To list every single make-up creation that has ever wowed us would be a fruitless, never-ending task with new weird, wonderful and amazing works being introduced to movie audiences year after year. Narrowing down a list that vast to just a 100 or even 50 would require some movie magic in itself. So to narrow out the list with just 20 make-up creations required a bit of divine intervention and some restrictions. In choosing these make-up creations, my criteria was that there must be the physical billed actor in the make-up and with little or no animatronics involved. Im sure there will be a lot of debate and disagreement with my list because of this, but its only fair that the actor in make-up is given his or her fair share of the credit in bringing that character to life. After all, its the actor in make-up that has to rely on their acting skills to make the character believable to the audience. Here are the 20 Greatest Ever Movie Make-Up Creations...
20. Ray Park As Darth Maul In Star Wars Episode I
If you were to ask a Star Wars fan who their favorite character was, theyd more than likely pick someone from the original trilogy like Boba Fett or Luke Skywalker. Very seldom do you have someone choosing anybody from the prequels. That is unless its Darth Maul. Just his look alone is burned in to so many peoples memories and is by far the most fondly remembered aspect of the recent prequel trilogy. His face closely resembles the markings on a black widow and justifiably so being a Sith Lord and the apprentice to Emperor Palpatine. The spiked horns that crown his head give warning to anyone that challenges him like a rattle would on a rattle snake. The concept of Darth Maul was created by Iain McCaig and the character portrayed on screen by martial arts expert Ray Park, who helped show how lethal Darth Maul really was.
19. Michael Keaton As Beetlejuice in Beetlejuice
I cant remember any movie where I was rooting for the bad guy or get that many laughs from him as I did in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice is one of those movies that is fun to watch and enjoy as you would watching a demented circus act. Michael Keatons interpretation of a deranged ghost haunting the residence of a newly deceased couple is wonderfully done with the help of a decorative make-up job. The make-up for the whole cast was created by Ve Neill, Steve LaPorte, and Robert Short who all three won an Oscar for this movie. They made an effort in making Beetlejuice look as crazy as he is mental with his pale face, blackened eye sockets and his disarrayed, dirty hair that is covered in green mold. The black and white suit he wears is just as outrageous as he is and adds to his humor and charm that wins the audience over.