He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce (2008)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Nice tribute to Universal make-up legend Jack Pierce who created some of the studios most famous works including Frankenstein's monster, the wolf man, the mummy and countless other creatures. Rick Baker, Tom Savini, Howard Berger, Bob Burns, Scott Essman, Kim Newman and Gregory Nicotero are just a few of the faces who appear and discuss the work of Pierce and why his work has had such a lasting impression on people. It was quite touching when Baker mentions that Pierce didn't have any children of his own yet these monsters pretty much were his kids and they'll never die. The documentary lasts a brief 25-minutes and mainly covers the Universal period of Pierce's career, although there's brief mention of him being let go by the studio and forced to work on poverty row. It's sad to think that when he died no one cared and no one hardly remembered him. The documentary does a great job at showing how legendary these creations were and how even though make-up is better today there still hasn't been anyone to top his work. Savini talks about the look of Karloff's mummy and how this had a major influence on a certain zombie in DAWN OF THE DEAD. Baker talks very warmly about the creation of the Frankenstein monster and everything that went into creating it. Burns even has a piece of memorabilia, which is believed to be the only known work to survive. While this documentary doesn't go into great details about Pierce's life it's at least a fitting and touching tribute.