A Master Passes: Ray Harryhausen (1920-2013)

We mourn the passing of one of the true geniuses of fantastic cinema with the death of Ray Harryhausen. His brilliant achievements in stop-motion animation and visual effects brought to life creatures from history, mythology and imagination with an uncanny sense of detail which breathed vitality and character into them to fascinate and inspire viewers as well as many of the leading filmmakers of the present.

His first solo effort, THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953), launched the international giant monster boom of the 1950s. His final film, CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981), had a cast full of stars and featured one of his most atmospheric scenes in the realization of the Gorgon, Medusa. In between are many excursions into worlds of wonder that will surely stand as testaments to this great artist so long as cinema lasts. 

Click on the image to visit his official web site, and if you have not seen his work, you are in for an abundance of pleasure. Start with JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963), with the iconic bronze giant Talos as well as the skeleton army which rises from the teeth of the slain Hydra, and then go on from there. You will be entranced!

Hail Harryhausen!

—Magus Peter H. Gilmore