The Sensational Screen-Used Costumes of ICONS OF DARKNESS: THE EXHIBITION

Hybrid alien suit, **ALIEN vs PREDATOR**

Movie & TV memorabilia collector Rich Correll is crazy about horror, something you wouldn’t guess from scanning his IMDb page. The former child actor’s resume reads like a “best of” list of popular television entertainment including LASSIE, LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, FAMILY MATTERS, HANNAH MONTANA; mostly family-oriented shows with a couple of R.L. Stine projects thrown into the mix. In any case, he is a serious aficionado and collector and now, his 60-year horror-sci-fi-fantasy obsession is currently being exhibited right in the thick of Hollywood. Suitably named Icons of Darkness, it is an impressive assembly of space creatures, superheroes, maniacs, dinosaurs, creepy insects, classic movie monsters, and more. Storefront window signage promises visitors they will “SEE Actual Props, Costumes & Special Effects!” from Hollywood’s biggest franchises such as JURASSIC PARK, ALIENS, STAR WARS, THE TERMINATOR, FRIDAY THE 13TH, HELLRAISER, and GAME OF THRONES, among others.

Once inside and experiencing the exhibit, visitors will be overwhelmed by the amount of film history packed in the 6,000 plus square foot space. Corridors are lined with hundreds of original, screen-used props, costumes, life casts, prop heads, movie figures, replicas, and maquettes, mostly acquired by Correll through auctions. The pieces are artfully lit with Bava-esque lighting bathing the displays spectacularly in technicolor purples, pinks, greens, blues, reds, and yellows.

My main attraction to the exhibition, of course, was the dazzling costumes. It was definitely thrilling to be within close proximity to Kate Beckinsdale’s leather-latex look from UNDERWORLD and marveling at its tiny shape or fangirling over Michelle Pfeiffer’s contrast stitch catsuit from BATMAN RETURNS. Our group’s friendly tour guide was helpful in pointing out special costume details, like the zippers visible within the cavity of a screen-used Xenomorph costume from ALIEN VS PREDATOR or that Michael Keaton’s BATMAN wore Nikes.

The most chilling costume display by far is the freaky “Hallway of Horror”, a passageway containing narrow rooms where replicas of iconic horror film killers wearing their screen-worn costumes are posed with their respective screen-used props – a Jack Torrance figure, dressed in the original burgundy corduroy jacket and blue plaid shirt from THE SHINING, looking like he’s about to charge at you, swinging that screen-used ax; the black and white cloaked Demon Nun with glaring yellow contacts from THE NUN (2018); the menacing Tall Man in the original undertaker’s suit from PHANTASM (1979), gripping his bladed silver orb in one hand, his other arm raised with his index finger pointing straight ahead. They all look unnervingly real …so real, it’s as if they are about to lurch forward to grab you.

This exciting exhibit has to be seen to be believed – and it’s apparently only half of the massive collection. The entire collection is set to move into a 24,000 square foot space and will be a welcome, permanent addition to the city when it opens its doors in March or April of 2022. Currently, the Icons of Darkness exhibition is showing at the Hollywood and Highland Center till February 28, 2022, and is a must-see for any local genre fan who can spare $30 bones for admission.

Tickets for Icons of Darkness: https://www.iconsofdarkness.com/