Mark Shostrom Effects Gallery

The following images are here courtesy of Phantasm II and III effects helmer Mark Shostrom. The comments beneath each photo are his own which provide insight into his creative process. I recently did an interview with Mark which you can read here.

All photos copyright Mark Shostrom

PHANTASM 3. Angus Scrimm in frozen makeup.
Puppet head of the Tall Man, PHANTASM 2.
EZ-Plastic head of the Tall Man for PHANTASM 3. The head was cut into sections, seams mended with Kleen Klay, then the head was mounted face-down. The camera faced up. To get the effect of a sphere exploding from the face, a weighted model of the sphere was dropped through the head, shattering the face sections.
Aftermath of EZ Plastic head.
Ed Gale, crawling dwarf, PHANTASM 2. Full foam latex suit. I sculpted the head and hands and painted the suit. Bob Kurtzman and I sculpted the body suit in two hours because we were so hungry to go out to dinner. Luckily, since Ed is only 3' 4" we made our two hour deadline.
Ed later went on to be Çhucky in CHILDS PLAY.
Animatronic head of Tall Man, PHANTASM 2. Actor James LeGros played the entire scene with this head, all shot in close-ups.
PHANTASM 2. Tall Man melting. I super-glued real chicken skins onto his neck appliance. This took some doing, since the skins are so greasy. I had to wash them in detergent for 30 minutes first. That's Ultraslime on his hand.
EZ Plastic head getting prepped with ice effects. I used Gary Zeller&';s ZICE and white paraffin blown through a bee smoker. Don't ask me who iced the costume...
Karin Hanson hand-tied the excellent wig and eyebrows.
Mechanical dwarf head, PHANTASM 2. Sculpted by Bob Kurtzman.
Discarded Sam Phillips design for PHANTASM 2.
Sculpting Tall Man puppet head from PHANTASM 2.
Dwarf sculpture, PHANTASM 2.





Ed Gale dwarf sculpture, PHANTASM 2. Based on Bog People I'd seen in museums in Europe.
Melting Tall Man sculpture, PHANTASM 2.




All photos copyright Mark Shostrom