For more than two decades Robert Kurtzman has been an icon in the world of special make-up,
creature effects, and genre filmmaking. His award winning, photorealistic effects work can be
seen in hundreds of movies including Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, franchises and television
series.
As the director of such genre hits and fan favorites as Wishmaster, The Rage, and Buried
Alive, and as the creator of the modern horror classic From Dusk Till Dawn, his films and
amazing special effects have won him legions of fans around the globe.
Robert began his career in 1984 when at the age of 19 he moved from Ohio to Hollywood and
quickly began working for many of the industry’s top special effects creators. His early credits
include genre classics: Predator, Evil Dead II, From Beyond, The Hidden, Phantasm II,
Invaders From Mars, Night of the Creeps, and Re-Animator.
In 1988 Robert Co-founded the award winning K.N.B. EFX Group Inc. (Kurtzman, Nicotero,
Berger.) Over the next 15 years K.N.B. became one of the most prolific effects studios in
Hollywood with hundreds of feature film and television credits including From Dusk Till
Dawn, Spy Kids 1, II, & III, Dances With Wolves, Jingle All The Way, Austin Powers:
Gold-Member, Rat Race, The Cell, Unbreakable, House on Haunted Hill, Spawn,
Casino, The Faculty, Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness, 13 Ghosts, City Slickers, The Green
Mile, The Time Machine, The Hulk, Ghost Ship, Evolution, Bubba Ho Tep, Wyatt Earp,
John Carpenter’s Vampires and In The Mouth of Madness, Stephen King’s Misery, Steven
Spielberg’s Minority Report and Amistad, Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, Pulp
Fiction, Kill Bill Volume 1 & 2, Wes Craven’s Scream 1, 2 , 3 and New Nightmare as well
as the television series Hercules, Xena, Picket Fences, Outer Limits, ER, Chicago Hope
and many more.
After years of designing ground breaking effects for many of the industry’s top directors, Robert
began to develop his own film projects with his eye toward directing / producing.
Robert wrote the original story, co-produced, and designed the eye popping creature effects for
the box office hit From Dusk Till Dawn, starring George Clooney and Harvey Keitel. Robert
secured then unknown writer Quentin Tarantino to adapt his story of killer thieves on the run
south of the border who hide out in an all night strip club run by vampires. Produced by
Dimension Films and directed by Robert Rodriquez, the film became a worldwide success and
spawned two sequels.
Robert made his directorial debut with the successful cult, sci-fi, action film The Demolitionist,
and quickly followed with the horror hit Wishmaster, which he directed for Artisan
Entertainment and Executive Producer Wes Craven. Wishmaster opened as the # 1 horror film
and went on to become the year’s most successful independent release. It also introduced the
Djinn, a new horror icon, and generated three sequels.
Robert served as Executive Producer on My First Mister which starred Albert Brooks and
Leelee Sobieski. Academy Award winning director Christine Lahti helmed the film, which was
released by Paramount Classics.
After 15 years as the FX Designer and Supervisor of K.N.B. EFX Group, Robert broke out on
his own forming Precinct 13 Entertainment / Creature Corps in 2003. P13/ Creature Corps
offers high quality creature and make-up fx as well as visual effects, film, commercial, and music
video production. Robert directed, produced, and served as director of photography P13’s first in
house feature film production, the new cult classic The Rage.
The production was shot and edited entirely at his Precinct 13 Entertainment production facility.
The Rage stars Andrew Divoff, Erin Brown and Reggie Bannister, and is a throwback to 70’s
and 80’s drive-in movies. The film received rave reviews and toured film festivals around the
world. Robert and P13 produced the upcoming independent film The Dead Matter for director
Ed Douglas of Midnight Syndicate fame which was released in 2009.
Robert also directed Dimension Extreme’s Buried Alive starring Saw’s Tobin Bell and the
MGM action thriller Deadly Impact starring Sean Patrick Flannery and Joe Pantoliano.
Since its launch, Robert and his Creature Corps have worked on a wide array of projects with
credits that include the effects design and supervision on I, Alex Cross, Fun Size, John Dies at
the End, The Spirit, Hostel, Jinn, The Devil’s Rejects, Buried Alive, Living Hell, Undead
or Alive, Mad TV, Deadly Impact, The Rage, The Dead Matter, Children of the Corn
(2009), Hiss, RA – One. ( for more credits see filmography )
Robert produced four music videos for the band Mushroomhead including Damage Done, 12
Hundred, and Your Soul Is Mine which was featured on the Saw 6 DVD. The video for 12
Hundred directed by P13’s David (House) Greathouse won “Best Video of 2007” on MTV’s
HeadBangers Ball. Robert also produced the action packed Come On video for their latest CD
Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children now available.
