A moment of silence for the passing of one of the all-time great in-camera effects geniuses, Stan Winston, who with his studio populated my youthful imagination with a series of incredible creations. The alien queen, the predator monster, and the terminator robot – the stars of the big three 80s tech noir films – were all from Winston. His distinctive style also distinguished huge hits like Edward Scissorhands, Jurassic Park and Baman Returns, as well as lesser-known cult faves like the Monster Squad and his own directorial debut, Pumpkinhead.
(And I just checked wikipedia to see if I missed anything crucial, and turns out I did: Winston designed the Mr Roboto mask for Styx! He had a “special thanks” credit on The Thing, to boot.)
Through his visual imagination and ability to translate that into screen reality, he has been the cause of countless nightmares for those of my generation. (Me included, oh yes.) Nicely done, Stan. You went earlier than anyone would have wished.