Sorry if this is going over old ground but I tried a quick search and couldn’t find any older discussions.
I was watching Halloween 4 and was struck by the short sequence in the school where Michael is seen wearing a quite obviously different mask. See the screen cap below.
To me it looks like a non-converted Kirk mask, i.e. it still has its eyes intact, a full head of blond hair (including hair on the temples).
Does anybody know the story behind this mask?
Here…these aren’t my words.this is Kaizu’s explanation 
The first scene they shot for H4 is said to be the school scene with the “Kirk” or “Kirkish” mask as seen on film. In the commentary, the writer states that they had the mask from H1/H2 but didn’t use it due to rights issues. Remember the original mask was owned by DW at this time so only he can answer this. What I assume is that they had an actual 75 kirk(unconverted) so when the writer says “the mask used in H1/2” in the commentary I think he meant they had the “same type” of mask used in the original. Keep in mind, if the staff knew what the original actually looked like, I doubt they would have filmed this scene with the unconverted look. After they filmed the first scene the writer and some others noticed,“Hey, that dosen’t look like the mask from the original” so they went for the look we know today.
So was the mask in the school scene a kirk??
Honestly, I’d like to think it was.lol Keep in mind this was shot in the late 80s so no kirk masks were produced then. The staff asked DP studios for some masks but they didn’t have time since they were busy that season.
So where did it come from??
Some say it was an unused back-up that was left over from H2. This could be another reason why the writer may have stated that they had THE mask from the original.
So did they convert the mask for the film??
I’m sure they did and used it for some scenes. There are some scenes in the movie that look much like the one in the school scene, for example in the scene when the Shape shoves the rifle into the girls stomach. A clue to this is that in the commentary, the writer states that when they “recieved” the mask, the mask had WHITE hair. Since it was over ten years later when the writer did the commentary, his memories of the masks’ hair could have been lost. I agree, the hair on the mask looks blonde.lol Danielle Harris has memories of the staff spraying the hair.
So why didn’t they use this(kirk mask) throughout the rest of the film??
If that mask was indeed a 75K, the movie staff would have to go through rights issues and that would take time and money.
So then what was the Hero mask??
It’s been proven that the ears of the H4 Hero are an exact match of that to a very early version of the 1985 DPs THE MASK. For a very short time this version of the MASK was released until it was switched to the classic version we know today. Much is not known of this certain mask since it was released for a very limited time. It did have more kirkish features compared to the standard version of THE MASK(which may be the reason it was discontinued).
They may have made a recast off this certain mask, tore the eyebrows from another copy and glued them higher to the forehead. It has been proven that the brows on the Hero were not part of the mask.
Apparently they got this unconverted Kirk straight from the set of Halloween II. It was a stunt mask that was never painted up/modified. They apparently filmed a lot of H4 with this mask before realising that this isn’t how Myers looked, so they converted the mask and reshot the scenes, but this scene was too expensive to reshoot.
You can see the half-converted mask in the discount mart scene, where Myers picks it up. It has uncut eyeholes, unfinished white paint and light brown sprayed hair, before they misted it black.
Thanks, chaps. Interesting stuff. I’ll go back and re-watch a few of the scene you make reference to.
OH, I was beaten to it, great explaination man, hahaha 
So, the dark-haired, white-faced mask we see throughout most of the film is in fact the same mask or another DP Kirk but converted?
I’d discounted the idea of it being a converted DP Kirk because it looks so different to the hero in H1 and H2. I suppose that could be down to the different way they converted it (thick white paint, seemingly brushed over the face, hair still intact on the temples). Looking again more closely the face is very “kirky”.
There’s no doubt in my mind that the actual H4 hero is a Kirk. You can clearly see flesh tones on the neck in some scenes. It was converted differently, the cuts show none of the eyelids, the paint is whiter and cleaner (Probably not spray painted), the eyebrows are brown and higher up, and the sideburns are intact. The way they filmed the mask was different from H1, Michael was shown in less dark and shadowy shots than the original, causing the featureless look. I have been able to give all my Kirk masks the “H4 stretch” with a squarer jaw and skinny face.
In no way do I have expertise or inside knowledge as to what was actually used, but from my knowledge of masks in general and of the original Kirk, I believe it to have been a Kirk of some type.
All makes sense what you say.
No way was the H4 “hero” a converted kirk.
