Tom Savini is arguably one of the greatest living legends within the horror genre. Not only is he an actor and director but he is renowned as a visionary makeup artist for films ranging from Dawn Of The Dead to Friday The 13th. With a career spanning several decades, several of the films involving his prosthetic work have become either mainstream classics or cult favorites.
Be it the physical characteristics of horror villains or designing violence and gore, Savini's filmography so far includes some movies that have become more memorable for their makeup effects than anything else.
Ted Bundy (2002) - 5.8
A dramatization of the life of infamous killer Ted Bundy, the titular biopic was largely a non-horror feature. Hence, this is one of Savini's less-known works with his makeup limited to realistic violence. As is a common norm in his work, Savini also cameos in Ted Bundy. He is credited as "Salt Lake City Detective."
While the movie largely drew mixed to negative reactions, Ted Bundy was still praised for Michael Reilly Burke's lead performance. It makes for an underrated option when it comes to movies about serial killers.
Necronomicon: Book Of Dead (1993) - 5.8
Necronomicon brings to life the works of the literary master of horror, H.P. Lovercraft. While each tale of Lovecraftian horror deals with a distinct storyline, a common plot regarding the resurrection of a dead mother and her son is connects the three segments.
The anthology movie includes in its ambit creatures from hell as well as aliens. For such diverse elements, Savini conceptualised the extensive special makeup and animatronic effects.
Two Evil Eyes (1990) - 6
One of Savini's several collaborations with George A Romero, Two Evil Eyes is a joint collaboration between Romero and Dario Argento as they take turns to reimagine classic scary stories by Edgar Allan Poe.
As Poe's work was heavy on macabre elements and grotesque bloodshed, even the two segments of Two Evil Eyes give enough room for Savini to work his magic, especially in the shocking final act of each story. From decomposed bodies to tree hangings, Two Evil Eyes has it all.
The Burning (1981) - 6.3
Heavy on slasher gore, The Burning is a reworking of the urban legend of the Cropsey maniac, a boogeyman-like personality from New York. Summer camp proved to be quite a popular setting for several teen-centric slashers. The Burning is no exception as it deals with a camp caretaker who is burnt beyond recognition after a prank goes awry.
Years later, he plans to seek his revenge on such campers. The ominous creature born out of the "burning" serves as an interesting canvas for Savini to work while the movie also carries a good dose of the violence effects typical of the genre.
Maniac (1980) - 6.4
A psychological slasher with excessive gore, Maniac focuses on the bloody exploits of Frank Zito, a serial killer who murders and scalps young women. The gratuitous and hair-raising details of the murders lead to Savini relying on "rivers" of blood for each of the killer's victims. Blood even spurts out of the mannequins that the lead character experiments upon.
Savini himself appears in the movie as one of Zito's victims. One of his earliest works, the movie came out in the same year as Friday The 13th, another of Savini's projects. While the latter has attained legendary status, Maniac remains to be one of the most underrated slasher movies.
Friday The 13th (1980) - 6.4
Despite its low budget, Friday The 13th turned out to be one of the highest grossing '80s slasher movies. The subsequent horror franchise would be entrenched into pop culture with Jason Vorhees donning the hockey mask in the third part. However, the original Friday The 13th didn't even have Jason as the killer, adding a plot twist that was quite revolutionary at its time.
With Savini being the creative mind behind the plethora of slashing and stabbings in the movie, Friday The 13th turned out to be his biggest claim to fame as a special makeup effects artist apart from the George A Romero movies.
Creepshow (1982) - 6.8
Another one of the horror anthologies that Savini worked on, Creepshow blends horror with comedy. The movie is a must-watch for horror fans for its talents alone. George A Romero and Tom Savini resumed their creative partnership while Stephen King got on-board as a screenwriter.
Intended to be a stylistic tribute to the 1950s-era horror comics like Tales From The Crypt and The Haunt of Fear, Creepshow incorporates several larger-than-life comic-like effects. If one is to view the brilliance of Savini's mastery of animatronics and horror make-up, Creepshow would be a perfect pick.
Martin (1976) - 7
Martin found Romero and Savini exploring the vampire subgenre of horror. When the titular character evolves from a normal human to a blood-craving vampire, the control over his urges forms the rest of the plot. However, in exploring the alienation of the vampire in a new town, Martin also explores elements of social satire.
While there is no doubt that Romero is a zombie maestro, his tryst with vampires was also quite acclaimed. With a lot of expected bloodshed by Savini, this also marked the duo's first-ever cinematic collaboration. Not as famous as Romero's other movies, Martin is still one of the best vampire movies that deserve more attention.
Day Of The Dead (1985) - 7.1
The third installment of Romero's The Living Dead series, Day of the Dead is centered upon a group of survivors of a zombie invasion. As they hide in an underground bunker, they fight among themselves as well as the undead to decide the fate of humanity.
Much like its predecessors, Day of the Dead set the precedent for some of the best zombie movies to come in the subsequent years. The makeup of the undead creatures was handled by Savini's team that also included Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger, both of whom attained future fame for their work on The Walking Dead.
Dawn Of The Dead (1978) - 7.8
Savini could have offered his services to George A Romero's zombie film career with the cult hit Night of the Living Dead. Getting drafted to the Vietnam War prevented this collaboration, but as Savini claims in his book Bizarro, he used his time in the War to influence his work in movies like Dawn of the Dead.
The 1978 zombie classic introduced several quintessential Savini elements such as blue-and-gray skin of the zombies, exploding heads, and so on and so forth.