Forums
Horror Movie Talk
Behind The Mask:A Look At The Men Who Brought Michael Myers To The Screen
If you haven't noticed on Horrorbid,but were all pretty pumped that it's October.Being October,this would also mean that its time for our favorite holiday HALLOWEEN.October always graces us a with good look at horror movies of all kind,but no film bigger than the clasc itself,John Carpenter's Halloween.Now we all know the clasc icons,Freddy,Jason,Pinhead and ofcourse Michael Myers.With those icons we always associate the names Robert Englund or Kane Hodder or Doug Bradley with them but people never really seem to put into perspective is who brought the phycal character of Michael Myers onto the screen.There's been nine films in the franchise that feature Michael(exclude Halloween 3)and in them there's been eight different actors to grace the iconic Myers mask(subtracting the child actors from the franchise).So I thought I'd do a little research and give some credit to the actors that gave us our icon.
First we have one of the more well know,mainly because he was the first Nick Castle.Nick(seen above),met John Carpenter during their time at the Univerty of South California.Nick thought he'd just hangout on the set of Halloween one day and watch his friend John in action,when John actually convinced him to where the mask.He was paid $25 a day for the roll.Who knew the film and it's $300,000 budget would take off and become one of the most well-know horror movies to date.With the orginal however there were two Myers.Towards the end of the film,Laurie Strode rips off Michael's mask to reveal his face but he doesn't reveal Nick's face but Tony Moran,the face of Michael Myers.Tony was only shot with the mask on for the last few scenes but he showed us under the mask and for that he'll always be remembered.
After the success of the first Hallowen ofcourse there came a sequel.In 1981,Halloween 2 graced screens and like all horror sequels it didn't live up to the original and with it came a new man behind the mask.Dick Warlock was that man.Dick started a long trend of having stunt men play Michael.So not only did he do the stunts for the film but he also put the mask on and gave us one of the most memorable pictures in the franchise(seen above).
Halloween 3 left out Michael but Halloween 4 featured the return of the character(thus the title Halloween 4:The Return of Michael Myers).With this film we got to see actor George P.Wilbur,take the torch.But not only did he take the torch and pass it on,he also took it right back.George became the first actor to portray Michael more than once in the franchise.He killed in the fourth and came back a film later to kill in the xth.He like the others was a stunt man too which made him right for the character with his ze.But he's got the fourth and fifth so we can't skip the fifth.In the fifth movie of the franchise,Halloween 5:The Revenge of Michael Myers,Don Shanks took up the knife.Don,also a stuntman,took the screen in 1989 for the film.nce then he has continued to coordinate stunts but also portrayed The Fisherman in the less than memorable film I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer.
Seen above under the mask is stuntman Chris Durand.Chris is a well-known stuntman,being in over fifty films but the only true acting he has experienced was his time as The Shape in the Halloween H20:20 Years Later.This film featured the return of the original Laurie Strode,Jamie Lee Curtis,to the franchise.Though with much hype built up for the film sadly it wasn't the orginal(plus the fact the budget for the masks had seemed to gone down a lot).Following in Chris' footsteps was Brad Loree.Brad is also a stuntman who has helped with many films but his only acting was in 2002's Halloween:Resurrection.The franchise again was pushing it with this eighth film but Brad did his duty of portaying the icon and for that we will always remember him.
Now with all clasc horror movies,there comes the remake.We've seen it with Freddy and we've seen it with Jason so odds are we're gonna see it with Michael...and we did.Now Rob Zombie is one of my favorite directors,so I was pumped knowing he'd direct the remake,as compared to other directors.I'm not gonna get into opinions on the remake because that's an entirely different article.But in 2007 with Rob Zombie's Halloween,X-Men's Sabretooth put the mask on and gave us on new look at the terror.That man would Tyler Mane.Being 6'9 he seems like he'd be pretty terrorizing even without the mask.Before movies he was a wrestle and that followed by appearances in X-Men,The Devil's Rejects and Troy.Following Zombie's first Halloween came it's sequel Halloween 2 or H2.Again Mane took the mask and slashed away at anything in his path.This would make him the second actor in the franchise to play Myers more than once(George P Wilbur).That's it for the Myer's so far but with all this news on H3,who knows who could pick up the knife next.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Who could forget the kid's who played young Michael Myers? Above we see Will Sandin right after he commited Michael's first ever on screen murder in the franchise and the one that started it all.In the prequel section of Rob Zombie's Halloween we get a better look at the young kid who's grow up the be one of the most terrorizing killers.Daeg Faerch plays a young Myers and may I say plays a very scary one too.To live up to Tyler Mane is tough but he did a good job.Then in the sequel Daeg did not return to the role but Chase Wright Vanek filled in to play the young Myers in afew scenes.
