Stan Winston, the man behind some of Hollywood's most amazing monsters, has died after losing his battle with cancer.

The Oscar-winning visual effects artist died on Sunday at his home in Malibu, California, aged 62.

Winston won Oscars for his work in Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park.

He also created notable visual effects for hit films like Predator, Edward Scissorhands and Batman Returns.

His most recent work can be seen in summer blockbusters Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

In a statement released on Monday, Terminator star and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called Winston a "genius" and "one of my best friends".

The action man-turned-politician added, "Stan's work and four Oscars speak for themselves and will live on forever. What will live forever in my heart is the way that Stan loved everyone and treated each of his friends like they were family... I will miss him greatly and am honoured to have worked with him."

Very sad news. A special effects genius who gave us the terminator, predator, the jurrassic park dinos & many many others. Also a very nice guy.