Did You Know that Michael Myers’ Mask Was a Repurposed Captain Kirk Mask?
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The year 1978 was a very important year for horror cinema. This is the year when John Carpenter’s classic slasher Halloween came out and changed history. Carpenter would go on to become a master of the genre known for his unconventional, yet authentic approach to his movies, while the movie gave birth to a franchise that has been active until recently.
And while none of the sequels ended up being very successful, the first movie is still lauded as one of the best examples of horror cinema, and it definitely set the tone for all future slashers, including such 1980s classics as Cunningham’s Friday the 13th and Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street.
But, this report is not going to be about the historical impact of the movie, but rather about a true story on how Michael Myers’ infamous mask was actually created and how Star Trek‘s Captain Kirk, played by William Shatner, is connected to the whole story, although he is not even mentioned in the movie.
And while Halloween ended up earning roughly $70 million at the box office in 1978, which was an incredible amount of money for the time, the movie’s actual production budget was $300,000–325,000, which was basically pocket money for a movie.
Okay, the only big name in the movie was Donald Pleasance, and he didn’t have much screen time, as Jamie Lee Curtis was still not a proper star then, so the actors’ fees were not that high, but still – that was not much even in 1978.
And while this isn’t surprising for John Carpenter, as fans will know that the actor preferred low-budget productions and never wanted to participate in any major studio big-budget projects, it resulted in a very interesting story related to Michael Myers’ famous mask.
You might not notice the resemblance, but the mask actually depicts a very famous fictional character who was played by a very famous actor at the time.
So, what happened? Well, due to the low budget, costumes, masks, and props were often made from things that the crew members had with them or could buy quickly and for very little money.
The film’s production designer was Tommy Lee Wallace, who would later go on to direct the famous mini-series It starring Tim Curry as Pennywise, in order to make the Boogeyman, as Myers was called, look more frightening, he went to a costume shop on Hollywood Boulevard and bought a William Shatner (Captain Kirk) mask for $1.98.
Carpenter later explained how “widened the eye holes and spray-painted the flesh a bluish white. In the script it said Michael Myers’s mask had ‘the pale features of a human face’ and it truly was spooky looking. I can only imagine the result if they hadn’t painted the mask white. Children would be checking their closet for William Shatner after Tommy got through with it.”
And that is how history was made. Shatner was not planned to be the “face” of Michael Myers, but it turned out to be a very interesting coincidence that still makes for a brilliant story from the history of cinema. We’re just wondering how many people actually recognized the face back in 1978 and how many children went on to fear William Shatner after Halloween.
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