Nightmare Factory (2011) **** (out of 4)Excellent documentary taking a look at the special effects of Greg Nicotero, Howard Berger and Robert Kurtzman, the team that would make up KNB. The documentary takes a look at the early history of special effects, which included the work of Lon Chaney and works itself up to Tom Savini and his ground-breaking work on DAWN OF THE DEAD and Friday THE 13TH. From there we hear from Nicotero and how he got involved with DAY OF THE DEAD, which led to one big film after another. NIGHTMARE FACTORY does a wonderful job at not only telling you the story of these three men but it also gives you a much better appreciation of the work they do. It's strange to think that so many great make-up artists were overlooked in previous decades but thanks to DVD commentaries, featurettes and movies like this, these artists are given their due, which is great. The documentary also features interviews with the likes of John Carpenter, George Romero, Quentin Tarantino, Frank Darabont and others. These men talk about their appreciation of the KNB group but also comment on the horror films that meant so much to them as children. The best thing about this documentary is that there's plenty of behind-the-scenes footage of the team at work on various films like EVIL DEAD 2, PREDATORS, KILL BILL, PIRANHA and The Walking Dead television show. Fans of horror films will certainly want to check this out.

An inside look at the world of Hollywood special effects and the company paving the way, KNB Effects.This gets right to the heart of horror effects -- no one does better than KNB (with all due respect to Tom Savini, who is essentially their predecessor). And all the mandatory people are here: Romero, Landis, Carpenter... and of course Nicotero and Berger themselves (but no Kurtzman, who left the team). Even a few unexpected guests... like Elijah Wood.At first, a big focus seems to be "The Walking Dead" rather than a historical look at the team... but then we get the archive footage of "Evil Dead II" and other earlier works from the guys. Amazing stuff, and gives incredible insight into the horror movie magic.Who knew such great things came from Pittsburgh?

Loved it. Great Doc - very well put together, with inspiring insights from Greg Nicotero, John Carpenter, Frank Darabont and lots more. Perfect as entertainment(can't wait to watch it again) and as an info session for practical horror FX, but inspiring for anyone who has one burning passion for anything. Was glad to see the "torso" zombie from WALKING DEAD's 1st ep. - Absolutely iconic film/TV moment and a really nice example of a GOAL by practical effects and an ASSIST by the pandora's box of CG - brilliant scene. It's a surprisingly real-world look at the unreal worlds of genre filmmaking, and everything it takes to make it work, and it's a lot of real work ..no space for the lazy. I love seeing "true love of film" up on that film screen - I'll be watching for more from Donna Davies - she was cool as hell..

I loved this flick! It's a great look inside the life of a special effects artist: how do you get there, the highs, the lows! I'd recommend this on to any gore or horror buffs for sure! Or even if you just love docs and are curious about how so much of the non-digital movie magic is done and how that blends with CGI to make the most impossible before your eyes! If you're a Greg Nicotero fan, you get some insight on his childhood and you can see how much he really loves his craft! It's like watching "best of" moments from various Making Of docs (lots of great Walking Dead behind the scenes!!) infused with Nicotero's story of his personal fight to accomplish his dreams of being an FX artist!