Today we had the pleasure of interviewing special make up effects designer Greg Nicotero. He’s the ‘N’ in KNB Effects Group (the others being Rob Kurtzman and Howard Berger). For horror fans, KNB is essentially the George Martin of the Splat Pack!
KNB (and Nicotero specifically) has worked on many of the films that define modern horror… Army Of Darkness, Land Of The Dead, Hostel, Sin City, The Hills Have Eyes, Grindhouse, The Mist. They also did Chronicles Of Narnia for which they won an Oscar. Not quite horror, but damn fine beasties!
While Greg defines himself as being a monster guy (his favorite film is Jaws), he enjoys working with like minded filmmakers no matter the splatter. That means the Eli Roths, Quentin Tarantinos, and Edgar Wrights of the world.
One of today’s highlights was when Greg explained the secret behind Hostel’s finger chainsawing. Suffice to say it involved a hollow gelatin mold filled with gallons of blood and a chainsaw from Mrs. Berger.
KNB is about to turn 20 next year. They are now Hollywood’s premiere creature and gore FX house. We thank Greg for agreeing to be in our documentary. The geek in us thanks him for letting us walk around on the production floor while they were working on the next Narnia.
