Michael Myers Halloween Mask & Costume

The Evil Behind the Mask of Michael Myers

The mask that covers the face of the Michael Myers character in the Halloween
films is perhaps one of the most terrifying and familiar images in film. Although
one of the most recognizable on-screen characters, the “real” Michael
Myers is never actually seen. The only image that the audience is left with
is the white, expressionless mask that he wears. Originally made from a latex
character mask that was spray-painted white, it is frightening because it literally
masks the humanity of Myers, leaving just an embodiment of faceless evil as
he hunts teenagers down and kills them. Compared with other masks that are worn
by horror film killers, e.g.: Hannibal Lecter’s leather mask with barred
mouth shield, Jason Voorhees’ (from Friday the 13th) plastic hockey mask,
or the Scream antagonist’s cartoon mask, Michael’s mask is frightening
in that it has recognizably human features. And yet, the whiteness of the mask
with the eye sockets cut out, create a blank stillness that is simultaneously
not human. John Carpenter, the creator of the Halloween series, took inspiration
from a mental institution he had visited during a class trip in college.

In later interviews, he remembered one of the most serious patients at the
hospital, a young boy who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and eluded
to this patient’s distinctly un-relatable affect and “real evil
stare” as the creative forces behind the creation of the Michael Myers
character. It is both familiar and totally frightening. It seems as though this
combination of the familiar and terrifying is one that resonates with audiences.
The original Halloween came out in 1978, and yet over 30 years later, the Michael
Myers mask is a staple at any Halloween costume store. In fact, during the three
decades since the world was introduced to Michael, he has been immortalized
in book, video game, and comic book adaptations as well as movie remakes and
references in music, movies, and pop culture. Just this year, Rob Zombie’s
latest remake of the Michael Myers story was released as Halloween II. Audiences
continue to buy tickets to be scared by that blank white mask.

The Movie Mask of Michael Myers
Michael Myers is the homicidal maniac in the Halloween series of movies. He
wears a plain white featureless mask. John Carpenter, director and creator of
the original film, says that he chose this because it removes human features
and makes him look like an unstoppable evil force. Combined with his black clothing
the white face jumps out from the screen and makes you take notice immediately.
This appearance makes Myers an effective villain despite his lack of speech.
The mask used was created from a William Shatner Halloween mask, purchased for
$1.98. The original film had a very low budget and they had to make something
work to create Carpenter’s vision. Production designer Tommy Lee Wallace
(who also wore the mask playing Myers/The Shape in the final scenes of the film)
cut the eyeholes larger and rounder, removed the eyebrows and sideburns, poofed
up the hair so it looked “demented and strange” and finally spray-painted
the mask white. Wallace explains, “It created a shiver right in the room,
and we knew we had something special.” The same mask was used in the sequel.

It was later sold to man who owns haunted houses in Ohio. Rob Zombie made a
remake of Halloween in 2007, which focused more on Myers as the primary character.
It showed his time in the Smith’s Grove mental facility where he picked
up the hobby of making paper-mache masks, which gave the mask a back-story,
rather than having him just randomly pick up a mask as he did in the original.
In the 20 plus years since the original film, Michael Myers has become, appropriately
enough, a very popular Halloween costume. Many replicas of his mask are available
from a cheap plastic version sold at any store to expensive rubber full face
ones ranging up to 100 dollars US available at many online stores. A similar
but more expressive white mask was used in the Scream series of films. These
movies were a tribute to the classic horror films that at the same time followed
and parodied some of the regular themes of the horror films of the 1970s and
1980s.

The History of the Mask of Micheal Myers

The mask that the killer Michael Myers wears in all the Halloween movies is
the first thing people remember about the character. It instills fear and horror
in movie goers everywhere. So where did the mask idea come from, and how did
they make it? This article will give you a short background into the mask and
why it was used in all the movies. The mask itself was designed by Tommy Lee
Wallace, which was the production designer of the original Halloween movie.
He needed something that look as thou the person had a blank face look. Since
there was very little money in the budget, he went to a party store and found
a William Shatner mask. Yes, the scary face of Jason was a modified Shatner
Halloween mask. After getting the mask, Wallace modified the mask to fit what
he was looking for. First he cut the eye holes to a bigger size. Then he removed
the sideburns and eyebrows.

The hair was next, where they shocked it up to look like a crazy person’s
hair. Then the last touch was added by spray painting the mash a very bright
white. Thus the mask of Michael Myers was born for the sliver screen. When he
was asked why he designed the face covering the way he did, he basically said
that he wanted a human face, but special. He wanted a face that didn’t
look like anyone in particular. So he got the idea for the mask from a film
called “Eyes without a face”. It was a French film about girl that
suffered massive burns to her face.

