Christopher James Walas (born 1955) is an American special effects artist, make-up effects artist, film director, producer, and screenwriter.

His main body of work is with special effects in a wide variety of films, from science fiction to action-adventure.

[2] 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.

[3] Walas created false heads for Ronald Lacey, Wolf Kahler, and Paul Freeman.