Carl Fullerton vs. Douglas J. White: The Jasons

Jason II and Jason III comparison

One of the biggest complaints of the Friday The 13th franchise is continuity- mostly how Jason changed from movie to movie. The easiest way to explain this is the fact that different special make-up effects artists had different ideas on how Jason should look. Double that up with the fact that the directors also had an idea how Jason should look and you have a recipe for change.

Did Carl Fullerton Play Jason?

Carl Fullerton doing some SFX sexing

We are all well versed in the whole Gillette vs. Dash "who played Jason" debacle. And we all know that Jerry Wallace and Ellen Lutter were also people who did scenes as Jason. However, much like Tom Savini playing the killer during his special effects gags, Warrington Gillette did state that he believed that special make-up effects Carl Fullerton may have played Jason after he left the production. Many people laughed at that, but I always thought it sounded plausible. 

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.