Ghost face. "Scream" by Wes Craven: The History of the Mask Ghost Face

One of the guarantees that a maniac from a horror movie will go unpunished — at least until the end of the picture - serveshis ability to remain unrecognized. The right attribute can always help him with this - his own mask. Masks serve villains not only to hide their faces, but also to reveal character traits or biographical details. After all, anyone can be hiding under them: from a psychopath escaping from prison to your best friend. Will the next hero be able to find out the secret that the mask hides, or will he die at the hands of its wearer?

1. Ghostface ("Scream")

The symbol of Wes Craven's cult franchise "Scream" — mask of the killer nicknamed "Ghostface" — was found completely by accident. The film's producer, Marianne Maddalena, noticed it on the counter of a store she visited when she was looking for locations for filming the film. Marianne contacted Craven and offered to buy the rights to the mask from Fun World.

The design of the mask is based on Edvard Munch's famous painting "The Scream". The designer himself describes it as “a mixture of fear, grief and madness.” Immediately after the premiere of Scream, the Ghostface costume became a popular Halloween outfit. And in the 2015 series, the mask acquired its own history: it turned out that it was worn for medical purposes by a maniac named Brandon James, and later by his followers.

2. Michael Myers (“Halloween”)

Maniac Michael Myers from the Halloween series — this, according to his pursuer, Dr. Loomis, is the embodiment of pure Evil, supernatural and invincible. Like fate, he pursues the heroes of the film, it is impossible to pity him or stop him. Myers' mask very accurately reflects this essence of him: a pale face without a single emotion and the slightest hint of humanity.

Surprisingly, outside of the film this attribute has a much less creepy focus. Artist Tommy Lee Wallace based the mask on... Captain Kirk from the Star Trek series. To enhance the "scary" effect, Kirk's eyebrows were removed, his face was painted deathly pale, and his eyes were widened using scissors. The resulting mask became Michael Myers' signature look throughout the eight films in the original franchise (excluding the third, in which he did not appear), as well as in Rob Zombie's excellent remake and its less successful sequel. By the way, the actor who played Kirk, William Shatner, admitted that for a long time he did not even suspect the origin of Myers’ mask. And when he found out, he said that it was a great honor for him.

3. Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)

The creators of The Texas Massacre never tried to hide the fact that their inspiration was the bloody “career” of American serial killer Ed Gein. Gein used the skin of his victims to make interior elements and clothing, including masks — It was from this fact that the artists started, creating the image of a psychopath nicknamed Leatherface, who became the symbol of the series.

The films in the franchise use multiple masks with different faces. Actor Gunnar Hansen, who plays Leatherface, explains why this was needed: “The mask reflected the character’s state at the moment. Who did he want to be today? — that's what he became, putting on his face. While cleaning the house, he took on the appearance of an “old woman”; at dinner — “beauties”, during the hunt — "the killers"". The main idea was that there was no personality underneath the masks — Leatherface put them on to become something he could never become himself.

4. Jason Voorhees (“Friday the 13th”)

Like Michael Myers, Friday the 13th star Jason Voorhees chooses to remain silent during each of his killer marathons. The mindless death machine that exterminates sluggish students on the quiet shores of Crystal Lake became even more popular with audiences when, in the third film, the maniac acquired his own distinctive attribute. — hockey goalie mask.

This image first appeared when the film crew was testing the lighting equipment on set. During the test, actor Richard Brooker, who plays the role of Jason, was not given makeup, but was asked to simply wear a mask, which was brought to the set by a special effects artist, a big hockey fan. The director of the third film, Steve Miner, liked the resulting image, and after some improvements, the mask, along with the machete, became Voorhees’ main “talisman” throughout the subsequent films of the series. It’s interesting that one of the actors in the 2009 remake got a role in it when he compared Jason’s mask with masks from ancient tragedies, and called him a victim of fate — and its merciless arbiter.

