H1 Clown Observations...Opinions Wanted!

Michael-Myers.net General Discussion
1

I have been studying some screen caps of the clown mask young Michael Myers wore in the original Halloween and have noticed some things of interest I thought I’d share with you guys.

My original thought was there was one mask used for the scenes showing the clown mask. It appeared (in my opinion)to be a plastic mask with some sort of hinged jaw to allow movement of the mouth. I also noticed evidence that the nose was an attached piece and not molded into the mask itself. Simple deductions on these observations told me it was probably just a mask picked up at a local business at the time Halloween was being made and they added the nose, no big deal.

However upon closer examination I now believe either TWO clown masks were used OR another piece was added to the mask when young Michael wore it as opposed to it being unworn.

THE EVIDENCE

Look closely at the pics below:

***In these pics the eyes are nearly open-ended at the outer edges of the orbitals (“eye-sockets”) only connected to the cheeks of the mask by a very narrow piece of some material, be it plastic or something else.

***Now observe these two pics. Once again you will notice the very small piece that connects the outer orbitals of the eyes with the cheeks of the mask but you’ll notice something else that will bring up my next point…in THESE pics the mask ENDS with the painted arcs around the eyes.

***In the pics posted so far I have shown evidence that there is some small piece of material that “bridges” the outer oribitals of the eyes to the cheeks, otherwise the eyes are open-ended. I have also shown that the outer arc of the eyes (painted in blue) is where the mask ends.

This is NOT the case in the following pics! Notice a couple of key points:

  1. There is a flesh colored piece of the mask OUTSIDE of the blue painted arcs around the eyes!
  2. If you look closely you will see the eyes have ENCLOSED orbitals, not open ended with only the small piece of material connecting the cheeks to the outer eye orbitals like those in the pics above!

(pic from the Blu Ray version of Halloween):

(pic from original release of Halloween): **thanks to Billy Kirkus for this pic.

So…were there TWO masks used for the clown in Halloween, one when the mask was being worn and one unworn OR is this flesh colored part of the mask we see in the last pic (that extends beyond the outer part of the eyes) some sort of add-on piece to the mask??

Here’s a few small things I drew arrows to that may illustrate my ideas better:

The numbers marked above correspond with these ideas:

  1. This shows a CLEARLY defined ENCLOSED orbital. If this was an illusion of an angle and only the face of Will then it could not have such a clearly defined corner in the orbital.

  2. Look closely at the edge where the arrow points “2”. There is an unusual “curve” that appears to be made from an added piece, not the natural curve of Will’s face.

  3. Also if you look closely you’ll see that some of the hair appears to be BEHIND this piece. This shows this area is not his face I believe.

  4. There is a “thickness” right here (almost an upside down triangle in shape, slightly shadowed) that suggests this is indeed some sort of material and not the actor’s face itself.

2

I’ll tell you the truth…I see it like this.It is obvious that the mask does have the piece that connects the arches of the eyes to the cheeks in the first pics and it is not present in the worn pics.Now,with that said,it is hard to tell if the flesh colored parts outside of the eyes is a piece,or Will’s face.Granted,it looks a bit too wide for that to be the case and I may have to continue to really stare that picture down.Something I have concluded as a very big possibility,is that the pieces that bridged the upper and lower parts of the mask may have been broken off to fit Will Sandin’s face.Thing is,if you look at the pics of the mask on the floor,it has more of a clamshell appearance,for lack of a better analogy.It doesn’t look so straight,top to bottom.It looks more like the outer pieces may have been taken off and the mask,once placed on his face,conformed.I don’t necessarily think it was two separate masks,however I strongly believe it was altered between the unworn and worn pics.-Randy

3

I think the flesh area you mentioned is just the angle between shots that make it appear different and isdeed the actors face. As far as the pull string attached near the eyes. I see it clearly in the worn shots aswell as the unworn. Maybe Im just mis-reading what your asking.

-KennyD

4

Hey B…Untill now I thought it was one mask altered…But with the new things you have pointed out I would be lead to believe that there was 2…Its so hard to tell but at the same time almost seems clear in some pics…The orbitals are definately different in the pics…Man this is a hard one…I would love to know the real deal to this…

5

Thanks for the input Randy.