Having a look at the replica mask I recieved from Scott and Paul which was casted off the screen used Hero, alot of kirk features are there. Looks more like a recast of a kirk or from a kirk based mask.
I do agree that in the early stages of filming, they may have used a converted kirk like Randy stated above. For example in the scene when the shape gets up from the rocking chair with the shot gun. The mask has tons of details in those scenes. Has a Warlockish vibe to it. 
Also, these masks were rushed into production.The so called fleshtones could be just the color of the latex,who knows…
And what of the half-converted mask in the discount mart that Myers grabs? That thing screams Kirk to me 
(can’t find a pic, and I’m on my laptop so no screencaps)
It has the same eyeholes as this, but less paint on the hair and neck.
You can see the white hair under the brown on this screenused mask, which suggests to me they’re the same.
Reread the whole quote of mine on top Anthony posted. They “may” have used a converted kirk in the early stages.
The mask Wilbur is holding may be the Hero. He cut the eyes during filming to see better. Two masks were used in the drugstore scene. They do look kirky but they are missing some key elements from being an “actual” kirk.
Kirk recast? Maybe…
Why? They couldn’t use the kirk due rights issues.
When I posted above, I didn’t mean they used a 1975 DP Kirk. But possibly a recast, replica, etc. The details are there, however, they are washed out.
These aren’t the same mask, just to clarify. Look at the eyebrows.
What I was trying to say was that the hair has the same whiteness underneath it that this mask has.
To me this doesn’t look like an Original 75 Kirk some of the features of the Original don’t match up to this one from what i can see,ok this image isnt crystal clear so that’s not helping matters,this actually looks to me like one of those Tiberius Kirks even though it isnt.lol
Reread the quote on top…
Also they used a variety of masks. I never stated that the pics you posted where the same mask, they could be…
Like I stated, these masks were rushed into production.Very bad paintjob…Look how much Paul’s Hero has paint flaking. I’m sure they had to repaint the Hero and the back-ups over and over.
The kirkish mask in the school scene could be the hero. Like I stated in the quote, the hair in that scene was was white which was stated by the screenplay writer. Danielle Harris remembers a mask being sprayed over and over to cover the white hair. Does she remember which mask? Probably not.
Like Anthony just stated it doesn’t look like a real kirk but some believe it is. No real proof on anything yet. could be any mask.
We could go on for days with this. Unless the creator steps foward, nothing can be proven.
Kaizu my man, I was just posting that to clear up what I was saying before, haha. I know you didn’t say that
It’s so annoying not being able to track the origins of the H4 mask down…
No offense taken.lol
Just listening to the commentary on the H4 DVD can make your head spin.lol So much “he said this” and “he did that” when it comes to the H4 mask. It seems the majority of the crew didn’t know what they had on set or what the original mask from H1/H2 actually looked like 
Yeah im not suprised by this really,im sure there main aim was just to make a Halloween Sequel with a White Mask lol,im sure that was the main image they had planted in there heads of the Original (a white mask) hence another reason the H4 mask looked nothing like the mask from the Original Movie which actually was a bit of a shame because the mask is one of the most Iconic things about the Movie and its a big factor,im not sure if it was H4 where people in the audience in a test screening or something actually called out and said thats not Michael Myers lol i could be mistaken with a later sequel on that story but it was apparent for one of the sequels.
Yes it is the same mask. The hair and sideburns match up along with a strange lift in the hair on the left side looking at the pic. It had the rip in the neck where they removed the flap exactly where it was folded over and glued to the mask. Wilbur told us at the 30th convention he cut the eye-holes bigger in this mask because he couldn’t see. The eyebrows look smaller because it’s further back in the photo than the one you used of mine. Or are you talking about the kirk looking mask? That could possibly be the same mask too as the hairline does look right. Daniel Harris told us that it was the mask they used at the start and just painted it white and sprayed the hair. She pointed out the white underneath. Take that for what it’s worth as she was young at the time.
Oh damn, thanks for showing more pics man! Beautiful mask!
Looking at it from another angle, yeah it totally is. This really makes me think that the Kirk-like mask IS the hero you own.
This gets weirder and weirder…
EDIT:
I’VE BEEN ANALYSING THE MASK IN DETAIL, COMPILING DVD SCREENCAPS AND MISC. PICTURES…
HERE’S A LINK TO MY RESEARCH AND A THREAD IN WHICH WE CAN ALL DEBATE THE DIFFERENT MASKS…
http://www.michael-myers.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=88346