5. Twisty the Clown ()

The popular series American Horror Story continues to delight fans every year with an abundance of colorful characters. One of the most memorable — This is, undoubtedly, the creepy killer clown named Twisty, who appeared in the fourth season. At first, he seems like an absolute madman: he kills tourists on vacation, kidnaps a child and a girl, lives in a trailer in the forest... Only in the middle of the season does the viewer learn about Twisty’s plight. As a result of an unfair accusation of pedophilia and unsuccessful attempts to return to his favorite craft, he escapes from the circus and attempts to commit suicide. — but even here he makes a mistake, completely losing his lower jaw. After this, Twisty puts on a mask with a creepy grin, hiding his mutilated face from the world.

Series creator Ryan Murphy proudly calls his protégé “the scariest clown in the history of cinema” and claims that on the set the actors were actually afraid of the actor who played the role, John Carol Lynch.

6. Collector (“Collector”)

The main character of the horror film "The Collector" — a nameless silent maniac who continues the work of Michael Myers to methodically reduce the population of residential areas. Its distinctive feature — a love of torture from the times of the medieval Inquisition and a habit of leaving one victim alive in order to later make it part of his “collection”.

The Collector's plush mask is asymmetrical and lopsided, and its mouth opening is partially closed with stitches. Only the piercing gray eyes of the maniac are visible, and this gaze causes tension and anxiety. It is all the more frightening to learn in the second part that without a mask the Collector is a completely inconspicuous person, decent and wealthy, perfectly camouflaged in the crowd — like a real predator.

7. Bane ()

“Nobody cared about me until I put on a mask.” — recognized as the main antagonist of the film that concludes Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. The director showed the world an avenger in a bat suit from a new, much darker side — and such a hero needs even darker and more dangerous rivals.

Bane is a military redneck, but he is also an excellent strategist and skilled fighter. A special medical drug in a respirator mask allows him to ignore even the most severe pain and always fight at full strength. Having come the closest of his predecessors to defeating Batman, Bane is still defeated, but nevertheless turns out to be worthy of being included in the list of the most dangerous masked villains.

8. Babyface (“Bloody Hills”)

Another memorable slasher antagonist — maniac Babyface from the horror film “Bloody Hills” directed by Dave Parker. In the story, he was born as a result of incest and spent his childhood locked in a barn. There he cut off his own face, wearing a doll mask in place of the wound to impress his crazy father, Wilson Concannon. Wilson himself wore this mask during the filming of a horror film, where he actually killed the actors in order to achieve realism in the picture. In fact, Babyface, like Leatherface, is rather a victim of circumstances and bad upbringing — It is precisely this image of “spoiled innocence” that is reflected by the mask, which consists of fragments of a cute doll’s face.

9. Frank (“Donnie Darko”)

The cult thriller and box office hit, “Donnie Darko” by Richard Kelly, won the hearts of viewers with its multi-layered plot and dark atmosphere of the story. One of the “mascots” of a successful film — it's of course a guy named Frank, dressed in a creepy grinning rodent costume. He appears in visions to the main character of the film, like the rabbit from “Alice in Wonderland,” leading him deeper and deeper into the “mad world,” which, according to him, must soon die.

Kelly himself admitted that the costume was inspired by Richard Adams’ novel “The Hill Dwellers.” And when Donnie Darko in the film asks Frank the question: “Why are you wearing that stupid bunny costume?”, he gets the answer: “Why are you wearing that stupid human costume?” Frank the Rabbit becomes a devoted guide for Donnie, but at the same time he personifies a certain supernatural force that is not subject to space, time and even death itself.

10. Predator ()

The director of the film, John McTiernan, says that his goal was to make just a good “old-school” action movie — and in the end he created a real icon of the genre, a cult film that received an Oscar nomination, and later merged with the mythology of another famous alien — Someone else's. Predator — an alien hunter who chose Earth as a testing ground for his safari. He is agile, fast and extremely dangerous, and his high-tech equipment helps him accomplish his hunting feats. The Predator's helmet-mask deserves special attention: it has a built-in thermal imager that helps him track people, a speech synthesizer to simulate sounds, as well as a laser sight and a respirator. In the sequels, where the alien race received its own hierarchy, it turns out that the masks also indicate the rank of the alien. To a worthy hunter — decent equipment! By the way, special effects master Stan Wilson, who worked on such films as “Aliens,” “Edward Scissorhands” and “Terminator,” was responsible for the Predator costume in the film.

