Chris Walas

Known for Visual EffectsBorn 1955-09-17 (age 70)Chicago, Illinois, USA

Chris Walas is an American film director, special effects expert, and make-up artist. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. Walas rose to fame in the 1980s, with effects for films such as "Airplane!" (1980), "Dragonslayer" (1981), and "Return of the Jedi" (1983). In the film "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981), Walas created the effects for a scene where the Nazi villains' faces melt from the intense heat generated by the Ark of the Covenant. In 1984, Walas was credited for the design of the gremlins in the film "Gremlins", a film that grossed 153.1 million dollars at the box office. After creating the creature effects for "The Fly" (1986), Walas was invited to direct the sequel film "The Fly II" (1989), His directing debut earned about 39 million dollars at the worldwide box office. His only other credit as a film director was the horror comedy "The Vagrant" (1992), depicting a man who believes himself stalked by a stranger. The film received a limited release in 8 movie theaters. In the 1990s, Walas film credits for effects and make-up included such films as the black comedy "Arachnophobia" (1990), the science fiction film "Naked Lunch" (1991), the virtual reality-themed science fiction film "Virtuosity" (1995), and the erotic thriller "Jade" (1995). None of them was particularly successful. Walas' special effects were less in demand in the 2000s. His last film credit to date was creating the angels for the horror film "Dark Heaven" (2002). - IMDb Mini Biography By: Dimos IRead more

Movies & web series

The Brundle Museum of Natural History

The Fly Papers: The Buzz on Hollywood's Scariest Insect

Fear of the Flesh: The Making of The Fly

Tales from the Crypt

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Return of the Jedi

Phil Tippett: Mad Dreams and Monsters

Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex

The Fly

From Gizmo to Gremlins: Creating the Creatures

Gremlins

Naked Lunch

Enemy Mine

Scanners

Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Arachnophobia

The Vagrant

Piranha

Humanoids from the Deep

The Fly II

Journey to the Forbidden Valley

Island of the Fishmen

Virtuosity

Jade

House II: The Second Story

DeepStar Six

Long Live the King

The Scanners Way: Creating the Special Effects in 'Scanners'

Bear

Curse III: Blood Sacrifice

Up from the Depths

Elf-Man

Gremlins: A Puppet Story

It's Getting Weirder! The Making of "House II"

Charlie Gemora: Uncredited

Starstruck

Made You Look