If there's one thing all horror-film-lovers can acknowledge, it's that it takes a village to make a screamfest look really, reeeaaaally good, from the lighting to the acting to the special effects. And as they've evolved in the recent decades, so has the artistry behind them. Special FX house Abracadaver Productions has answered the call for quality props for decades to make films look as fantastic as possible, effectively either blowing your mind or killing your ability to sleep hours later.
Since the mid-1980s, the Fullerton-based studio has built props, molds, sculptures, makeup and special FX rigs for theme parks, Hollywood films, TV shows, music videos and haunted houses worldwide. A quick browse through its impressive résumé shows it has supplied props and architectural sculptures for Disney theme park rides around the globe, including Toon Town, Indiana Jones Adventure and Tower of Terror, as well as for Knotts Scary Farm. It has also handled the special FX makeup and props for the films Alien Resurrection; Earth Girls Are Easy; PumpkinHead; Friday the 13th III, IV and V (as well as the horror/comedy spoof Saturday the 14th); Jaws 3; and Cujo, just to name a few.
All design, sculpting and manufacturing takes place in a warehouse near the train tracks. Shaping the look and feel of many films and haunted-house attractions is all in a day's work for Larry Carr, a makeup and special FX artist who had already had his share of success in the industry and wanted to take on larger assignments when he started the company. “I enjoy seeing customers' reactions with our new products or when we've done a custom sculpting job and they see their vision come to life,” Carr says.
The company vends at multiple Southern California horror and Halloween-centric events throughout the year and hosts an open house and Halloween market every summer in July. To check out the stuff horror movies (and nightmares) are made of, visit abracadaver.com.
Aimee Murillo is calendar editor and frequently covers film and previously contributed to the OCW’s long-running fashion column, Trendzilla. Don’t ask her what her favorite movie is unless you want to hear her lengthy defense of Showgirls.