Screaming Mad George hard at work in his creature shop in Osaka. Photo by Brett Homenick.
This should probably fall into the "better late than never" category. When I visited Osaka last spring, I went to Osaka University of Arts and got to spend some time in the workshop of special effects and makeup guru Screaming Mad George (née Joji Tani).
The Osaka native made a big impact on American genre films in the 1980s and '90s -- Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Predator (1987), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), and The Abyss (1989), just to name a few.
He also co-directed The Guyver (1991) with Steve Wang. He's no stranger to Japanese tokusatsu films, either, as he directed the SFX for Tokyo: The Last War (1989). It was great to spend some time in his company and pick his brain about his history in Hollywood and Japanese special effects. The visit happened on May 30 of last year. Enjoy!
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