So this girl wore a special face covering that burn but the side effect was
that the only thing you saw was her eyes. She couldn’t show emotion or
anything, so it was very creepy said Wallace. Who would have thought the face
of the most evil character in show business started out as a rubber mask that
was bought at a Hollywood mask shop? The funny thing about it was that the mask
was supposed to be William Shatner, which never looked like him at all. I hope
that you learned something new about the mask that you never did before. I also
hope you enjoyed the article. Thank you and good day.

Scarry Costume Michael Myers Halloween Mask

There are many things that may strike fear into the hearts of people. One particular
object is the Michael Myers Halloween mask. Relentless, cold, heartless, and
murderer are all themes associated with this dark symbol of evil. There are
many aspects that make this mask particularly horrifying. The first thing is
its serious ability in not trying to fool anyone. It is not a mask of a monster,
a creature, or a clown with an emotion. This would clearly point out the fraud
in the wearer. This mask is simply a mask of a human being. A human being that
is pale and expressionless, remorseless after taking life after life. The mask
also strikes a resemblance of a decaying individual, who is already dead. The
only similarity it shares with mainstream society is that close resemblance
to a dead person, which is very unsettling.

The audience shares a common theme with Myers, but not a happy theme. The mask
also does not have an opening for speech or is capable of utilizing facial emotions.
For a murderer to not be able to strike any type of heartfelt emotion in itself
is horrifying. The themes associated with this masks fits perfectly with the
themes in the original movies. This psychopathic individual is dead to the world
and only has one remorseless thing on his mind, murder. The way the eyes are
cut out of the mask’s eye sockets proves that this individual can no longer
see with a heart. It is only seeing through the instinct of murder.

The mysterious aura the mask gives off also adds to the mystique of the character.
The audience does not need to ask how this person became who he is, but how
the victims are going to survive his onslaught. Furthermore, the audience does
not need to understand why he is doing the things he is, but they just understand
he is serious and dangerous. Coupled with his incredible strength and incredibly
quick strides, the Michael Myers Halloween mask proves to be one of the most
horrifying symbols of evil ever to come out of the horror genre.

When asked about who people think is Halloween’s scariest character,
invariably Michael Myers ends up topping many lists and it’s a safe bet
that come Halloween, you will see someone wearing a Michael Myers Halloween
mask to affirm this frightening fact. Michael Myers is a creation of filmmakers
John Carpenter and Debra Hill and was originally featured in the low-budget
fright film Halloween in 1978. The original Halloween film became an almost
instant hit and also integrated Myers in our culture as a figure of terror for
years to come. Initially, in the original movie, viewers are uncertain as to
whether Michael Myers is just an insane maniac or a supernatural terror, but
it quickly becomes evident that Myers is more than human.

The movie is set in a sleepy town in the Midwest called Haddonfield, Illinois
when Michael escapes a mental institution on Halloween night after being incarcerated
there since committing a murder as a child. Upon his escape, he starts on an
unstoppable murderous path across the town. Myers is an intimidating killing
machine in the movie, wearing just a black pair of coveralls and a simple white
mask. This simple treatment somehow struck a terrifying cord in viewers. A fun
fact about the white mask is that basis for the mask was that it was really
a William Shatner (of Captain Kirk fame) mask simply painted white by the art
director for the movie. Many think that it is the dark eyes that make this character
the most intimidating and scary.

The Michael Myers character became so popular that he has gone onto appear
in nine movies and was only excluded in one of the Halloween series movies.
Myers and the Halloween movies were reinvigorated in 2007 when horror film director
Rob Zombie took on the franchise and modernized it into a new and terrifying
form. Neither Halloween, the movies or, Michael Myers has left the cultural
scene for more than a small stretch of years and the Michael Myers Halloween
mask that can be seen as a mainstay each Halloween certainly is testament to
Myers terrifying influence in our culture.

Mass Murderer Michael Myer’s Halloween Mask

Michael Myers is a fictional character from the movie Halloween. It is a series
of movies by Slasher Films and Michael Myers is portrayed as a serial killer.
The character depicts a young boy who kills his sister and returns home after
a long gap of fifteen years. He then starts to kill more and more teenagers.
The character Michael Myers has appeared in nine movies, video games, novels
and several comic books. The role of Michael Myers is played by Nick Castle
for most of the film with Tony Moran and Tommy Lee Wallace. The first movie
Halloween 1 was done in 1978 and Michael Myers entered the literature in 1979.
Many novels were written in the Halloween Series and the final installment was
Halloween 4 in 1988 NY Nicholas Grabowsky.

