Fear and loathing in Van Nuys
By GORDON MONSON
Daily News Staff Writer
Rick Lazzarini said he lost his lust for blood and
gore years ago. The movie. "Slumber Party Massacre" - on
which he worked as a special-effects wizard a few years
back - supposedly slashed it out of him, but, you be the
judge.
Since contributing to that as he put it. "gross-out,
massacre, exploitation film," Lazzarini has:
- *worked on a movie called "Invaders from Mars",
*designed the inner workings of the queen alien
monster in "Aliens",
*built the "running facehuggers" and their eggs in
"Aliens",
*built and operated the theater ghost in
"Ghostbusters II",
*designed the womb-with-a-view scene in "Nightmare
on Elm Street 3: The Dream Child";
*played Freddy Krueger for two days in the womb
sequence,
*opened a makeup, puppet, special effects shop in
[Canoga Park] called [The Character
Shop].
Seems as if Lazzarini has a little blood and gore left
in him.
In "Elm Street 5," Lazzarini built a womb like, a room
and operated a puppet baby inside the womb.
"It's the scene where the character Alice is pregnant,
and she believes Freddie is influencing her child," he
said. "In a dream sequence, she goes into her own womb
and finds the face of Freddie on the side, trying to get
the baby's soul."
Not exactly a "Sound of Music" type project.
"People sometimes tell me, 'Oh, you do those really
gross things,'" Lazzarini said. "But, I also do cute
things like the puppets in the Duracell (battery)
commercials."
"I'm always looking for new techniques," says Rick
Lazzarini. "You have to because there is so much
competition out there"
All gore and no fluff would make Rick a very dull
boy.
Lazzarini, however, is anything but dull. The
29-year-old special-effects designer has been doing
effects for half his life. After getting a degree in film
from Loyola Marymount in 1982, he free-lanced in between
working stints with Stan Winston Studios, Boss Films and
Apogee, a special-effects group.
In 1988, Lazzarini broke off on his own and sunk
$50,000 into his creature shop. The [Canoga Park]
facility is about [6,]000 square feet and
includes areas for making models, sculpting, cosmetics
and makeup, puppets, prosthetics and industrial
equipment.
Earlier this year, Lazzarini's business, which
normally employs about seven people, hit full throttle
with film and commercial projects necessitating 15 to 20
artists and workers.
"Rick understands the whole performance as well as
creating special effects," said John Dykstra, executive
director at Apogee. "He brings something to it, instead
of just being a mechanic who fixes your fender. He's
innovative; you have to be in this business."
One of Lazzarini's innovations is something called the
"Facial Waldo." The "Waldo" allows as many as 16
different characteristics of a creature's head and face
to be operated by a single puppeteer through sensors that
attach to his face and body.
He used the device to operate the theater ghost in
"Ghostbusters II." Not an easy task because the creature
had so many features - six eyes, six eyebrows, a mouth,
four wings, a stinger, etc. "I'm always looking for new
techniques." Lazzarini said.
Competition not with standing. Lazzarini said, he
enjoys the obvious opportunities for creativity in the
monstermaking business. "lt's fascinating creating some
of these things", he said.
"Every day brings something different" said Brian
Simpson, a puppeteer who works at the shop. "The
challenges are different because we don't work on the
same projects all year; they're always changing. And each
project has different stages from day to day."
Lazzarini said he has experienced the frustrations
that all small-business men periodically face, but after
a summer that included varied projects on blockbuster
movies, including "Batman," business isn't bad.
"No question," he said. "The [Character] Shop
is on a roll right now, I'm enjoying it to the hilt."
For both the blood and the money.
