If you were hoping to find masks of your favorite movie characters here, you’re in the wrong place. This isn’t about masks you wear, it’s about the masks some of the darkest characters wear. So what makes a good mask? How does it project the killers identity, what form does it take and what is it’s function? So we’re not just looking at what looked cool, but what served the killer(s) the best.
7. The Pighead from Motel Hell. The movie tagline was “It takes all kinds of critters to make farmer Vincent’s fritters”. When engaging in one of the movies duels with the good guys, farmer Vincent puts on what is portrayed as as actual severed pig head as a disguise. The movie is a camp classic, but the idea of the severed pig head/face was later repurposed as one of the masks in the Saw series.
6. The Animals from You’re Next. I am trying not to let my personal love for this movie bias my choice here, because I really think this collection of masks deserve their due. In the movie a family is target for what at first looks like a home invasion by a group of killers wearing a type of old school animal mask. There is something very terrifying about these expressionless masks that also make the wearers look like these actually have animal heads on human bodies.
5. Scream Mask. Oh, this mask should have been so much higher on the list, but due to countless parodies and it’s ready availability around Halloween, it’s taken on a bit of a cheesy appearance. It now looks like it belongs in a place in the 90’s as opposed to the many timeless masks featured on the list.
4. The Town That Dreaded Sundown Mask. This is probably the most down and dirty mask of all time. Originally kind of a pillowcase with eyeholes, it was later re-imagined as more a burlap type mask. This mask inspired Jason’s original mask before he took up hockey in Friday the 13th part III and even the main male murder in The Strangers
3. Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. What’s more scary that wearing someone else’s face? How about wearing someone else’s face with a hint of women’s makeup on it. The leather partial mask hinted that Leatherface had multiple issues he was dealing with along with the happiness he got from carving people up with a chainsaw.
2. Michael Myers Mask from Halloween. It’s now well known that the Michael Myers mask is a repurposed William Shatner mask. The repaint done for the Halloween movie left the mask near expressionless and that worked so incredibly well for what was at that time a mindless killing machine. One could easily imagine that Michaels face displayed a similar lack of emotion underneath.
1. Jason Voorhees Hockey Mask from the Friday The 13th series. Why number one? Well it encompasses many of the other benefits of the other masks on the list, including near total anonymity for the wearer, the thing that kicks it up a notch is that is also functional. Jason has taken enormous, powerful damage to the face and the mask has also protected him.
Bonus: While not a horror movie, Frank’s mask from Donnie Darko has to be mentioned. The deformed rabbit mask worn by the character that warns Donnie that the world will end in 28 days is grotesque and incredibly iconic. It conveys an otherworldliness that hinges between horror and sci-fi and it struck a perfect balance for what is for many a head-scratcher of a movie.
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