SFX Spotlight: Carl Fullerton

Carl Fullerton applying latex to Warrington Gillette (Jason Voorhees) 

Watching Friday The 13th: Part II (1981) and seeing the special effects you'd never have guessed that the special effects artist Carl Fullerton later became a twice nominated Oscar Award artist. The special make-up effects in Friday The 13th: Part II was not at all badly done, however they were pretty much non-existent because of the cuts made to the film to get an MPAA R rating.

Carl Fullerton was suggested to producers when Tom Savini turned down the film to do The Burning and Stan Winston was not available. Carl Fullerton apprenticed under special make-up effects legend Dick Smith and worked on such great horror films like Rituals (1977), Altered States (1980), Wolfen (1981), The Hunger (1983) and Warlock (1989). Fullerton also went into the mainstream and did effects for larger films Goodfellas (1990), The Godfather: Part III (1990), Philadelphia (1993) and pretty much every Denzel Washington movie since 1996 as Mr. Washington's personal make-up artist.

Fullerton's most iconic creation- the face of Jason II himself- ended up being completely removed from the legend as Jason became lost his hair in Part III and Fullerton's creation became merely "a dream" never to be seen again in flashbacks.

The similarities between Jason II and Jason III

Sadly, a lot of fans of the franchise frown upon Fullerton's Jason II because of the fact that he had hair and a beard-- which is actually pretty accurate to a derelict living in the woods-- and of course the fact that Jason II did not wear the now iconic hockey mask. One thing that a lot of people may not realize is that Fullerton's Jason II and Douglas J. White's Jason III look pretty damn similar (if Jason II never had hair, of course) with similar facial deformities and shape.

I also personally think that Friday The 13th Part II had some of the most iconic kills of the franchise; the double bed impaling, Mark's wheelchair death, Scott's neck slit, The death of Friday The 13th (1980) heroine Alice and of course Jason's demise. All were executed very well and even being butchered and cut to death had impact. I really think that Friday The 13th; Part II is highly underrated in the special effects department.

If you want to learn more about Carl Fullerton visit his IMDB page and the Friday The 13th Films site also has a page dedicated to him.