Smoke & Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini

https://www.facebook.com/smokeandmirrorstomsavini

Above is a great candid photo of Tom Savini during his Vietnam War service. It's from an upcoming documentary on his lift aptly titled Smoke & Mirrors, directed by Jason Baker.

Behind the Scenes: Friday the 13th (1980)

Here's a really hi-res shot of Mark Nelson (Ned) from Friday the 13th (1980) where you can get a good look at his special make-up effects applied by the master Tom Savini. This definitely wasn't Savini's crowning moment in horror, but it is still an iconic moment nonetheless. 

Friday the 13th (1980) Behind the Scenes Photo

From: Friday the 13th the Fan's Page Facebook

Here's a pretty rare behind-the-scenes shot of Tom Savini and his assistant Taso Stavrakis moulding the head of Betsy Palmer (Mrs. Voorhees) for her iconic beheading scene in Friday the 13th (1980). Both Savini and Stavrakis undertook the duties of special make-up effects as well as actually playing the killer Mrs. Voorhees in scenes where Betsy Palmer's likeness was not exposed. Savini and Stavrakis played Alice and Mrs' Voorhees in the beheading scene.

Behind the Scenes of Mrs. Voorhees' Decapitation

from: TGIF13 

Thank you TGIF13 for this amazing shot of Betsy Palmer and Tom Savini during the shooting of Mrs. Voorhees' decapitation scene in Friday the 13th (1980).

Production Photos of Jeannine Taylor's Death

This one is pretty creepy

Here is a small collection of some photos that I have of Marcie's (Jeannine Taylor) in Friday the 13th (1980). I haven't a clue where I obtained most of them, but I did get some from Fangoria and Famous Monster magazines. In some of them you will notice that there is blood on the backdrop curtain and some there isn't. I'm not sure why; if it was because of multiple takes (and the least bloody one made it to the final American cut) or if it was blood added after the initial impact in the first take, but not shown onscreen. 

At any rate, this death is easily the best of the series and the one that always stuck in my mind as a kid. It was very well executed by Savini and co.

Fangoria #38 Friday the 13th Photos (and others)

Here are a few photos from Fangoria #38 and some other photos from an unknown issue that displayed Savini's work. Gotta love the above photo of Laurie Bartram!

Savini and Buechler Spottings

So, living close to Los Angeles I get to see some of the legendary Friday the 13th filming locations on Topanga Canyon Blvd, Green Valley, Newhall and Saugus. But I also see some people from the films from time to time. Here are a couple interesting sightings I had recently. I saw John Carl Buechler (SFX; Friday the 13th: Part VII) in Starbucks in North Hollywood and Tom Savini (SFX; Friday the 13th: Part IV) at LAX when I was arriving in LA.

Remembering the Unknown Jasons

Roy Burns stand-in doing a kill scene

When you say the name Jason many names may come to mind; Kane Hodder, Ted White, Richard Brooker, C.J. Graham or maybe even Steve Dash. This entry is dedicated to all of those people who played Jason- even for a scene- and never gets mentioned.

Remembering the unknown Jasons Part 2

Read part 1

Tom Savini:
Some people really find it odd that Tom Savini donned the Jason attire for (at least) a scene in Friday The 13th: Part IV. Tom Savini is known for performing the intricate kills in the movies that he does special effects for, as seen in behind-the-scene footage for movies like Maniac and The Prowler. Here's Savini in the Jason suit killing the fat hitchiker.

Behind The Scenes Photos Of The Week: Tom Savini

Here's a few behind the scenes photos from Friday The 13th (1980) and Friday The 13th: Part IV The Final Chapter (1984) of Tom Savini doing his work. The first is Tom doing some touch ups on young Jason Vorrhees, the next is Tom doing some work on Mrs. Voorhees head that will be used in the decapitation and the last is from The Final Chapter, which is Teddy's head used with the knife impact.

Friday The 13th behind the scenes photos of the week.

Again, courtesy of His Name Was Jason here are some behind the scenes photos of Doug's death in Friday The 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter. I really dig the whole behind the scenes footage from this movie. We really did not get to see any of this for any of the movies but this one. Sadly, it's all lost and gone so we will probably never unless someone other than Paramount has it.

What is so great about this behind the scenes footage is that we really get to see how these kills were done and what went into them-- that's pretty freaking awesome! In these photos you can sort of see what went into Doug's death and that his head was merely a bust prop with no animatronics/controlled eyes, just a tongue, glass eyes and blood flow.

Friday The 13th behind the scenes photos of the week.

Once again, from the His Name Was Jason DVD, here are some behind the scenes shots of Bonnie Hellman's death in Friday The 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter. In one close up shot you can clearly see the genius of Tom Savini and how he rigged a rubber knife on a track beside her neck and out the front. I have to say that is pretty crafty and always wondered how they did this gag because it looked so real, in my opinion.

Friday The 13th behind the scenes photo of the week.

This is one a lot of fans have probably seen already, but I have this weird soft spot for the first entry into the franchise. The behind the scenes photos that Tom Savini took of his special make-up effects has this very beautiful, black and white look to them that I just love looking at. It may come from Savini's work as a combat photographer in the Vietnam War-- his ability to capture the beauty in death. I use the term "beauty" in the sense of the photograph and the photography, not the actual dead body. This photo is of Harry Crosby (Bill) getting prepared for his scene where Alice finds him dead on the pumphouse door.

Tom Savini: Misanthrope or Misunderstood?

Growing up in the 1980's and seeing Tom Savini's name attached to 1/2 of all of the significant horror films in my golden age sort of sets me up to really admire what Savini has done. I remember reading about him in Fangoria and thinking how cool this guy must be. Sadly, this is not the case- my only encounter with Tom was not bad, however no words were exchanged so I can not have an opinion good or bad about the guy. It just seems that the fans are split half and half- one half thinks that he is burnt out to the point where he hates conventions and in turn treats his fans like shit. The other half is completely opposite- they think he is super nice to the fans and is very fan oriented.