- "I met this...six-year-old child with this blank, pale, emotionless face and...the blackest eyes–the devil's eyes"
- ―Samuel Loomis[src]
Michael Myers' mask or "The Shape" is a white mask worn by Michael Myers in the Halloween series. In each film, the mask is different but it usually features the exact same characteristic: a blank, expressionless white latex face with brown hair.
I'm too lazy to edit the mask images, but the H4 to H20 masks are actually replicas and should be replaced with the screen used masks, which you can find images of on michael-myers.net
History
In 1978, during the making of the original Halloween, the prop department was faced with the daunting task of finding a frightening mask that the villain could wear. Tommy Lee Wallace chose FOUR masks to complete Michael Myers. The first option was a Don Post Emmett Kelly clown mask to which they added frizzy red hair. This would be a callback to how Michael killed his sister, Judith, in a clown costume. They tested it out and it appeared featureless and creepy. The other mask was a 1975 William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk mask that was purchased for around two dollars, a 1975 Mr. Spock mask and a former U.S. president Richard Nixon mask. The Capt. Kirk mask was chosen due to its appearance of having no real facial features that could be easily made out.
The production crew removed the eyebrows and sideburns, the face was painted flat white, the hair was teased out, and the eyes were opened up and reshaped with scissors. This info can be found in the Halloween: The Inside Story. They tested out the Capt. Kirk mask and the crew decided that it was much more creepy because it was emotionless, much like Michael himself. This became the Michael Myers mask. Since then, every mask used in the films have been modeled after this design. William Shatner admitted that for years he had no idea his likeness was used for this film. It was only during an interview that someone mentioned his mask was being used. He has since stated that he is honored by this gesture.
Halloween and Halloween II
Original Michael Myers mask
- Main article: The Shape Mask
Michael obtains the mask as just one of many items stolen from Nichol's Hardware Store the night of his escape from Smith's Grove Sanitarium. The mask was later destroyed in the fire at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital.
In Halloween II (1981), Michael wears the same mask from the first Halloween, but it looks different in the sequel because the paint had faded for various reasons. First, Nick Castle, the original Michael, had kept the mask in his back pocket during shoots. Also, Debra Hill stored the mask under her bed for several years until the filming of Halloween II, causing it to collect dust and yellow because Hill was a heavy smoker. The mask appears to have red hair (having apparently been spray-painted again) and also seems wider because Dick Warlock is shorter and stockier than Nick Castle, so the mask fit his head differently. Warlock claims that because the producers expected Halloween II to be the last film in the series, they let him keep the costume.
However, by the time of Halloween 4's production, they realized that they made a mistake and never again let cast and crew take props from the set, therefore subsequent sequels used different masks that looked rather different. Warlock sold the deteriorating mask, knife, scalpel, boots, and jumpsuit he wore in Halloween II to a haunted house owner in Ohio in 2003.
Halloween 4
H4 mask
- Main article: H4 Mask
The Halloween 4 mask was created to replicate the effect of the original white, blank mask, looking very similar to William Shatner. However, it received a largely negative response from audiences, with criticisms being that it was too bright white, not detailed enough, and had a "shocked" expression. The mask design had considerable deviations from the original on account of its pursed lips, prominent eyebrows, and slicker hairstyle.
Michael awakens from his coma covered in gauze bandages from Ridgemont. As soon as he reaches Haddonfield, Illinois, he goes to Vincent Drug Store where he steals another "Shape" mask.
One scene was shot with a replacement mask, which had a pink face and long blonde hair. The blonde mask looks closer to the original and appears in the school scene.
Variants
- Hero
- Pink and Blonde type
- Kelly Meeker Mask
Halloween 5
H5 mask
- Main article: H5 Mask
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers introduced a 'different' look to the Shape mask. Michael awakens from a coma one year after the events of Halloween 4, and a 'Shape' mask is hanging on a wall in the shack of a local hermit (supposedly the same one as H4, though the masks are clearly different). He acquires his mask and murders the Hermit.
Halloween 5's features an elongated mask with longer and slicker hair, thick rubber and teardrop-shaped eyeholes. The mask is held together by Velcro, making it appear unkempt and shoddy, and has an angrier expression than the previous two. Like the last film's mask, the H5 mask received a negative reaction. The eyebrows in this one were heavily criticized, along with the eye shapes.
Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers
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H6 mask
- Main article: H6 Mask
It is not explained in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers or shown in any scene how Michael obtains his mask. Despite looking different from the two previous films' masks, it may be the same one, which was still intact at the end of H5. Some believe the followers of Thorn especially designed this mask for him, but it is possible he merely stole it from another store.