11. The Alchemist (“Vidocq”)

The Alchemist in the film by Jean-Christophe Comard — a murderous sorcerer who steals the souls of his victims and carefully hides his identity. His main pursuer — talented detective Vidocq, a real-life French private detective. The main feature of the villain’s costume was his mirror mask, with the help of which the “removal of the soul” occurs. It also gives its owner youth and vitality, as it was created by him from magic mirrors. The reflection of one's own face in a mirror that hides the Alchemist's identity — the last thing each of the people he killed sees. The excellent work of the artist and the original image of the maniac in the film did not go unnoticed: the film received awards for best makeup and special effects at the festival in Catalonia.

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The list of notable mask-wearing villains goes on and on. — after all, this accessory has been perfectly complementing the image of a horror movie villain for many years: sometimes revealing his story and complicating his character, and sometimes simply instilling fear in an impressionable viewer. At any Halloween party, anywhere in the world, you are guaranteed to see Ghostface, Jason Voorhees, and if you're lucky, the Predator himself. This suggests that iconic horror characters in the eyes of fans of the genre are inseparable from their images — and therefore from their terrifying masks.

Creepy appearance options for Ghostface

IN 1996 director Wes Craven, whose horror « » set a new high bar for films in the slasher genre, makes a film "Scream". Among connoisseurs of youth horror films, this film has acquired no less cult status than adventure Freddy Krueger: "Scream" was replete with references to other great exponents of the genre, while at the same time deconstructing the genre decades before it became mainstream.

Innovation of work Craven was appreciated not only by the public, but also by critics: the horror film was nominated for an award Saturn in six nominations, in three of which he was the winner, including in the main nomination “ best horror movie«.

Obviously, among the merits of the picture, a special place is occupied by the visualized symbol, which has become the hallmark of the entire franchise. We're talking about a mask Ghostface, which could have turned out completely different from what we are used to seeing.

Special effects studio specialists were involved in its creation. KNB Effects, who immediately faced a dilemma: the script completely lacked a description of the mask. On the one hand, this opened up space for creativity, but on the other hand, it promised a long search for an option that would suit both the director and the studio.

Fortunately for the designers, a suitable option was found quite quickly.

Being busy looking for locations, the film producer Marianne Maddalena ended up in a house previously used for filming a film "Shadow of a Doubt". A frightening old mask was found in it. to Craven I really liked it, but it turned out that this is not some kind of makeshift “custom”, but a serial thing called "Peanut-Eyed Ghost"(approximate translation - Ghost with Peanut Eye Sockets), and its production was carried out by the company Fun World. It would be impossible to use a mask in a film without resolving copyright issues: if Craven wanted to see the mask on his maniac, he had to fork out the cash.

While the studio was figuring out the price of the issue, studio masters KNB developed their own mask designs.

Many sketches were made, some of which were variations on the company's mask Fun World: Craven asked for some changes, enough to avoid claims from the manufacturing company, but at the same time maintaining the "peanuts" look:

The other part consisted of fundamentally independent sketches, depicting a mask much more demonic:

Fortunately, negotiations between Dimension Films engaged in production "Scream", and by Fun World ended successfully. Craven got the coveted mask into his film, making it one of the most striking and recognizable horror images.

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Behind the mask of the killer in each part there are different people and motives, but they all pursue the main goal - to kill Sidney Prescott. In each film, the maniac in telephone conversations was voiced by actor Roger Jackson.

Description

The maniac got his nickname from the costume he wears - it’s an elongated white mask, very reminiscent of a screaming man from the painting “The Scream” by Edvard Munch, but more like a skull than the face of a living person: the elongated eye sockets and mouth are presented in black.

In addition, the maniac wears a black hoodie, black gloves, trousers and shoes.

Russian version of the name

The image of a maniac's costume does not have an exact name in Russian, since the characters in the trilogy simply call the villain masked killer. Possible name translation options - Man in Ghost Mask, The Man with the Face of a Ghost. The heroes of the film “Scream 4” in the official studio dubbing simply call the maniac Ghost or Mask.

Personality of the maniac

"Scream"

In the first film, the killers were schoolchildren Billy Loomis and Stu Maker. Loomis' main motive was that he believed that Sydney's mother, Maureen, was to blame for his mother leaving the family after learning that his father had cheated on Mrs. Loomis with Maureen. First, together with his best friend, the mentally unstable Stu, he killed a woman, and a year later he began the activity of an active maniac.

