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.
Adventure · Action
Luke Skywalker leads a mission to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, the Emperor prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star, and the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor.
7.91983
Adventure · Action
When Dr. Indiana Jones – the tweed-suited professor who just happens to be a celebrated archaeologist – is hired by the government to locate the legendary Ark of the Covenant, he finds himself up against the entire Nazi regime.
7.91981
Fantasy · Horror
After receiving an exotic small animal as a Christmas gift, a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet, which unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous creatures on a small town.
7.11984
Horror · Sci-Fi
When brilliant, eccentric scientist Seth Brundle makes a huge technological breakthrough in teleportation, he decides to test it on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a common housefly manages to get inside the device and the two become one.
7.41986
Comedy · Horror
Young sweethearts Billy and Kate move to the Big Apple, land jobs in a high-tech office park and soon reunite with the friendly and lovable Gizmo. But a series of accidents creates a whole new generation of Gremlins. The situation worsens when the devilish green creatures invade a top-secret laboratory and develop genetically altered powers, making them even harder to destroy!
6.51990
Comedy · Horror
A large spider from the jungles of South America is accidentally transported in a crate with a dead body to America where it mates with a local spider. Soon after, the residents of a small California town disappear as the result of spider bites from the deadly spider offspring. It's up to a couple of doctors with the help of an insect exterminator to annihilate these eight legged freaks.
6.51990
Crime · Drama
Blank-faced bug killer Bill Lee and his dead-eyed wife, Joan, like to get high on Bill's pest poisons while lounging with Beat poet pals. After meeting the devilish Dr. Benway, Bill gets a drug made from a centipede. Upon indulging, he accidentally kills Joan, takes orders from his typewriter-turned-cockroach, ends up in a constantly mutating Mediterranean city and learns that his hip friends have published his work -- which he doesn't remember writing.
7.01991
Drama · Sci-Fi
A soldier from Earth crashlands on an alien world after sustaining battle damage. Eventually he encounters another survivor, but from the enemy species he was fighting; they band together to survive on this hostile world. In the end the human finds himself caring for his enemy in a completely unexpected way.
7.01985
Comedy · Mystery
Cadaverous scream legend the Crypt Keeper is your macabre host for these forays of fright and fun based on the classic E.C. Comics tales from back in the day. So shamble up to the bar and pick your poison. Will it be an insane Santa on a personal slay ride? Honeymooners out to fulfill the "til death do we part" vow ASAP?
8.01989
Adventure · Action
Luke Skywalker leads a mission to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, the Emperor prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star, and the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor.
7.91983
Adventure · Action
When Dr. Indiana Jones – the tweed-suited professor who just happens to be a celebrated archaeologist – is hired by the government to locate the legendary Ark of the Covenant, he finds himself up against the entire Nazi regime.
7.91981
Fantasy · Horror
After receiving an exotic small animal as a Christmas gift, a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet, which unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous creatures on a small town.
7.11984
Horror · Sci-Fi
When brilliant, eccentric scientist Seth Brundle makes a huge technological breakthrough in teleportation, he decides to test it on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a common housefly manages to get inside the device and the two become one.
7.41986
Comedy · Horror
Young sweethearts Billy and Kate move to the Big Apple, land jobs in a high-tech office park and soon reunite with the friendly and lovable Gizmo. But a series of accidents creates a whole new generation of Gremlins. The situation worsens when the devilish green creatures invade a top-secret laboratory and develop genetically altered powers, making them even harder to destroy!
6.51990
Comedy · Horror
A large spider from the jungles of South America is accidentally transported in a crate with a dead body to America where it mates with a local spider. Soon after, the residents of a small California town disappear as the result of spider bites from the deadly spider offspring. It's up to a couple of doctors with the help of an insect exterminator to annihilate these eight legged freaks.
6.51990
Sci-Fi · Horror
A scientist trains a man with an advanced telepathic ability called 'scanning' to stop a dangerous Scanner with extraordinary psychic powers from waging war against non-Scanners.
6.71981
Crime · Drama
Blank-faced bug killer Bill Lee and his dead-eyed wife, Joan, like to get high on Bill's pest poisons while lounging with Beat poet pals. After meeting the devilish Dr. Benway, Bill gets a drug made from a centipede. Upon indulging, he accidentally kills Joan, takes orders from his typewriter-turned-cockroach, ends up in a constantly mutating Mediterranean city and learns that his hip friends have published his work -- which he doesn't remember writing.
7.01991
Drama · Sci-Fi
A soldier from Earth crashlands on an alien world after sustaining battle damage. Eventually he encounters another survivor, but from the enemy species he was fighting; they band together to survive on this hostile world. In the end the human finds himself caring for his enemy in a completely unexpected way.
7.01985
Horror · Sci-Fi
When flesh-eating piranhas are accidentally released into a summer resort's rivers, the guests become their next meal.
