Cinefex 19 - Gremlins / Buckaroo Banzai / Dreamscape

Gremlins: Never Feed Them After Midnight

A stylishly quirky master of the cult film, director Joe Dante took a giant step forward into mainstream filmmaking with Gremlins, a savagely witty fairy tale and resounding boxoffice success. To an extent beyond that of any recent film, Gremlins relied almost as much on its variously conceived mechanical creatures as it did on its live performers. With contributions from Joe Dante, producer Michael Finnell and others, mogwai and gremlin creator Chris Walas unveils the story behind the year's most remarkable cinematic newcomers.

Article by Paul M. Sammon

Across the Eighth Dimension with Buckaroo Banzai

Overflowing with bizarre concepts and off-the-wall humor, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai demanded an equally off-centered approach to its visual effects. With this in mind, effects supervisor Michael Fink was given the task of organizing and coordinating the activities of three separate facilities, all engaged in providing footage of organic spaceships and interdimensional environments. With an overview by director W.D. Richter, Fink elaborates on the project, with additional input from Hoyt Yeatman and Keith Shartle of Dream QuestImages, Peter Kuran of VCE, Inc., and John Scheele of Greenlite Effects.

Article by Nora Lee

Dreamscape: What Dreams Are Made Of

Creating a low-budget dream world was often a nightmare for the effects personnel involved in Dreamscape. Visual effects supervisor Peter Kuran details the creation of surrealistic nuclear explosions and post-holocaust environments; special makeup artist Craig Reardon outlines the construction of a full-size snakeman and various radiation-burned bomb victims; and camerman James Aupperle discusses his stop-motion animation in the film.

Article by Adam Eisenberg