How many masks were on set? Where did they come from? At what point do those masks show up in the film?
Those are questions all H4 fans have asked themselves at one point. It wasn’t until recently when I was speaking with Jo “TheMaskGallery” that I decided this thread would be a shit-ton of fun and a cool idea! I decided to watch H4 and every single time a mask showed up (except for the hero) I took a screenshot. I then took every BTS photo, promo shot, and photos of H4 masks today and laid them on a desktop. I then made 7 folders (H2 Kirk on set, 6 other masks), each one labeled as #1, #2, etc.
Any matching masks that I knew of FOR SURE I could put in a category, I did and named it. For instance “Hero”, “Promo mask”. I also examined the theories on the mask and broke it down into how I think they got to set, and even where I think they may have originated.
Also, if you see the term “POC” and wonder what it means, I am using it to abbreviate “Point of Change”, which identify at what points there are directional changes on the eyecut.
This is just an attempt based off everything I’ve seen and found when looking at all these photos for a few days
Theories on how the masks got to set:
1. Backup Mask from H2 was on set (School House Mask), Ken Horne made 6 copies recast from it.
Most use the following Gorezone magazine quote taken on the set of H4 as evidence supporting Ken making the masks, not DPS.
If you read that carefully, you’ll notice that he doesn’t say he MADE the rubber backups, just that he made the adjustments on them and to the backup Halloween II mask (School Scene/Meeker Death).
That, plus the Ken Horne quote in the magazine that is directly before the above statement reads:
We did not have time to go into the lab and make one…
Referring to the Halloween 4 masks.
Why would Ken state that he didn’t have time to make extras, then immediately after state that he made 6 extras? In my opinion, he wouldn’t, which leads me to believe that the next theory is the truth and that Ken did NOT create the masks by recasting the on set back-up H2.
2. Backup Mask from H2 was on set (School House Mask), Don Post Studios sent 6 extras to set.
This theory is another popular one, and personally, this is how I believe the masks got to set.
A testimony given by Ken later on in several interviews is that Don Post Studios sent him a box of 6 masks that were all painted “pink with white hair”, and he then modified them (and the backup H2) to be white with brown hair.
However, when asked about this, Don post denied it:
In my opinion, there’s enough testimony for me to believe that DPS sent the masks to set. Is it possible Don Post is just forgetting?
What are it’s origins:
Not much is known about the origins of the Halloween 4 mask, but it is almost confirmed that it does have Kirk origins. Many features match up in terms of placement and overall likeness to the 75 Kirk, but there are some glaring differences like the distortion of the nose/mouth, rushed eyebrows, and deformed ears. Even with the deformities on the ears, they still appear to be of Kirk origin:
It looks like a recast kirk that had to have some amateur resculpting done in damage areas (nose, eyebrows, lips, nose).
Also, when concerning the mask being of Kirk origin, Billy Kirkus has this to say:
So at that point, the Kirk master and mold were gone. But you know what may have been laying around to work from?
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This theory was widely tossed around, but yes: the 1984 Don Post “The Mask”. This mask is very simply a 1975 Kirk casting with HUGE eyecuts.
Even if we take a look at the mask, it makes a lot of sense. We have the short neck (neck extension had to be added by Ken), the identical proper left ear, etc.:
This would also explain what appears to be lines from the larger eyecuts that then had kirk eyes sculpted in…:
***DISCLAIMER: This following part is just a theory of mine, we will likely not know the truth of the mask’s origins but we will see soon…"
But who sculpted it? The hero H4 is an amateurish sculpt at best, appearing very “wonky” in a lot of ways. So presumably, it was rushed by someone at DPS. The only problem being that Don post denies providing them. Does that sound familiar?? Someone contacting Don Post Studios to have a mask/masks made, only to have him come out and deny it? If you’re thinking yes, but can’t place your finger on it- you may be thinking of Matt Garrett.
The story goes that Matt Garrett saw “Don Post Studios” in the Halloween II (1981) credits and had his mother call in to order a “mask as you see in the Halloween movie.” According to him and his mother, they spoke with someone claiming to be Don who then shipped them this mask:
Don Post, on many occasions, dined ever doing such a thing. It was later speculated, and very likely, that the person she actually contacted was a corrupt employee, who was selling back door copies of masks that included the 75 kirk (NOT an uncommon practice, as most know).
