This is my favorite folk horror movie. Combine a pagan cult and Christopher Motherfuckin’ Lee, and you get some of the creepiest masks in horror movie history.
This movie still gives me the heebie-jeebies.
10/07/2024
10/04/2024
Horror 203: The Big Four
I don’t even need to name them because everyone knows the Mount Rushmore of horror movie masks.
Leatherface, from 1974’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, directed by Tobe Hooper, has a mask made of dried human skin. Played by the late Gunnar Hansen, Leatherface is a chainsaw-wielding inbred fiend from a family of cannibals.
Michael Myers, from 1978’s John Carpenter classic Halloween, has an altered William Shatner mask. Production designer Tommy Lee Wallace found the mask in a local shop, shaved off the sideburns, widened the eyeholes, jacked the hair, spray-painted it white, and an icon–and my favorite slasher–was born.
Jason Voorhees wore a bag on his head in 1981’s Friday the 13th Part 2, but for 1982’s Part 3, F/X supervisor Martin Sandoff happened to have some hockey gear on set and director Steve Miner loved his Detroit Red Wings mask. After that, it was off to the races and the name Jason Voorhees became synonymous with hockey masks.
Ghostface, from 1996’s Wes Craven’s masterpiece Scream, has a mask that’s based on Edvard Munch’s The Scream and the film poster to Pink Floyd’s The Wall, and originally created by Fun World. It was different and an instant classic.
You will find these four iconic masks on any respectable list and it would be disrespectful to leave it off mine.
10/01/2024
Horror 203: Best Masks
In my opinion, a good horror mask is most effective when it is simplistic. There have been plenty of good ones over the years and true fans of the genre know that a lot of later masks were influenced by earlier ones in lesser-known films. Some years back before I left the US, back when Netflix was solely a DVD mail service, I went down a rabbit hole and watched a lot of old horror movies. It was a time, I tell you! Netflix ain’t shit now, but I digress. In those old flicks, I got introduced to some creepy masks.
What’s always been most effective for me as a young horror head is a plain white mask with large eye holes. It’s oftentimes better when the eyes aren’t seen, but it’s also extremely creepy when they are, depending on the situation. A white mask is most effective for reflecting all the fears your mind unfurls in a stressful situation, at least that’s the case for yours truly. Second place would be a good animal or creature mask. But I also have to give some love to definitive masks that are associated with one character or movie and its effect cannot be replicated under any circumstances. So for this year’s Halloween celebration, I will highlight some of my favorite horror movie masks.
Sources:
Top 10 Masked Killers in Horror Movie History
Top 21 Scariest Horror Movie Masks | Den of Geek
Wikipedia
IMDb
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