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| Screaming Mad George at work in May 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick. |
On February 10 of this year, special effects and makeup guru Screaming Mad George (whose real name was Joji Tani) passed away due to cardiac arrest at the age of 69. His family made the news public on August 16.
I was privileged to visit Screaming Mad George at Osaka University of Arts on May 30, 2019. I was scheduled to interview Godzilla series writer-director Kazuki Omori later that afternoon at the university, so my interpreter wanted to introduce me to Screaming Mad George in the time we had before the interview.
We went to his workshop, and I was amazed by what I saw. I have to admit that I wasn't all that familiar with his work prior to my visit, but, when I looked up his credits later, I basically kicked myself for not being knowledgeable enough to ask about his work. What an incredible career!
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).
I only wish there could have been many more such afternoons. Rest in peace, and thank you for showing me around your workshop.
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