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.