During production, improper storage destroyed the Curse masks, leaving only two remaining.
The Curse mask received a much better reaction, with many praising how similar it looked to the original one.
However, some people said that the mask was too large, and made Michael look like a Bobblehead Doll, or that the hair was "too messy". Fans even said that the texture of the mask was too thick and lumpy, saying: 'It looked like it was made out of clay or plasticine.'
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
H20 mask
- Main article: H20 masks
This film and Halloween: Resurrection do not show any scenes of Michael obtaining his mask, but it is assumed that they are the same ones from that he stole from the dumpster.
While the H20 mask was applauded for trying to look more like the original film's, it was ultimately disliked by audiences, due in no small part to the fact that there were four masks used in production. These 4 masks are the KNB mask, Buechler mask, Stan Winston mask, and CGI mask.
The Buechler mask is the mask used in the opening scene. It was made to look like the mask from Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.
The Stan Winston mask is the main mask in the film and is the mask mostly seen throughout the film. This was used in reshoots to replace the KNB mask in some shots. However, even though this mask look closer to the original mask, it was criticized for being too tight (Michael's eyes are often clearly visible), looking awkward, showing Michael's eyes, and having messy hair.
The KNB mask can still be seen in the movie, as they originally had that mask but changed it to the Stan Winston mask, the you see most of the time. The crew had to reshoot his scenes, but many of the long shots still contain the KNB mask.
The original KNB mask gets some criticism, as it looked silly and the eye holes were too wide and a weird hairline, exposing most of his forehead. People said he looked like a martian. It seemed to be a blue-white color. Others praise it for having an aggressively scary look.
The CGI Mask is only seen in one scene. It received negative reactions for being pointless and looking awful.
Variants
- KNB Mask
- Buechler Mask
- Stan Winston Mask
- CGI Mask
Halloween: Resurrection
- Main article: Resurrection Mask
Resurrection mask
While the Resurrection mask is sometimes regarded as the best mask of the sequels besides part 6, some people say it is one of the worst. It was nearly identical to the original mask and evoked intense emotion, but it did not escape criticism. The Resurrection mask was criticized for showing too much emotion due to its distinct nasolabial folds, although it got a largely positive response. Many fans said that his mask looked like he was wearing makeup. At the end of the film when Michael was burned, the mask shown is the burned mask.
Variants
- Hero Mask
- Burned Mask
Rob Zombie's Halloween and Halloween II
Halloween remake mask
- Main article: Remake masks
The remake Michael obtains the mask from Judith's boyfriend, Steve, after he brings it to their house. Michael dons the mask just before he murders Judith. Before his mother comes home, Michael hides both the mask and a knife under the floorboards in his basement. Fifteen years later, he escapes from Smith's Grove and travels to his old house, getting the mask and knife. While the mask is still wearable, the years of neglect have dried out the latex and made it worn and cracked.
In Halloween II, the mask is the same one he wore in the previous film, but it has larger cracks, tears and blood. Michael's beard is now visible through the latex. A portion of it is missing; half of it is later ripped off by Misty Dawn.
Halloween (2018)
2018 sequel mask
Halloween (2018) is a direct sequel to the original Halloween (1978) and thus the mask of the 2018 film is the very same one from the first movie. In this timeline, Michael was recaptured shortly following the events of the first film.
For 40 years, his mask was kept as archival evidence eventually making it's way to an attorney general's office until the day it came into the hands of journalist Aaron Korey who, with his colleague Dana Haines, was making a podcast about Michael Myers. Upon Michael's escape from custody while en route to a new facility, he managed to meet with Korey at a gas station where he retrieved the mask he hadn't worn in 4 decades and go on his murder spree.
The mask nearly has the same mold of the original but is withered and cracked after 40 years of decay.
Trivia
- In the opening sequence of the 1998 film Bride of Chucky, Michael's mask, Jason's hockey mask, Leatherface's chainsaw, and Freddy's glove can be found in a locker.
- The stuntman who played Michael in the 1981 Halloween 2, Dick Warlock, when filming wrapped, was given the mask, coveralls, Elrod knife, scalpel, and boots. Rick Rosenthal did this because he believed that they would never make another Michael Myers movie.
- Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers was the first time the classic Shatner mask wasn't used because Dick Warlock had the mask. Technically, having a new mask was the right decision, because the original mask was supposed to be burned, so Myers would have needed a new mask.
- In 2003 Dick Warlock sold the mask and its accessories to Mark Roberts, who owns the mask and jumpsuit today. There are photos of what it looks like now.
- It is unknown why is Halloween 5 they used a different mask instead of using the H4 Mask.