I am convinced that your “possibility” is correct, I find it doubtful there would be two masks but there is DEFINITELY a difference in the set of pics.

I think the piece added is some sort of flesh colored material that fit just under the top portion of the cheek bones and extended up to the top of the eye “arcs” and to the outer part of the face matching the contour of the bottom portion of the mask. I drew a crude arrow to point out this suspected extra piece in the pic below. If you look closely there is no doubt it is indeed an added piece and not part of the actor’s face. Notice the different shade of color (the piece in question is lighter and has a “shinier”/“fake” look to it than does the skin around the actor’s eyes. Also the outer portion of the piece is too flat and contoured to actually be part of Will’s face.

This extra added material gave the illusion of the mask being one piece instead of a group of seperate pieces. I doubt that the people involved with this would have ever guessed anyone would have picked apart every detail of the movie in such a fashion as we hardcores do…even 31 years after Halloween’s release!!

Any other thoughts, opinions or comments?

Thanks for being a part of this Kenny.

I thought about the part that attached the eye orbitals to the cheeks maybe being a pull string initially but concluded that is not the case. If it were the string wouldn’t be in the exact same position whether the mask was upside down or face up and it wouldn’t be so taut and at that straight angle between the eye socket and the cheek.

As far as the flesh area I don’t think it is Will’s face. The mask clearly “ends” with the eye arcs in the first pics (painted in blue) but in the last pics you can see flesh colored mask. This isn’t the same color as Will’s skin (look at his skin around his eyes) and you can see a clearly defined orbital if you look close. Also look at the left eye (right eye proper) in the last pic, you can clearly see a pointed corner in the outer portion of the mask’s eye. In the first pics it was nearly open-ended, there was nothing to create this “corner” in the outer orbital! Therefore it has to be an added piece, Will’s skin couldn’t create this.

Thanks for participating guys and please everyone give your details whether you agree or disagree with my hypothesis. As a group I think we will end up with a fairly agreed upon consensus one way or the other.

Thanks for your opinion Curtis! It’s definitely a tricky one.

The inner orbitals DOES suggest a different shape in the second pics as to the shape in the first pics.

I am not totally sure if two masks were used or if there was an extra piece added that explains the flesh colored material outside the eye arcs in the latter pics.

That still leaves the question about the shape of the eye orbitals in the first pics vs the latter ones (good eye Curtis).

If you look in the first pics you’ll see the eye orbitals that are closest to the nose are clearly CURVED.
In the second pics the eye orbitals closest to the nose are POINTED!!!

My theory is that the extra piece that is added from just under the cheeks to outer part of the eye arcs is causing this pointed shape in the last pics. It is just part of the extra piece showing and creating the different look.

They didn’t spend much time hiding things on this mask!!

6

I love stuff like this.

I’m at work but I wish I could show you what I mean with a picture and and arrow.

It looks to me like the side of the face area is a clear piece of plastic like those creepy all clear masks.

in this pic look at the part that would show his right cheek if he was wearing it. the blue floor behind it where I think there is a clear plastic piece looks dirtier and more distorted then the blue lit floor around it.

when he’s wearing it, it also looks like plastic that you can see his skin through. Just my quick thought about it.




EDIT - the part labelled actors face is the part I mean that I think I can see when it’s still on the floor as a clear plastic piece.

7

Is it not an adjustable string for people with short and long faces so the mask fits correctly?

8

That’s not entirely impossible at all but look at the last two pics. You can CLEARLY see a pointed orbital in the outermost part of the left eye (right eye proper), this proves there is something besides Will’s face creating this point. In the first pics only a very small piece is connecting the cheek and the orbits. This horizontal piece cannot create the pointed socket nor can Will’s face so I truly believe this is the added piece of flesh colored material (probably some sort of plastic) I have spoke of.

Thanks for your reply.