First we have one of the more well know,mainly because he was the first Nick Castle.Nick(seen above),met John Carpenter during their time at the Univerty of South California.Nick thought he'd just hangout on the set of Halloween one day and watch his friend John in action,when John actually convinced him to where the mask.He was paid $25 a day for the roll.Who knew the film and it's $300,000 budget would take off and become one of the most well-know horror movies to date.With the orginal however there were two Myers.Towards the end of the film,Laurie Strode rips off Michael's mask to reveal his face but he doesn't reveal Nick's face but Tony Moran,the face of Michael Myers.Tony was only shot with the mask on for the last few scenes but he showed us under the mask and for that he'll always be remembered.
After the success of the first Hallowen ofcourse there came a sequel.In 1981,Halloween 2 graced screens and like all horror sequels it didn't live up to the original and with it came a new man behind the mask.Dick Warlock was that man.Dick started a long trend of having stunt men play Michael.So not only did he do the stunts for the film but he also put the mask on and gave us one of the most memorable pictures in the franchise(seen above).
Halloween 3 left out Michael but Halloween 4 featured the return of the character(thus the title Halloween 4:The Return of Michael Myers).With this film we got to see actor George P.Wilbur,take the torch.But not only did he take the torch and pass it on,he also took it right back.George became the first actor to portray Michael more than once in the franchise.He killed in the fourth and came back a film later to kill in the xth.He like the others was a stunt man too which made him right for the character with his ze.But he's got the fourth and fifth so we can't skip the fifth.In the fifth movie of the franchise,Halloween 5:The Revenge of Michael Myers,Don Shanks took up the knife.Don,also a stuntman,took the screen in 1989 for the film.nce then he has continued to coordinate stunts but also portrayed The Fisherman in the less than memorable film I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer.
Seen above under the mask is stuntman Chris Durand.Chris is a well-known stuntman,being in over fifty films but the only true acting he has experienced was his time as The Shape in the Halloween H20:20 Years Later.This film featured the return of the original Laurie Strode,Jamie Lee Curtis,to the franchise.Though with much hype built up for the film sadly it wasn't the orginal(plus the fact the budget for the masks had seemed to gone down a lot).Following in Chris' footsteps was Brad Loree.Brad is also a stuntman who has helped with many films but his only acting was in 2002's Halloween:Resurrection.The franchise again was pushing it with this eighth film but Brad did his duty of portaying the icon and for that we will always remember him.
Now with all clasc horror movies,there comes the remake.We've seen it with Freddy and we've seen it with Jason so odds are we're gonna see it with Michael...and we did.Now Rob Zombie is one of my favorite directors,so I was pumped knowing he'd direct the remake,as compared to other directors.I'm not gonna get into opinions on the remake because that's an entirely different article.But in 2007 with Rob Zombie's Halloween,X-Men's Sabretooth put the mask on and gave us on new look at the terror.That man would Tyler Mane.Being 6'9 he seems like he'd be pretty terrorizing even without the mask.Before movies he was a wrestle and that followed by appearances in X-Men,The Devil's Rejects and Troy.Following Zombie's first Halloween came it's sequel Halloween 2 or H2.Again Mane took the mask and slashed away at anything in his path.This would make him the second actor in the franchise to play Myers more than once(George P Wilbur).That's it for the Myer's so far but with all this news on H3,who knows who could pick up the knife next.HONORABLE MENTIONS
Who could forget the kid's who played young Michael Myers? Above we see Will Sandin right after he commited Michael's first ever on screen murder in the franchise and the one that started it all.In the prequel section of Rob Zombie's Halloween we get a better look at the young kid who's grow up the be one of the most terrorizing killers.Daeg Faerch plays a young Myers and may I say plays a very scary one too.To live up to Tyler Mane is tough but he did a good job.Then in the sequel Daeg did not return to the role but Chase Wright Vanek filled in to play the young Myers in afew scenes.
zombie10
Sunday 10/02/2011 at 04:25 AM | 83598
