With all of the negativity swirling I thought it would be a good idea to make a positive, informative, discussion-filled post surrounding the paintjob of the hero, who made it (DPS or TLW), the weathering, etc… So let’s get to talking!!
A lot of what got me thinking was this old thread: http://michael-myers.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=119387
So from it I will be drawing conclusions and responding to some of the posts in it [emoji3]
Was the mask painted all white, or did it start out with fleshtones?:
- Jason and several other people’s theory is that the H1 mask always had the heavy neck fleshtones like in this photo:
Most cite their reasoning being that there’s no color photos of the mask with an all white neck, so it must have been that way the whole time- they’re kinda right, there are no color photos showing that, but I think these B&W shots show that there are no neck fleshtones present during early filming.
Even though it’s in black and white you can clearly see there’s no change in tone on the neck, if there was it would get grey like in the photos below, where there’s a clear change of tone where the fleshtones are:
I personally think the mask gained weathering and dirt as the film went on due to handling, maybe black spray on the hair? There’s some talk that the coveralls were lent to production by a crew member, perhaps (since it was a mechanic jumpsuit) they had grease on them that got on the mask. Just a thought!
The Fleshtones, End of H1-End of H2:
Now for more about the neck weathering…
The next thing about the weathering on the neck… it kind of bleeds into H2.
You can make out a distinct pattern of weathering on the neck in the final days of H1 shoots, here:
You can make out that same weathering pattern, 3 years later during mid-H2 filming:
In that previous thread, mammer says this:
When that thread was popular, I agreed. But the research above that shows the same weathering patterns carrying on, and that they aren’t so different after all.
Here’s another shot showing the same weathering mark that carried over from H1 to H2:
Now there’s not really a good color shot of the proper left side of the H2 mask during filming, but seeing above how the we can identify the weathering of the neck fleshtones as being almost EXACT between H1-H2, with the exception of more black “weathering”, we can conclude that everything behind that red line I drew on the neck is a pearly or “dirty white”. I think the reason it looks this “dirty” almost pearly translucent white is because of a thin coat of paint on the neck. It’s like you can almost see the flesh poking through the white, kind of how it does on the upper corners of the Hero’s eyes:
Then cut to post filming and the proper left side of the hero seems to be all flesh tones:
But is it? In the previous thread Billy stated that he believed the reason so much flesh appears in the Polaroid photos is because the flash is washing out the white, which at first I disagreed, but now I think he may partially be correct.
I have 2 theories now for the fleshtones on the neck in the 1985 Polaroid shots.
Theory 1-
According to crew, they cleaned up the hero after the blood tears scene, which means that they probably wiped the whole thing down. What if when they did this, it took off the “heaviness” of the weathering, especially the black weathering marks on the neck/face, bringing them down from black to grey, and also stripped away even more of the white paint on the neck leaving a visible “fleshy poking through white” layer on the sides of the neck? Then when the Polaroid was taken, it washed out the white and gave us that all around “fleshy” appearance we see?
Theory 2-
After the Blood Tears scene they wiped down the hero and that took off most of the dirt around the neck, but also took off the white paint on the sides giving it an all flesh neck that was then repainted between 1985 and 1986, the following photo was taken in ‘85:
The Alleged “Repaint”
It’s a hot topic issue that the hero was either repainted or not ever repainted while in Dick’s possession.
Dick says that the mask never left his possession and never had a repaint, while the photos of the hero in 1981 and 1985-onward show a different story.
For me, it’s hard to believe that the hero didn’t have a repaint, the 1985 Polaroids and every picture of the hero after 1985 have been great evidence that it did while in Dick’s possession. I’ve yet to come up with, or be presented, reasonable evidence that it did not get a repaint while he had it besides Dick’s testimony. Does anyone have thoughts or opinions on this that they’d like to share?
So let’s assume the neck 100% had paint touch ups to the front of the neck, the question then becomes not “if”, but “when”. In Dick’s possession and he simply doesn’t remember, or was it done on set?
That’s where it’s broken down into these options (for me):
A. The hero had a sloppy repair/repaint of the neck it’s last days on set, but not thick enough paint to stop the fleshtones from being drawn out in the Polaroids if both horror masks and the photos of Tom Morga/Dick Warlock.
B. Dick had a repaint done somewhere between 1985 and 1996, but doesn’t remember.
Face Repaint?
Either way, I know one thing after all this research… The hero’s face was NOT repainted. Or at least not with a thick layer of white. When comparing the hero in 1985 vs 1996… Most of the weathering is still there. Check it out-
It’s just duller- is this because the mask was cleaned after the Blood Tears scene? Possibly…
OR could it be that when the neck repaint was done, a thin layer was applied to the rest of the mask so they paint color difference wouldn’t be as obvious?
It’s hard to tell, but the good news is I have a few incoming calls tomorrow from H2 crew who should be able to tell me if any masks were repainted on set. Will update with that information when it comes!!
Hero mask, 1981-2017
IF the face was repainted, it must have been a VERY thin wash… Check this out!!
Same weathering, 36 years later… Absolutely insane!!
Alright everybody… DISCUSS! [emoji1] [emoji1] [emoji1]
But in all seriousness, hope you all enjoy the read and I hope it sparks discussion. 
