Over the course of eleven movies, the mask of Michael Myers has gone through several slightly varying incarnations, but as a direct sequel to the original 1978 Halloween, the team behind the recent Blumhouse film of the same name felt it was important that they offered a faithful recreation of the original version of the prop.
In a new featurette from the home release of David Gordon Green’s horror hit, FX makeup designer Christopher Nelson discusses the process of remaking the familiar mask that first graced our screens over four decades ago:
“Approaching the mask had to have the same expression, the way the dirt collected on the nose and the mouth and on the neck and the way it warped specifically. That original mask had an expression of tragedy, of blankness.”
The process of recreating the original face of Michael Myers is complicated somewhat by the slightly crude origins of the prop, which was a modified version of a Captain James T. Kirk mask that editor Tommy Wallace found in a local store. That being said, the latest version of the mask wasn’t exactly intended to be an exact replica of the 1978 version, with Nelson telling Cinema Blend last year that he also tried to capture the withering effects of time in the folds and wrinkles of this forty-year-old accessory.
In any case, the featurette also includes a clip of Green explaining that he wanted actor James Jude Courtney to “disappear into the essence of evil” when he was in his mask, and sure enough, Courtney claims that he was “in an altered state” when he was wearing the prop, allowing him to channel a side of himself that he’s rarely in touch with.
Evidently, a lot of fans and critics thought that Green’s film did a commendable job of recreating the ominous presence of Michael Myers, making it inevitable that the famed killer would return for at least one more sequel. As it stands, we’re still waiting for details on the follow-up, but in the meantime, Blumhouse’s Halloween is out now on Blu-Ray and DVD.
