He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce

This is the shortest of the documentaries on the DVD of the 1932 version of The Mummy that have their own pages here on this site, and the title makes it quite clear what the subject of it is. It consists of clips from the movies he created for, interviews with more recent make-up artists who've been inspired by him and behind-the-scenes stills/footage. They go into detail on the immense labor of the application of early make-up, both to the person constructing it, and the (not always) patient actor stuck in the chair for hours, the specific methods(we even get to see his apparently last and only surviving piece... sadly, much of it was undoubtedly lost simply when taken back off, and exists only on the printed film), Pierce as a human being and the deep level of respect between him and Karloff. The stories are interesting, and it is rather impressive how much of an impact he has had, even if most people do not know his name. Everyone who knows comic books knows The Joker, and the look of the character was very clearly inspired by The Man Who Laughs. And just about anyone knows the iconic monsters that he designed and built. There is some violence and disturbing content in this. I recommend this to any fan of horror. 7/10