CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON FOSSILIZED HAND
This project holds a special place in my heart. Not only is it related to one of my favorite films, but it was my first job as a professional sculptor.
I was hired by Factory Entertainment to sculpt a replica of the fossilized hand as seen in the 1954 classic The Creature From The Black Lagoon. The end result was meant to be idealized, but I wanted as much authenticity as possible. With little in the way of source imagery, I started down a research rabbit hole.
My first stop was film historian Bob Burns. Bob had done a famous Halloween show based on the Creature From The Black Lagoon in 1982 and is a wealth of knowledge in the field of classic horror film props. In our conversations I discovered something incredible - a photo from Bob's personal archive of his friend Chris Mueller, sculptor of the original prop for the film, holding the original prop - and the photo is in color! This was an amazing discovery and a valuable piece of reference material.
The final production piece went on to receive acclaim from the collecting community as well as a runner-up nod in the 2014 Rondo Hatton awards for best horror collectible.
Read more about the development process here:
https://www.hamfx.com/post/prop-story-creature-claw
Photos - Top to bottom
1) Detail shot of production piece
2) Original prop, screen capture
3) Photo of Chris Mueller and original prop, courtesy of Bob Burns