The characters first breakthrough into comics was by Brian Pulido’s Chaos
Comics. Halloween comic series are very famous all around the world. The name
Michael Myers was derived from the name of the distributor who worked with Debra
Hills and John Carpenter. The Halloween remake movie came in the year 2007.
A common characterization is that Michael Myers is evil. In all the Halloween
movies, Michael Myers is referred to as “The Shape”. Michael does
not speak in the films. The only time the audience has heard his voice is in
the 2007 remake. The video game portraying Michael Myer shoes a babysitter saving
kids from a homicidal maniac. It is a rare game often being played on emulators.
The video game debut was in 1983. A study has revealed Michael as symbol of
“Pure Evil” and when compared to the other characters Michael was
ranked the highest. So we can say Michael is a mythical and supernatural character.

The Michael Myers Costume
The secret origin of the Michael Myers mask from Halloween Perhaps you’ve
heard the urban legend about the mask that’s worn by the terrifying psycho
killer Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s classic horror movie “Halloween”
and its various sequels and remakes. According to the legend, the white, eerily
expressionless mask is actually a leftover rubber cast of none other than William
Shatner, the original Captain Kirk from “Star Trek”! If you’ve
seen the film, you’ve probably looked at the mask and noticed the resemblance
to the young Shatner’s face. Could there be any truth to this strange
legend, or is it just another bit of fabricated and lurid Hollywood lore, like
the macabre stories of the Munchkin actor who supposedly hung himself on the
set of “The Wizard of Oz”? Well, believe it or not, the “Halloween”
mask really was based on Shatner’s face.

The film’s makeup artists originally planned for Michael Myers to be
wearing a scary clown mask, but they simply couldn’t afford it. They were
working with a very limited budget. The film’s entire budget was reportedly
a mere $320,000, with half of that going to the production’s Panavison
cameras. So, they went to a costume store and bought an old Captain Kirk mask
made by the Don Post company. It cost $1.98, the cheapest mask that was available
in the store at the time. They spray painted it white and styled the hair to
make it look more wild. They also cut the eye holes to make them a bit bigger,
so the actor playing Myers (Nick Castle) could see better, and also to make
the mask look less like Shatner.

The “Halloween” makeup artists probably figured that nobody would
ever look at the blank, white mask and notice the resemblance to Shatner, but
they never counted on the movie being popular for decades and watched literally
dozens of times by fans who would notice every little detail. Shatner himself
has verified the weird story, adding an amusing detail of his own. On at least
one occasion when his daughters were children, he took them trick or treating
while wearing the mask. He had the unusual experience of wearing his own face
for Halloween!

Michael Myers Mask & Costume

Michael Myers Halloween masks are certainly a popular item around this time
of year. From the first year the original movie came out up to recently this
past month with the release of the remake, children and adults of all ages and
backgrounds get the urge to don the mask and be Michael Myers for a day. This
is one of the few costumes a person can make complete without having to go the
extra mile regarding the rest of the get up. For example, if you just had to
be Freddy Krueger, to pull it off in any authentic sense you would need to find
(or make) a very specific red and black striped shirt, rip and tear it just
so. It would seem significantly easier to go out on the town for a night as
Michael, as just about any generic manifestation of black-clad garb would make
you look enough like the real deal, as long as you find that mask.

Which brings us to the one potential problem involved, if you’re looking
to recreate the monster portrayed in Rob Zombies very recent remake of the film
classic, your chances of finding the appropriate facial wear are significantly
better. Michael Myers in this incarnation didn’t even have the trademark
mask on for one hundred percent of the first remake, as he did in the original.
However, even while the original series was still churning out sequel after
sequel; Michael’s mask was getting harder and harder to find, due to either
increased interest or lack thereof. Chances are your local Halloween shop will
not be able to help you mimic the original Michael. Do not despair, as usual,
there are plenty of sources online to help if going as Rob Zombies incarnation
is simply not going to work for you purists. You will find that there are in
fact many options regarding quality and price, from in-a-pinch classic Michael
to downright uncanny recreations. Good luck, and happy haunting!

The Mask That Started It All When the original Halloween movie was in the filming
process, the creators considered the mask of the killer, Michael Myers, to be
one of the most vital parts of his appearance. The creators wanted the mask
to have a human appearance, but also a blank face. Tommy Lee Wallace, who was
the production designer and co-editor of the film, was in charge of making sure
that the best possible mask was found. As it turned out, Wallace wound up purchasing
a William Shatner mask which he claimed did not actually resemble the famous
Star Trek actor. Wallace then went to work editing the mask to make it appear
more frightening. First, he removed the eyebrows and sideburns from the mask
to give it the blank look the creators desired. After doing this, he opened
up the eyeholes wider and fluffed the mask’s hair to give it a more unique
appearance.

