Celebrate Halloween with 7 Days of Stan Winston’s Famous Monsters; Go Behind the Scenes of Aliens!

Steve Barton   |  

Oct 25, 2012

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Dread Central has a deep-seated love for classic movie monsters and the artistry that brings them to life so when the opportunity arose to showcase the work of the legendary Stan Winston, we thought we’d celebrate Halloween with “7 Days of Stan Winston’s Famous Monsters”!

For those who may be unaware of the legacy he’s left behind, special effects maestro Winston first rose to prominence in Hollywood with his Oscar-nominated work on the 1981 comedic cult classic Heartbeeps and since then created countless iconic creatures and numerous subtle prosthetic effects that forever changed the world of film and the effects industry as well.

During his 35-plus-year career, Winston dabbled in the worlds of dinosaurs, aliens, cyborgs, superheroes, the supernatural and the super-awkward with his work on films like The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Thing, Aliens, The Monster Squad, Predator 1 & 2, the Jurassic Park trilogy, Edward Scissorhands, A.I., Pumpkinhead, Dead & Buried, Batman Returns, The Relic, Iron Man, Congo, Doom, Lake Placid and many, many more.

Winston’s unforgettable creations were also honored throughout the years by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science by awarding the special and visual effects trailblazer four Oscars throughout his career for Aliens, Jurassic Park, and two for Terminator 2 and nominated him on seven other occasions for his work on the aforementioned Heartbeeps, Predator, Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and A.I..

For the next week we’ll be bringing you exclusive, behind-the-scenes photos from many of Winston’s greatest cinematic achievements in special effects. To kick things off, we decided to go big and give you an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the film that Winston took home his first Oscar for, James Cameron’s Aliens.

Check out our photo gallery below with several behind-the-scene stills from Winston’s workshop and the set of Aliens as well one of Winston’s concept sketches for the sequel, courtesy of the Stan Winston School of Character Arts. Then make sure to head back here every day until Halloween for more behind-the-scenes looks at other iconic special effects creations created by Winston during his illustrious and influential career.