Chris Walas is is an American special effects/make-up artist and film director. His main body of work is with special effects in a wide variety of movies from science fiction to action-adventure. His work on The Fly led to his directorial debut on The Fly II. He also won an Academy Award for Special Effects Make-up on The Fly and is well known for his creation of the Gremlins. Walas was also partially responsible for creating the famous sequence in Raiders of the Lost Ark when the Nazis melt from the intense heat created by the Ark of the Covenant. Walas created false heads for Ronald Lacey, Wolf Kahler, and Paul Freeman.