Hannibal (2001)
The Make-Up: Gary Oldman went uncredited as his lips, cheeks and eyelids were removed to play Mason Verger, a rare survivor of Hannibal Lecter's cannibal tendencies.
Created By: Greg Cannom, although Ridley Scott got hands-on by consulting expert doctors to achieve a realistic look.
Cleverest Detail: Oldman's reaction to beginning make-up: "can we stretch my eye open?"
Videodrome (1983)
The Make-Up: Max Renn (James Woods) starts to freak out under the influence of hallucinogenic TV show Videodrome , as a vagina-like wound develops into his stomach.
Created By: Rick Baker, whose first reaction - despite having just won an Oscar for An American Werewolf In London - was "How the hell am I going to do this?"
Cleverest Detail: When Woods puts his hand inside the wound....
The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
The Make-Up: An entire fantasy world of witches, munchkins and flying monkeys - all in glorious Technicolor.
Created By: Movie make-up innovator Jack Dawn, who had to deal with at least one casualty when original Tin Man, actor Buddy Ebsen, had a violent allergic reaction to his make-up.
Cleverest Detail: Given the sheer number of prosthetics required, MGM set up an assembly line for applying the effects using extra staff recruited from the studio mail room.
The Passion Of The Christ (2004)
The Make-Up: Jesus (Jim Caviezel) has a bad day as he undergoes Biblical torture at the hands of sadistic Roman guards.
Created By: Keith VanderLaan, who also produced an articulated rubber stand-in of Caviezel for some wide shots of the cross.
Cleverest Detail: The scourging was filmed with the make-up already in place; the wounds were then digitally removed to give the effect of only appearing when Christ was whipped.
Dick Tracy (1990)
The Make-Up: All of Tracy's villainous opponents - including Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman - are slathered in latex to create the pronounced features familiar from the comic strips.
Created By: John Caglione, Jr and Doug Drexler, working from the original drawings of strip creator Chester Gould.
Cleverest Detail: Director/star Warren Beatty toyed with playing Tracy with a prosthetic jaw but changed his minds after tests. A wise move: leaving Beatty alone only makes his opponents appear more grotesque.
Mask (1985)
The Make-Up: Eric Stoltz was convincingly transformed into Rocky Dennis, sufferer of a rare disorder that gave him an abnormally large skull.
Created By: Michael Westmore, who later redeveloped his Oscar-winning work to create a mask suitable for the film's stage version.
Cleverest Detail: Practical considerations demanded that Westmore's creation only features a one-and-a-half inch gap between the eyes. Had he matched the real-life dimensions of Dennis' face (three-and-a-half inches), Stoltz wouldn't have been able to see.
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
The Make-Up: Guillermo Del Toro's regular collaborator Doug Jones spent five hours daily in make-up to play a mythical faun… and then did it all over again for his second role as the Pale Man.
Created By: Del Toro's Oscar-winning team of David Marti and Montse Ribe; the latter also played young Hellboy in Hellboy 2: The Golden Age .
Cleverest Detail: Never mind all of the weird creatures, the real coup here sees sadistic soldier Vidal (Sergi Lopez) have his cheek carved open with a razor.
Looper (2012)
The Make-Up: Time for a double-take - yes, that really is The Dark Knight Rises ' Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing Joe, and not a young version of Bruce Willis brought back in time.
Created By: Kazuhiro Tsuji, who has worked on many of the 21st Century's most iconic make-up creations from the Grinch to Benjamin Button but initially said no to Rian Johnson because it felt the differences in the actors' faces made this an impossible gig. "We pestered him to death," explained Johnson.
Cleverest Detail: Sometimes, the old ways are the best - Rian Johnson spent four days rehearsing with Gordon-Levitt and Willis before their pivotal sit-down.
The Lord Of The Rings (2001-3)
The Make-Up: While the most famous creation in Peter Jackson's epic, Gollum, was entirely computer generated, everyone else - from furry Hobbitses to grotesque Uruk-Hai - required extensive make-up and prosthetics.
Created By: The special make-up FX team at Weta Workshop, under the tutelage of Richard Taylor.
Cleverest Detail: The hobbit feet were so closely fitted that they had to be damaged when removed, necessitating the creation of around 1,8000 feet just for the four principal hobbit actors.
Day Of The Dead (1985)
The Make-Up: George Romero's third visit to the world of the living dead sees the ghouls get their revenge on zombie-hating survivor Captain Rhodes (Joe Pilato) by tearing him in half.
Created By: Tom Savini, whose experiences as a Vietnam veteran came in handy when devising a realistic approach to gore.
Cleverest Detail: One of horror cinema's greatest 'famous last words,' as Rhodes screams at the zombies to "Choke on 'em."