So now we have 2 instances where someone receives a mask/masks from Don Post Studios, only to have Don come out and deny these claims. Is it possible that the one who sent Ken these masks was actually an employee who had access to what was left of the 1984 the mask mold, or even a spare 1975 Kirk master copy to recast, and quickly retool so they could pocket some money from the producers?
It’s likely that we will never know, but I thought the similarities between those two stories were pretty intriguing.
The Masks
* AN EDIT HAS BEEN MADE TO SECTION 2 AND 4 *
0. LEFTOVER H2 BACKUP=KELLY MEEKER DEATH SCENE MASK=SCHOOL SCENE MASK
This one is pretty much settled, but for clarification and purposes of being thorough, I will detail it here.
It has been stated by many cast/crew members that on the set of H4, in pre/start of production, in their possession was a leftover mask from Halloween II. But they had been using it in the state that it was given to them: with pink skin and blonde hair. Two noteworthy people who mentioned this are Alan B. McElroy (writer) in several commentary pieces, and Ken Horne (set FX) in “Gorezone”.
When most hear “backup mask from Halloween II”, they immediately think “Tramer!”. When in reality, Dick Warlock stated that two “Tramer” (silvery-white/blonde hair) was sent to set and that they were both burnt in the fire scenes, but there were some other backups on set that weren’t done up that same way. That being said, it is likely that the “extras” sent to the H2 set were done up in kirk fashion. Pinkish flesh tones with blonde hair, just as the “H2 backup” mask appears on the set of H4.
Determining if the school scene mask is the Kelly Meeker Death scene mask can be a little trickier since in the latter scene darkness shrouds it. But even through that, one can identify several key features; the facial structure and details such as eye placement are a dead ringer to an original Kirk. Matching the two masks can be achieved by the prominent forehead crease, seen in both scenes:
1.The Hero
Do we need to explain this one? Nope! 
This is the primary hero, last seen in a few promo shots taken after filming.
Recently uncovered by Kaizu, Jason of Sinister Cinema Reviews was given a screen-used “Halloween 4” mask by Roy “Bucky” Moore, who worked on set as the prop man. He describes this mask as having long flaps coming from the back, several masks had this feature, one of which being the Hero.
2. “Background Vincent Myers”=”BTS Vincent Myers”=“Stretch Mask”=“Window Crash Mask”=”Promo Mask”
This one took me a while to stomp down, but I believe I have it figured out.
I will break this one down into pieces to show how I concluded this.
First, I looked at the photo of the background Vincent Myers mask. It has noticeably bigger eyecuts than the Kirk we see Michael grab several scenes later. Then, on the other hand, we have a photo on set at Vincent Drug Store where a crew member (Ken) is holding a Myers mask that is not the hero, which I have deducted based on the shapes of the eyecuts. The “POC” on the eyecuts do not match those on the hero, mainly the proper right eyecut.
If we compare the eyecuts in the BTS photo to the background Vincent Myers, it’s too hard to tell if they match since the face of the mask is leaning in on itself distorting the eyes. One thing we can see that identifies them as likely being the same, though, is the hair. If we put them side by side we see some distinct similarities in spray patterns:
I know you’re probably thinking that the tones on the neck make them two different masks, but the paint on the masks was a variable changing constantly throughout filming, so I wouldn’t put it past them to touch this up behind the scenes. Hell, it’s even possible that area appears to be so heavily “flesh” colored due to lighting and shadows. If there was an overhead light to the right, then a shadow would be placed in that exact area. If you can see, there are a lot of “orangish” hues in that scene.
Now, why do I believe the BTS Vincent/Background Vincent mask the promo mask? At the time of the promo shots being taken, the hair making up the hairline had fallen away a bit, so what we’ll need to look at is the eyecuts: for one, the general shape is dead on. Check out these shots beside each other comparing the proper right eyecut.
Now we’ll look at some key “POC”, points of change, on these eyecuts. These are identifiable angle changes in the eyecut that will help us match them.