List of victims:

• Maureen Prescott
• Casey Baker
• Stephen Orth
• Tatum Riley
• Kenneth Jones
• Headmaster Himbry

"Scream 2"

Jill Roberts, being the cousin of the famous Sidney Prescott, was always jealous of her relative's fame. She wants to be the center of attention of the press and journalists. And together with the founder of the school film club and horror movie expert Charlie Walker, she decides to reboot the famous Woodsboro massacre, while becoming the “new Sydney”, a survivor of the bloody tragedy.

List of victims:

• Marnie Cooper
• Jenny Randall
• Olivia Morris
• Rebecca Walters
• Detective Hoss
• Officer Perkins
• Keith Roberts
• Robbie Mercer
• Kirby Reed
• Trevor Sheldon

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Pop culture references

• Ghostface is the main anti-hero of Scary Movie. Moreover, in one of the scenes, when the maniac was stoned, as well as during a telephone conversation with a character nicknamed “Small,” the mask’s facial expression changes several times.

• The maniac and the plot of the trilogy are parodied by the film “Scary Movie”.

• Ghostface appears in the company of other famous maniacs in one of the episodes of the comedy show "

Behind the mask of the killer in each part there are different people and motives, but they all pursue the main goal - to kill Sidney Prescott. In each film, the maniac in telephone conversations was voiced by actor Roger Jackson.

Description

The maniac got his nickname from the costume he wears - it’s an elongated white mask, very reminiscent of a screaming man from the painting “The Scream” by Edvard Munch, but more like a skull than the face of a living person: the elongated eye sockets and mouth are presented in black.

In addition, the maniac wears a black hoodie, black gloves, trousers and shoes.

Russian version of the name

There is no exact name for the maniac costume in Russian, since the characters in the trilogy simply call the villain masked killer. Possible name translation options - Man in Ghost Mask, The Man with the Face of a Ghost. The heroes of the film “Scream 4” in the official studio dubbing simply call the maniac Mask.

Personality of the maniac

"Scream"

In the first film, the killers were schoolchildren Billy Loomis and Stu Maker. Loomis' main motive was that he believed that Sydney's mother, Maureen, was to blame for his mother leaving the family after learning that his father had cheated on Mrs. Loomis with Maureen. First, together with his best friend, the mentally unstable Stu, he raped and killed a woman, and a year later he began the activities of an active maniac. In total they killed 6 people.

"Scream 2"

In the second part, as in the first film, there were two killers: Billy Loomis's mother, who introduced herself throughout the film as journalist Debbie Salt, who was harassing Gale Weathers, and Sidney's friend, Mickey. Mrs. Loomis wanted to take revenge on Sydney for killing Billy, and Mickey became her assistant after they met on the Internet on one of the forums for maniacs. Eight people became their victims.

"Scream 3"

Director Roman Bridger turned out to be not at all who he said he was: he is the illegitimate child of Maureen Prescott, conceived as a result of gang rape in the woman’s youth, when she came to Los Angeles to conquer Hollywood. When the grown-up Roman found his mother in Woodsboro, she refused to accept him, saying that she only had one child - daughter Sydney. Roman got angry at her and persuaded Billy and Stu (two characters from the first film) to kill her. Roman single-handedly killed 9 people.

"Scream 4 "

Jill Roberts, being the cousin of the famous Sidney Prescott, was always jealous of her relative's fame. She wants to be the center of attention of the press and journalists. And together with the founder of the school film club and horror movie expert Charlie Walker, she decides to reboot the famous Woodsboro massacre, becoming the “new Sydney”, a survivor of the bloody tragedy. The killers ended the lives of 10 people.

