Rally for Jim Kagel: A Legend's Fight with Cancer

In 2021, our dear friend and fellow Monster Kid James Kagel was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Unfortunately, when it was discovered, it had metastasized and the cancer had spread all over Jim’s body, even to his bones. For the past year, Jim has been taking cancer therapy treatment in the form of powerful drugs which give him good days and bad. He has never complained, even when the side effects attacked the tendons in his hands, rendering him unable to continue with his beloved sculpting.

As most of you know, Jim is a legend in the special makeup effects world, having worked on so many classic films like The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, Independence Day, The Abyss, Child’s Play, Altered States, Something Wicked This Way Comes and countless others.

I was lucky enough to have worked with Jim several times over the years (Jumanji, Tremors 2, Nightmare on Elm St. 3 and many more) and each and every time he would graciously answer questions about his sculpting techniques, eventually becoming a mentor, although Jim’s humility would never allow him to accept such a compliment. He just liked helping people.

When I learned of Jim’s health situation, I asked him if I could help raise some funds to ease his financial burden and he very kindly said yes and has allowed me to launch this campaign to provide some much needed relief as he is very overwhelmed with his daily health maintenance and simply cannot do so himself.

All the funds that are raised will go directly to Jim and no one else. Over the next few weeks, I’ll make sure that the campaign is fully transparent and will post updates with screen grabs of deposits made to my account and then the transfers to Jim’s account in turn. As per GFM rules, the campaign organizer is generally the recipient of funds and will not allow me to attach Jim’s bank account to the campaign. I’ll make deposits to Jim’s bank account once or twice a week as the donations come in.

Jim now lives in Decatur, Illinois after spending a decade in China and many years in Los Angeles before that. If you would prefer to contact Jim yourself to make a donation in private, please feel free to drop me a line here for his contact info and I’ll be glad to put you in touch so that you can help Jim directly.

He’s also a US Navy veteran and was honorably discharged with the rank of Petty Officer, Second Class serving from 1969 to 1973, so be sure to thank him for his service by making a donation.

My hope is that if you worked with Jim, help him out. If you’re a fan of his iconic work in horror films, help him out. If Jim ever encouraged you to become a better sculptor, help him out. We’re all getting older and sometimes the years are kind and sometimes they’re not. Jim is really being brave right now and anything that you can do to ease his burden and lift his spirits would be most appreciated.

Let’s rally to show our pal that we love and appreciate him, dig?

Bry