Interesting, I hadn’t ever considered this angle. The only thing that throws me off on this idea is I can see the color of the added piece the way I’m viewing it. Right click and click on “Display Image With Full Quality” (if you can/haven’t already) and notice this…the extra “added piece” that I speak of is the SAME EXACT color as the flesh colored paint found between the eye arcs, surrounding the red painted “swoosh” on the cheeks and (barely visible) the area around the red paint on the chin. Therefore I don’t think it is simply clear plastic.

Thanks for participating on this question, I love to hear answers “outside the box”. That is one possibility I never even thought of prior to this.

9

I see what your saying, I wonder if the area between the eyes was clear and your seeing his forhead through it? awesome to think about though. It would be great if we could find out.

it seems like what I think is the clear areas were there to kinda strengthen the cheap halloween mask which would be more flimsy without it.

10

That’s the whole reason I wanted to do this thread. It will take several keen eyes to figure it out for sure. Thanks man for contributing to this.

Here’s a few small things I drew arrows to that may illustrate my ideas better:

The numbers marked above correspond with these ideas:

  1. This shows a CLEARLY defined ENCLOSED orbital. If this was an illusion of an angle and only the face of Will then it could not have such a clearly defined corner in the orbital.

  2. Look closely at the edge where the arrow points “2”. There is an unusual “curve” that appears to be made from an added piece, not the natural curve of Will’s face.

  3. Also if you look closely you’ll see that some of the hair appears to be BEHIND this piece. This shows this area is not his face I believe.

  4. There is a “thickness” right here (almost an upside down triangle in shape, slightly shadowed) that suggests this is indeed some sort of material and not the actor’s face itself.

11

The mask is made up of three different masks and a rubber nose. Masks are most likely Collegeville or Ben Cooper or a mix of both.

I’ve never been able to find a Lou Jacobs mask. I know Don Post Jr. thinks a mask like this one exist.


I’ve believed it was a mask mash up for a while now. I noticed the support posts and open eye area on the mask when collecting screeengrabs for my attempt - which is scrapped for now.

It’s a tiny mask. It doesn’t fit right on Judith boyfriends face. It’s flesh toned on the inside. Most of those cheap plastic and paper mask back then were white. The paint job was printed onto the raw sheets before a die pressed them into shape.

Mask 1: Forehead and Eyes- Edges of Eyes are cut off with support posts added

Mask 2: Upper Lip, Cheeks and Nose area (masks original nose is concealed with a 70’s era rubber nose)

Mask 3: Jaw, Chin and Lower Lip

12

Benny that analysis is spectacular. Impressive work my friend. I think you have nailed this to the wall. Great job my friend.

13

Excellent info It’s Alive! This would explain all my questions from my personal observations!

How did you find this information, it sounds correct?

Thanks for this great and informative reply!

Thanks Ron!

14

:prayer: :prayer: :prayer: :supz: :supz: :supz: AMAZING ANALYSIS!!

15

It’s basically a Lou Jacobs mask majorly customized. I asked Don Post about 2 months ago and that’s how I found out; that’s how “it’s alive” knows because I stated it in a thread.

Is it 3 masks? I don’t think so. I think it’s 1 mask just customized (cut and re-paint and the mouth glued shout) and a large nose attached. I also what to say the Lou Jacobs mask in question has a movable jaw so when you’re mouth moved, it did; that’s why the line cut across the mouth.

There really is a way of finding out, someone ask Tommy Lee Wallace.

16

Thanks Billy, I knew if anyone had found the answers on this it would likely be you.

The movable jaw on the Lou Jacobs mask definitely would make sense about the line across the mouth as well. No doubt you can see the Lou Jacobs look in this mask.

I’ll have to shoot that question to TLW if I can get to a convention he is at.

Appreciate the reply and the great info.

17

I came here to add my thoughts, but Charles summed it all up perfectly! Not sure if you obtained this info from someone, but it’s always been my thoughts on this clown mask as well. Especially the posts on the outer edges of the eyes. I have looked for a Lou Jacobs mask, similar to this one for years and have had absolutely no luck finding one - I always wanted to custom finish one. I’m not stopping though. I would love for someone to release a version of this mask w/ the pieces connected and a shiney rubber nose attachment. That would pretty much end my search on this one. Great post Benny! I love digging deep to find facts on the history of anything HalloweeN-related.