As if horror fans didn’t already know how brilliant Rick Baker is, he’s being recognized for his incredible talents this weekend. Locarno Film Festival awarded the Oscar-winning makeup artist with their 2026 Vision Award, honoring his decades-long career creating monsters that continue to haunt our nightmares into the present day.

The Vision Award, presented by Ticinomoda, honors film artists whose behind the scenes work contributes to “opening up new perspectives in film.” Baker is the fourteenth recipient of the award, joining icons like composers Howard Shore and Ryuchi Sakamoto, visual effects supervisor Douglas Trumbell, and special effects artist Phil Tippett.

“I’m overwhelmed. I’m tearing up, thank you all for the warm reception that you’re giving me,” Baker said in his acceptance speech. “I really appreciate it. I started out as a kid, when I was ten years old. I decided I wanted to be a makeup artist and work in film and make monsters. In my head, I’m still that kid who makes monsters in his bedroom.

“Something I loved about film is [that] it gives weird old people like me a place to have a job. Every day I wake up and I feel blessed to get paid for something [I] did as a hobby, and then people give [me] awards. And I would have worked on films for free just to be able to do what I do.”

Baker is a seven time Academy Award winner, earning a record eleven nominations and winning the first ever award for Best Makeup in 1982 for An American Werewolf in London. While it’s impossible to list all of his credits here, some of his most famous work includes Hellboy, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Videodrome, Batman Forever, Escape From L.A., How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Howling, and the Men in Black films. What a resume!

The Locarno Film Festival runs from now until August 15 in Switzerland.

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Rick Baker Wins Locarno Film Festival’s 2026 Vision Award

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