003 vampire flick "Dark Shadows."

Nightmare Victim

Fake body from Nightmare on Elm Street — (Image credit: Andrew Clement, Creative Character Engineering)

A replica "victim" from 2010's "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

Head

Behind the scenes special effects — (Image credit: Andrew Clement, Creative Character Engineering)

An artist works on a replica movie head at Creative Characters Engineering.

Fake Baby

Silicone baby replica — (Image credit: Andrew Clement, Creative Character Engineering)

It's not all gore: Newborn babies aren't great actors, so filmmakers use silicone replicas like this one, from "What to Expect When You're Expecting" (2012).

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Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.