Hey guys, This is a thread that contains most of the various facts about how each mask came about, or special things about the masks. It is mostly for the Hero masks, while there were many stunt masks for the films, this thread is only on the Heros.
First off, a “Hero Mask” is the mask used for primary filming, and close-up shots. Stunt masks are for, you guessed it, stunts.
Please correct me if i am wrong on anything, or give me information you have on the various masks and i will revise my post! This thread wont work without your input, so have at it!!
Halloween: The mask used in halloween I was a store bought mask called the Captain Kirk mask, sculpted from a lifecast of William Shatner in 1975, and sold in stores from 1976 - around 1979. The mask used was bought from a Halloween store, had its eyes cut larger, eyebrow and sideburn hair removed, the hair misted brown, and lastly, the mask was painted white by Tommy Lee Wallace. The mask was worn by Nick Castle, and was worn by Tony Moran in the unmasking scene. It was also worn by various crew.
Halloween II: The mask in Halloween II was the same mask used in Halloween I but after filming H1 Debra Hill kept the mask very poorly under her bed. Because of the poor condition it was kept in, the mask discolored severely and thats why it looks the way it does, aside from the fact that Dick Warlock (Myers, H2) had a shorter and wider face than Nick Castle. (Myers, H1) Dick Warlock wore the mask.
Halloween IV: The mask used in h4 doesn’t have a solid origin. There are many theories abot the origin, most commonly that it is a recast/retool of the 1984 The Mask, made by Don Post Studios. This version of The Mask was never licensed or trademarked, making finding them next to impossible. It should also be noted that the mask didn’t have eyebrows sculpted on the mask, they were glued in place. The mask also had white hair placed on first, before it was misted black. The mask was worn by George P. Wilbur
Halloween V: This mask strays from the original design because the director wanted Michael to have an “Angrier” expression as opposed to the “blank” and “featureless” face we saw in previous films. When filming a scene, Pleasence, (Dr. Loomis) accidentally hit Don Shanks (Myers, H5) in the nose, breaking it, so they had to cut out the nose of the mask, and add on the paper thin nose, cut off of another H5 mask. The edges of the nose appliance can be seen clearly in a lot of the film. Don Shanks wore the mask.
Halloween VI: The Halloween VI mask had a very odd goblin type look to it. This mask was sculpted by John Carl Buechler. The mask used in H6 had chemicals rubbed inside and outside of the mask by a disgruntled effects artist, thus destroying most existing copies.This is what made the mask look different in the ending, and re-shot scenes. This is the second time the mask was worn by George P. Wilbur.
Halloween H20: There was a total of 4 masks used, an H6 mask, retooled by Brad Hardin, used in the opening scenes, a KNB mask, used for most of the primary shooting, then as they were wrapping up production it was decided that the KNB mask didn’t look good, so they hired the Stan Winston FX company to sculpt a new mask, which they used to reshoot a lot of the scenes, and lastly, due to time or budget restraints, they had to CGI over the mask in a couple of scenes. Chris Durand wore the masks.
Halloween VIII: The Halloween VIII mask looked a lot more sinister than masks before it, and it featured painted eyebrows, human hair, and clear features. Brad Lorre wore the mask in this film. Info coming soon!
Halloween Remake: The mask was sculpted by Wayne Toth and worn by Tyler Mane. It was actually sculpted on a lifecast of Tyler Mane, giving the mask most of Mane’s features. Toth didn’t account for latex shrinkage so the mask was very tight, in the scene where Michael first puts on the mask you can see where he goes from having the long wig hair to his natural short hair. Because of this Toth actually had to glue hair inside the neck of the mask, to make it seem like Mane still had long hair under the mask. This is the very first mask to stray beyond just a “white face” as this mask has a lot of “rot” and “deterioration” combined with shades of black, gray, and green, in various places, instead of just the white mask with black weathering. More info coming soon!
Halloween II Remake: The mask was again sculpted by Wayne Toth and worn by Tyler Mane. It was again sculpted on Mane’s lifecast, making the mask have strong Mane features. Toth sculpted this mask bigger than the H9 sculpt, so the mask would fit Mane more comfortably. As the time goes on the mask deteriorates further, till the point it is just a dirty brownish mask. Michael gets slapped and it causes a part of the mask to rip off, which causes the “Exposed” look we’re all so familiar with. This is the first film to have Michael’s face exposed through most of the movie. More info coming soon!
Halloween III Remake: It is believed that the Halloween III mask will go back to the John Carpenter roots, as in a plain white mask. More info coming soon!
