About us

We at Locked in the Cellar Creations have a passion to make quality effects accessible for anyone. As experienced artists, we have a knack for finding the balance between your dreams and your budget, working with professional or alternative (aka. cheaper!) materials as needed.

We have been making props & prosthetics for independent films since 1999. In 2014 we expanded our services and started offering our hand crafted prosthetics and props to the general public. You can find these in our webshop and at various shows and conventions.
To make our props and prosthetics, we use the same materials and techniques that we use to make movie quality effects, and customer response exceeds our expectations. Everybody loves the quality, the detail and the super thin edges, compared to mass produced prosthetics. We consult with cosplayers, haunters, LARP’s and Horror fans, and we work hard to expand our retail product line with new and exciting products each year!

Brian at Burg Frankenstein

Brian at Burg Frankenstein, 2015

Brian Rowe

“I was that kid in your class who liked to gross everybody out by sneaking my Fangoria subscription to school, using a pencil with a home-made severed eye impaled on it in English class, or planting a severed hand in the teacher’s desk drawer (for which I was rewarded with a few after-school detentions). I have been making my own Halloween props since I was 8 or 9 years old.

Back then (I won’t say how many decades ago that was!) there weren’t a lot of Halloween props and make-up available in the stores, the way there is now (and of course no internet or YouTube back then either). I had to make everything myself, improvising with every day materials like tan coloured silicone bathroom caulk to make severed stumps, or a rotted corpse made entirely out of old nylons. When I got the book ‘Grande Illusions’ by Tom Savini a new world opened for me: the world of special effects make-up. There were no digital effects back then, so you had to figure out how to create an effect in the real world.

Naturally, I went to film school, graduating with honours and with ambitions of becoming a big director (you fool!)  While learning about film and TV production, I kept expanding my skills as an FX make-up artist. My fellow students knew where to find me whenever they needed something gross or gory. Working for years in post production, many of my friends and co-workers were independent filmmakers, and I was the one they turned to for props and effects solutions to fit their (often microscopic) budgets. They still call me whenever they are in need of make-up or props.”

You can find Brian on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1935495/

Desirée van de Laar
Desiree at the original Burg Frankenstein, 2015

Desirée at Burg Frankenstein, 2015

“I spent most of my life in The Netherlands, where I was born and raised. Halloween isn’t very big there, but I’ve always been fascinated by it.
When I moved to Canada in 2012, thanks to Brian I was immediately immersed in the horror and Halloween subculture, and creating props and prosthetics. I’ve always been an artist, so the switch was easy – it was just another specialization. Instead of canvasses, I now work on people. Instead of painting murals, I now paint creatures.
Having not grown up a horror-fan (shock!) often gives me a clean perspective, uninfluenced by typical horror cliches. That combined with Brian’s extensive horror knowledge, gives us a unique approach to each project.”

You can find Desirée on IMDB:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7175581/