Every so often, Hollywood realizes there are a ton of public domain properties out there they can throw some CGI at to make a blockbuster. Fairy tales were the name of the game in the early 2010s, with some divisive entries such as Jack the Giant Slayer and Snow White and the Huntsman.
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters might not seem all that different from the rest of the fairytale “offerings”, but the surprising use of practical makeup effects was almost as jarring as seeing Gemma Arterton with an American accent.
Many of the effects in the film were achieved through makeup and animatronics, giving us some of the coolest-looking witches since Margaret Hamilton’s meltdown in The Wizard of Oz. Who’s responsible for these awesome effects? After eating my way through a gingerbread house, getting caught in a blood-moon sabbath, and helping to behead an old crone or two, this is what I’ve pieced together.
The Witching Hour
Like the rest of us, director Tommy Wirkola loved the effects he saw while watching the Hellboy films and decided he wanted similar work for Hansel and Gretel. He contacted Spectral Motion, the company responsible for Hellboy’s otherworldly characters, and their team went to work on Wirkola’s dark fairy tale.
Spectral began creating the film’s five primary witches, working off their own designs as well as concepts designed by artist Ulrich Zeidler. Wirkola stated, “We wanted to try to avoid the classical witch with the long nose stirring the pot. I really wanted them to be almost like animals. Dangerous, fast – They’re stronger than Hansel and Gretel.”
The five main witches are:
Muriel
It took the Spectral team three hours each morning to turn Famke Janssen into a wand-wielding child-hater. The process initially took four hours, but was whittled down once the artists got into the swing of it. Another hour was required in the evening to remove Muriel’s enchanting visage from Janssen’s face.
Janssen seems to look back on the experience with a certain amount of dread, saying “You have a circus of people behind you constantly going ‘Oh your nose is falling off, oh my god your mouth is coming undone.’…”
Members of the makeup “circus” (I prefer “makeup coven”) included the founders of Spectral Motion, Mike Elizalde and his wife, Mary. Other artists were Göran Lundström (The Wolfman), Pamela Grujic (Inglourious Basterds), Lufeng Qu (I Am Legend), and David Malinowski, who later won the Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar for The Darkest Hour (2017).
For the scenes where Muriel turns from her “human” look to her everyday getup, CGI is used.
The Tall Witch
None of these witches skimps on the conditioner, as no matter how horrific they appear their hair still looks pretty darn good. Along with her flowing black locks, the Tall Witch has a scaly, crocodile-like skin.
The Red Haired Witch
With a red and black combo straight from Hell’s K-Mart, the Red Haired Witch conjures up images of a humanoid black widow spider.
The Horned Witch
At first glance it may look like she just went crazy with the hair gel, but the Horned Witch does indeed have a headful of horns.
The Candy Witch
Known for giving children unwelcome diabetes diagnoses, the Candy Witch has been around for awhile as evidenced by her grey hair and missing teeth.
Check out Spectral Motion whipping up their silver screen witches.
While Spectral conjured up the principal spellcasters, prosthetics company Twilight Creations was brought in to create additional witches for the Blood Moon Sabbath scene.
Check out the short movie clip to see more Twilight Creations makeups.
Edward the Troll
The original script for the film called for two trolls, but due to budget restrictions, Wirkola had to settle for one. According to the director, he also had to convince the studio to let him create the troll with practical effects since they (unsurprisingly) wanted to go the digital route.
Wirkola said he didn’t want Edward to be “too troll-like” and gave him a buzz-cut and tattoos to make him appear more human. Derek Mears, who’s credits include “Metal Head” in The Wild Wild West, and the classic Predator in Predators, was hired to fill out the suit made by Spectral Motion.
Edward ended up being a blend of animatronic, puppet, and CGI work. One puppeteer operated his eyes and brows, another his jaw and lip movements, with one puppeteer each operating the hands. Derek Mears has said that his eyes were level with the character’s mouth and he could only see when the mouth was open.
For certain scenes, such as when Edward smashes the head of one of the town deputies, the arms were CGI.
Reaction to the movie is pretty polarizing: it’s either a terrible film or a pretty good entry in the Raimi-esque pantheon. Wherever you fall on that scale, it’s hard to ignore the film’s quick pace as it steadily feeds us one special makeup effect after another. In a movie that could have been just another CGI romp, that’s a rare feast.
Monster Merch
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters didn’t generate a whole lot of merchandise, but scouring the internet always turns up something. These are affiliate links, so any commissions will be used to fund my next witch hunt—razor wire and crossbow bolts get expensive.