So much of what we love about our favorite horror movies comes from makeup effects artists, and Matt Rose is one name that no conversation about horror movie makeup should be without. Perhaps most notably, Rose designed the iconic makeup for the title character in Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy, and he also sculpted The Monster Squad‘s Gill Man.

Sadly, we learned over the weekend, Rose just passed away.

Rose’s many other credits included Aliens (creature effects crew), Invaders from Mars (special makeup effects artist), Harry and the Hendersons (sculptor), Predator (creature effects unit), Beetlejuice (special makeup effects artist), Fright Night Part 2 (additional sculptor), Gremlins 2 (creature crew), Ed Wood (makeup artist: Bela Lugosi), Wolf (special makeup effects crew), Batman Forever (head sculptor), Men in Black 3 (key makeup artist), and most recently, The Predator (creature effects crew).

Artist Jordu Schell paid tribute to Rose on Facebook, “I’m getting PM’s asking me who Matt Rose was. If you’re in this industry and don’t know, you should. Matt was, arguably, the best sculptor this business has ever known. His credit list is astonishing, and the art and design he gave us raised the bar for every single artist who does this work. I stood in absolute awe of his talent, and I learned so much from him in the time I spent with him that it’s difficult to measure. Imagine having Rick Baker working for you for months, creating perfect piece after perfect piece that need zero art direction; imagine the stories and knowledge and information contained in that mind; imagine knowing a sculpting legend, becoming friends with him after years of reading about his work as a teenager, having hours of discussions and laughs and story exchanges. Imagine the respect and admiration and love that I —and everyone else— felt for this man. And now he’s gone. How doesn’t matter. We’ve lost a precious thing. And there aren’t enough tears to express the depth of that loss.”



He added, “Goddamn it Matt. We still need you.”

If you’d like to learn more about Matt Rose, we encourage you to head over to Daily Dead to read a lovely tribute from Heather Wixson, who had recently struck up a friendship with him.