The film’s director, John Carpenter, said that the crew did not have
much in the way of money for the mask, so they had to get creative with it.
Carpenter also said that the image he envisioned for the mask could be traced
to a French movie called Eyes With out a Face, which was about a girl who wore
a mask constantly because she had burned her face. After the completion of the
first Halloween film, the mask lived on. Despite what some may think, the same
exact Michael Myers mask was actually used once again in the second movie.

During the filming of the second Halloween movie, the mask was actually kept
under Debra Hill’s bed until it was time to be worn by Myers’ portrayer,
Dick Warlock. Many fanatics claim that this mask was different from the original
Shatner mask used in the immensely popular first film. The cast and crew beg
to differ, saying that any differences the audience may notice are a result
of different lighting techniques that may have given the mask an altered appearance.
Since then, the masks used in the various Halloween films have evolved and changed.
As time passed, the original mask was eventually sold to a collector in Ohio
who owns and operates his own haunted houses.

About Michael Myers Mask
Anyone can be hidden in a mask for a positive or negative purpose, so was the
character Michael Myers was made in the movie. He was a negative character in
an English movie. The mask used in this movie and many other kind of masks are
hand made. The talent, skill and the creativity of the designer of the mask
gets depicted in the finished mask. This one also has its own quality of a negative
character. A mask can express happiness, seriousness, anger, frustration or
any kind of feeling which may be negative or positive. This mask depicts the
hidden face of a murderer named Michael Myers who murders his own sister in
the movie.

There are so many methods of preparing masks which are unique. This one was
prepared by pouring high quality glue and latex into the mold which was already
prepared by keeping in mind the character in the movie. After pouring the necessary
liquid materials into the mold the setup is allowed to harden. Later on when
the hardening process is completely over the mold is removed which leaves back
the hardened liquid material in the shape of the mold. It is not yet over. Several
other layers of specific materials are given as coatings on the mask. When that
process is over the mask is ready for the designer to bring in a human appearance
in the mask by making eye holes and any other specific appearance producing
changes needed for a particular character, so was the mask in the movie was
also made to depict a brutal character of a murderer.

To express a brutal character in the movie that particular mask was prepared
using high quality latex. It expresses a feeling of horror and the tricks of
the particular character. There are also techniques on how to transform an off
the shelf mask into one which would be loved wear. The masks of the Halloween
movies are great to be watched at. Fictional characters like this should have
such an appearance to express the feeling of horror and brutality for the movie
to go successful.

Michael Myers Halloween Mask
Michael Myers is a well known fictional character who has appeared in many
horror/slasher movies. Despite being associated with crime, violence and murder,
Michael Myers is a very popular character among people of all ages. Not only
has this fictional character been in movies, but there are now postcards on
him, video games, comic books and the internet has many websites on the character.
The face of Michael Myers is that of pure evil, scary looking and sinister.
Over the years, the one common theme in Michael Myers character is the mask.
The mask has always been an enigma. The mask was intended to create a blank
face devoid of all expressions with sinister looking eyes. Michael Myers mask
has some distinct features including large eye holes, no eye brows or side burns.
This is designed to give the audience an image of a person who is dumb, demented
and strange. The mask is devoid of any human emotion and has no features.

Over the years since the first Michael Myers mask appeared in the late 70s,
the mask has gone little change and the audience still seems fascinated by it.
Today, one can buy a Michael Myers mask to wear at any scary party or at Halloween.
The mask is sold in many department stores and also online. Most of the Michael
Myers masks sold online are just as creepy as the real mask in movies. The available
Michael Myers masks are made in various fabrics including polyethylene, latex,
plastic and cotton. The masks are available in various styles and colors. Unfortunately,
most stores seem to have just one size of the mask for everyone. The only one
minor negative about the mask is that the hair is not as puffed up as in the
movies. The hair in the mask is quite flat and is some cases it is slightly
too long at the cheeks. Before buys a Michael Myers mask it is essential to
go online and browse through the various catalogs.

There are different styles and the prices do vary. Because there is just one
size available, it is important to get the right one. Purchasing the mask is
best done at a local department store where one can get a chance to try the
mask. There is no point in buying a mask which is too big and you are not able
to see. This may make you look like Michael Myers the clown- which is not what
Michael is all about. The cost of the Michael Myers mask ranges from $30-$90.
For those individuals who have allergies to rubber, it is important to get a
latex mask.