Burb’s Eye View: Monsterpalooza was a graveyard smash

The Morlock never moved.

It glared its beady glare, staring in the vague direction of a collection of Wolfman and Dracula busts. Charlie Shotwell, 7, continued to prod the Morlock’s arm, but the underground-dwelling humanoid never moved.

Charlie was fascinated.

“This may be my favorite moment yet,” said his father, Frank, of Westwood. They had seen several recognizable faces at Monsterpalooza on Saturday, mostly from the classic Universal monsters from the movies they watch together.

This was Charlie’s first meeting with a Morlock, though, and the life-size statue of the albino creature from “The Time Machine” captivated him.

Each year, Monsterpalooza descends on Burbank and brings together the masters of horror and science-fiction special effects and makeup. Demons mingle with zombies, werewolves and Minotaurs take pictures with their biggest fans. It’s a slobbering, sexy, sensory industry convention that might sound like a circle of hell or, if you’re effects master Stan Winston or Rick Baker, a vision of heaven.

At every booth and behind every latex mask is someone like Cig Neutron, a finalist in Syfy’s “Face Off” makeup competition series. When he’s not creating makeup effects for the movie industry he’s working with other artists and making fun his full-time job.

At a young age, he saw his first horror movie. His mother, he said, explained to him the concept behind fake blood. His reaction:

“Someone just gets paid to put ketchup on people for movies? I’m going to do that,” he said.

Several makeup chairs throughout the Burbank Marriott showed the public just how complicated that can get. Models sat for hours while teams applied foam, silicone, latex, and paint to transform them into aliens, ancient beasts and even Michael Jackson from “Thriller.”

Belynda Caldero and her mom, Ester Mendoza, got in on the action as well — one booth applied glass shards complete with blood trails on any exposed skin. Caldero placed her “injury” next to one of many horror-themed tattoos.

“I’m a whore for gore,” she said.

While horror fans get their fill of props, costumes and actors from their favorite movies at Monsterpalooza, it also serves as a networking event for artists like Andrew Martin. Usually he’s creating porcelain teeth at a dental lab in Canada, but on Saturday, he sculpted small aliens and robots in his own booth while talking to another artist about his portfolio.

Across from them, Jason Edmiston sold his pop-culture prints featuring some of moviedom’s most iconic characters. He said a large part of the pop-art business is knowing what your audience is going to look for next; one minute it’s “‘This is the best thing ever’ and then nobody remembers it,” he said.

Jenny Sanchez will remember her first Monsterpalooza. On Saturday afternoon, she spun from one exhibit to another with her two sons in tow.

“I love how authentic everything looks,” she said. “I was afraid of the Creature from the Black Lagoon and he’s everywhere.”
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BRYAN MAHONEY writes about Burbank neighbors and the place they call home. He can be reached at 818NewGuy@gmail.com and on Twitter at @818NewGuy.