Visit to the Friday the 13th Props Museum

Mario Kirner was gracious enough to let me be the first American to check out his MASSIVE personal collection of Friday the 13th props and memorabilia about a week ago in Germany. Seeing all of this in person was a bit like being 7 and walking into a Halloween store for the first time, or seeing an ad for the next Friday the 13th movie on TV... a thrilling trip into 80's horror nostalgia and an experience I'll never forget.

In addition to Mario's museum, I went on a bit of a movie props binge across Europe. My first stop was the Barbican exhibit in London, which featured an original Vader helmet, as well as props from Enemy Mine, Stargate, Buck Rogers, Alien and a bunch of other sci-fi through the last century. Really great exhibition if you're in the area.

Skull from "Enemy Mine"

Alien maquette from Independence Day

Prop from "Stargate"

Alien head from "Species"

Xenomorph

Little robot dude from Buck Rogers

Original Vader and Storm Trooper helmets from ESB

Extra mask from "Enemy Mine"

Then I went to London's O2 arena for the Lucasfilm archive's official Star Wars exhibit and HOLY SHIT its so much amazing stuff. Sometimes with movie props is interesting to see how they pulled the "magic" off using clever lighting and camera tricks so that a rather poor looking prop can look real on film. With Star Wars though, almost all of the original props and suits look as amazing in person as they looked on film. A real testament to the quality of FX work put into a brand new sci-fi franchise back in the 70's that no one had any idea was going to become a massive cultural phenomenon. (Click for full size)

I also went to the H.R. Giger musuem in Gruyeres, Switzerland which featured an intact original Xenomorph suit from the original Alien as well as a semi-intact FX head. Sorry, no photos allowed! But here's a few non-Alien photos i sneaked anyway.

 

Some tourists informed me that there was a special effects museum in Prague while I was there but I sadly didn't make it in time. I guess you have to save some stuff for future trips!