6.01978
Horror · Sci-Fi
Martin Brundle, born of the human/fly, is adopted by his father's place of employment (Bartok Inc.) while the employees simply wait for his mutant chromosomes to come out of their dormant state.
5.81989
Action · Crime
The Law Enforcement Technology Advancement Centre (LETAC) has developed SID version 6.7: a Sadistic, Intelligent, and Dangerous virtual reality entity which is synthesized from the personalities of more than 150 serial killers, and only one man can stop him.
5.51995
Action · Horror
The crew of an experimental underwater nuclear base are forced to struggle for their lives when their explorations disturb a creature who threatens to destroy their base.
5.51989
Thriller · Crime
When a prominent art dealer is found murdered, the man's death leads to an intriguing investigation steeped in sex, corruption and crime. District Attorney David Corelli gets assigned to the case and discovers that a key suspect is his ex-lover Katrina Gavin, a beautiful psychologist who has settled down with his old friend and peer. As Corelli gets deeper into the case, he uncovers dark secrets with far-reaching implications.
5.51995
Fantasy · Horror
Jesse moves into an old family property where his parents were mysteriously murdered years before. He soon finds himself with unexpected guests in the form of his mummified great-great grandfather, a mystical crystal skull, and a zombie cowboy.
5.61987
Horror · Sci-Fi
After a new cannery introduces scientifically augmented salmon to a seaside town in the Pacific Northwest, a species of mysterious, mutated sea creatures begin killing the men and raping the women.
5.71980
Sci-Fi · Horror
After their prison ship sinks in the Caribbean, a group of prisoners and a doctor wash ashore on a seemingly deserted island. They soon discover a strange couple, who invite them to stay at their house. While the prisoners plan an escape, the doctor does some investigating, and soon finds out just what the pair are really doing, and why the prisoners keep disappearing mysteriously.
5.61979
Comedy · Horror
A business man buys a house, but he has a hard time trying to get rid of its previous tenant, a dirty bum.
5.81992
Horror · Action
Two young couples are driving through a remote forest when their car breaks down. When a run-in with a curious grizzly bear ends up with the bear being shot to death, the bear's mate arrives on the scene and vengefully attacks their van. The couples are trapped inside the disabled car and must come up with clever ways to survive. As they battle the surprisingly intelligent creature, and contemplate their uncertain fate, secrets begin to emerge that threaten to tear the group apart before the bear does.
4.62010
Horror
The staff and vacationers at a first-class resort on the island of Maui are beginning to mysteriously disappear. A biologist believes that an underwater earthquake has caused a giant and very hungry dormant prehistoric fish to be released from its slumber. The fish voraciously helps itself to a tourist buffet. Now it is open season for the local fishermen to find and kill the creature.
3.71979
Documentary
The Frankenstein Complex takes a historical as well as a creative perspective, with a mix of fascinating scenes behind the camera, film clips, and dozens of interviews with all the big names in the industry. In addition to the many wonderful anecdotes, the film also offers a wealth of beautiful test material, while along the way showing how the art of filmmaking has changed over the years. An affectionate ode to monster makers throughout history.
Family · Comedy
An Elf is left behind by Santa to help rescue the Harper family from a lousy Christmas. The Elf and the family get more than they bargained for, as the kids help the Elf discover his special powers and true identity as a budding superhero.
3.02012
Horror
When an American plantation owner's wife and her sister interrupt an African death ritual to save the sacrificial goat, the witch doctor places a curse on them, summoning a god from the sea to slaughter them and anyone in its way with a panga, a curved, African machete.
4.41991
Documentary
An in-depth, sad, and beautiful documentary about the stop motion and VFX artist Phil Tippett, a man who changed the landscape of visual effects in film.
Adventure · Action
After a small airplane crash lands in a remote area of Central China, several passengers survive, including a Chinese boy and his American guardian. As they wait to be rescued, they soon encounter the mysterious Yeren-- an elusive ape-man creature rumored to have inhabited the Shennongjia mountains for many centuries. When ruthless poachers arrive to capture the Yeren, our heroes must decide if the unique creature is their friend or foe.
Documentary
Feature length documentary on the making of David Cronenberg's The Fly.
Documentary
A feature documentary about the enduring appeal of the character King Kong, and how he has inspired so many of the great filmmakers and artists since 1933.
5.22016
Documentary
Chris Walas and Howie Mandel, the voice of Gizmo, describe the laborious development of Gizmo and the Gremlins and the painstaking work required to bring them to life in the pre-digital age.
Comedy · Mystery
Cadaverous scream legend the Crypt Keeper is your macabre host for these forays of fright and fun based on the classic E.C. Comics tales from back in the day. So shamble up to the bar and pick your poison. Will it be an insane Santa on a personal slay ride? Honeymooners out to fulfill the "til death do we part" vow ASAP?
8.01989