At first, I had doubts that the mask Michael stretches over his face at Vincent Drug was the same one we see smash into the window of the truck, near the finale but upon further reflection and observation, I believe they’re the same. Further analysis of the eyecuts between the mask Michael stretches on at Vincent’s, what we see in the BTS photo, what we see with the mask smashed on the windshield, and the promo mask leads me to believe that they are all the same.
It also appears that a spot on the eyebrow which is missing paint is present on the mask when shot in the drug store as well as when it smashes the windshield:
Also between the “stretch mask” and the “BTS Vincent Mask”, we notice the same weathering/patterns on the lips.
3. “Drugstore Kirk”=”Dummy Mask”=”Prankster #1 Mask”=”Paul’s Mask”
So for a while I’ve thought that Paul’s mask could be the “Dummy” mask, here are the comparison shots for that:
But it wasn’t until I was speaking with Jo “TheMaskGallery” that the possibility of Paul’s mask is one of the prankster masks arose. After that, we went to comparing and I am almost confident that this is the same mask. Let’s take a look! Here is a collage of the masks. One set of the photos are screenshots, the others are from the Blu-Ray disc taken on my TV (much brighter and larger).
First, we’ll compare the eyecuts. At first glance, we notice 1 similarity. The proper right eyecut is larger than the proper left. But now if we look again, even closer, we see the proper left has a circular cut in the inner corner.
One more noticeable similarity, flesh tones on the neck:
At this point, I was convinced that this was it, and it didn’t match up to anything else on the screen. BUT I was closing out of my photos, and the drugstore kirk/Paul’s mask ended up beside each other. After comparing the two, I think that it could be his mask pre-eye enlargement…
Why? The main two things making me think these are the eyebrows and hairline. Comparing the eyebrows, we can see that they match.
This next similarity isn’t some big smoking gun or anything, but I do find it very interesting. Of all the observable masks in BTS photos, promo shots, screencaps, etc- Paul’s mask and the drugstore Kirk are the only 2 I can find with a slit mouth (possibly closed with tape for the dummy scene, which would explain it being shut in its current state):
4. Darren’s Mask
Ahh, Darren’s H4 mask. Probably the biggest mystery of them all. Made from the H4 mold, ends up on the H6 set mysteriously, then to the hands of super fan Darren Hughes. At first, I thought this was the Prankster #2 mask above, but that proved to not be the case given that none of the details match up. When comparing this mask to the one above, not a thing was matching up for me, unfortunately. But then I thought about it. This mask is even more unique than we realize. Think about the way Ken Horn converted the rest of the H4 masks and how they came to set (pink, white hair). Yet Darren’s copy has white paint everywhere, even under the hair. If this were converted like the rest, wouldn’t the scalp be the pinkish color, not white? Speaking of, the hair is brown to the roots. If it were sprayed, wouldn’t there be blonde hair attached or even a few hairs left on the head? Why is this mask converted so differently from the rest?
Well, at first I thought maybe it was made after the fact and was not one of the original 6 sent to set by DPS? However, Darren has confirmed that the thickness, color, feel, etc of the latex on his H4 all match those variables on Paul’s mask. So that theory being out made me think of another…
What if this was the first mask Ken converted and he did so by stripping it entirely of the blonde hair, painting the mask entirely and applying brown? Realizing how time-consuming that was, it’s possible he then decided to convert the rest “quickly” by spraying the hair and painting the face/neck/ears, etc white…
Of course, that is all speculation on my part but that is why I got in touch with Ken to send a list of questions regarding the conversion process of these masks 
. Waiting to hear back and this will be updated accordingly!
5. Prankster #2 Mask
This mask is a huge mystery in the group. The hair, the eyecuts, the stretch it has when worn (mouth puckers out, similar to the H1 mask), the dent in the forehead- none of those features match any other mask we see on screen, in BTS photos, or anything otherwise. That leads me to believe that this is its own unique mask and we do not see it again.
6. Mystery Mask
Slot #6 currently belongs to an unseen mask. Combing through all BTS photos, screencaps, etc I could only find 5 unique masks even though 6 were sent to set, leaving me to believe one of these wasn’t used or possibly ruined in the conversion process and scrapped? It’s hard to tell.
I would love to have an open discussion on all these theories/comparisons. H4 needs some love!! 
lemme digest all that.
