When you change a person's eyes, it really has a startling effect on us. After all, there is a reason why we have the expression, "The eyes are the window to the soul." Take away the eyes or make them grotesque, and you're that much closer to creating a terrifying monster. Almost every zombie film does it. Ok, not Romero's original trilogy (likely because contact lenses were in their infancy at the time and painful to wear especially full scleral lenses) but
Land of the Dead certainly does. Then there is, of course,
The Walking Dead, which shows what great makeup and contact lenses can do. Clearly, Danny Boyle is a fan with his undead opus
28 Days Later. In fact, it's quite common now.
But contact lenses have been used in horror movies for a long time. The earliest and most striking example I can think of would have to be 1973's
The Exorcist where they really helped transform the sweet little girl Regan into the unnerving, possessed puppet of a sinister demon. Naturally, Dick Smith's phenomenal makeup can't be underestimated either. 6 years later, Tobe Hooper employed full scleral lenses to great effect in the TV movie
Salem's Lot, which I think still holds up well today. Plenty more horror films used them in the 1980s:
Demons,
The Evil Dead,
An American Werewolf in London,
The Lost Boys,
Cat People, etc.
I even used them in my low-budget horror movie. They cost $300 a pair for full scleral lenses, but they were definitely worth it. Of course, you can get
contact lenses a lot cheaper these days. If you're making a horror film or just want to scare the crap out of somebody, it's a time-honored tradition. A lot of places will let you order custom ones too. If you just want to see what's out there,
Spooky Eyes has a pretty big selection and cheap prices. For full scleral lenses, check out
FX Eyes but be warned. They're a lot more expensive.
I guess you could argue too many horror films use them now, but I disagree especially when you can get so many different kinds. They're a great tool at our disposal that often isn't discussed, which is a shame since they really do add a lot.