"Scream (TV series)"

In the series based on the original film, Ghostface has a unique origin for the first time. According to the story, in the town of Lakewood there lived a boy named Brandon James. He was deformed from birth (he was sick with Proteus Syndrome), which is why his parents kept him in the basement of the house, and the only living creature with whom he communicated was his brother. Brandon had a kind heart and many talents, and he even made a heart-shaped wooden pendant for his beloved Daisy (the "family" name of Maggie Duvall, the main character's mother). One day, dressed in a black robe and post-surgery mask, he tried to approach "Daisy" during a school Halloween party, he revealed his face to her, the girl was scared, and a drunken group of schoolchildren beat him severely. After this, Brandon went crazy and, in the same outfit, brutally killed 5 students (perhaps those who beat him) on October 9, 1994. Daisy then lured Brandon out to the lake pier, where he tried to finally hand her the wooden pendant, but nearby police opened fire, killing him. At the time of his murder, Maggie Duvall (then Anderson) was pregnant with James's child and gave birth to a girl, whom she later abandoned. This girl grew up and became known as journalist Piper Shaw, who decided to take revenge on her mother and half-sister for her father and the life she was deprived of. At the same time, at the end of the first season, it became clear that Piper had a long correspondence with Audrey Jensen, at whose request she came to Lakewood. After Piper's death on the pier of Lake Wren, someone continues her "work", ending the "game" and simultaneously killing several characters. At the end of the second season, we find out who Piper's accomplice is. He turns out to be Kieran Wilcox, Emma's boyfriend, who knew Piper before he met the main character (They also dated). At the end of the season, Kieran receives a call from a "lawyer" in prison, when he answers the phone, the killer's voice is heard asking the question: "Who gave you permission to wear my mask?", and it can be assumed that it is none other than Brandon James, since Maggie Duval and Miguel Acosta helped him heal his wounds and escape after the events on the lake.

Over the course of two seasons, Ghostface has killed more than 15 people. Both characters have a reference to the killer characters from the film: Piper Shaw is a symbiosis of Roman Bridger and Jill Robert (the "resentful" relatives of Sidney Prescott) under the "mask" of Gale Weather, and Kieran is almost a direct reference to Billy Loomis and his mother (the main character's boyfriend , avenging the death of a “loved one” in the past). It is worth considering that Kieran is the only one who, after being exposed, was not killed, but put in prison (and only then killed by an unknown person in a mask).

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Excerpt describing Ghostface

Before the opening of the campaign, Rostov received a letter from his parents, in which, briefly informing him about Natasha’s illness and about the break with Prince Andrei (this break was explained to him by Natasha’s refusal), they again asked him to resign and come home. Nikolai, having received this letter, did not try to ask for leave or resignation, but wrote to his parents that he was very sorry about Natasha’s illness and breakup with her fiancé and that he would do everything possible to fulfill their wishes. He wrote to Sonya separately.
“Dear friend of my soul,” he wrote. “Nothing but honor could keep me from returning to the village.” But now, before the opening of the campaign, I would consider myself dishonest not only before all my comrades, but also before myself, if I preferred my happiness to my duty and love for the fatherland. But this is the last parting. Believe that immediately after the war, if I am alive and everyone loves you, I will drop everything and fly to you to press you forever to my fiery chest.”
Indeed, only the opening of the campaign delayed Rostov and prevented him from coming - as he promised - and marrying Sonya. Otradnensky autumn with hunting and winter with Christmastide and Sonya's love opened to him the prospect of quiet noble joys and tranquility, which he had not known before and which now beckoned him to themselves. “A nice wife, children, a good pack of hounds, dashing ten to twelve packs of greyhounds, a household, neighbors, election service! - he thought. But now there was a campaign, and it was necessary to remain in the regiment. And since this was necessary, Nikolai Rostov, by his nature, was satisfied with the life that he led in the regiment, and managed to make this life pleasant for himself.
Arriving from vacation, joyfully greeted by his comrades, Nikolai was sent for repairs and brought excellent horses from Little Russia, which delighted him and earned him praise from his superiors. In his absence, he was promoted to captain, and when the regiment was put under martial law with an increased complement, he again received his former squadron.
The campaign began, the regiment was moved to Poland, double pay was given, new officers, new people, horses arrived; and, most importantly, that excitedly cheerful mood that accompanies the outbreak of war spread; and Rostov, aware of his advantageous position in the regiment, completely devoted himself to the pleasures and interests of military service, although he knew that sooner or later he would have to leave them.
The troops retreated from Vilna for various complex state, political and tactical reasons. Each step of retreat was accompanied by a complex interplay of interests, conclusions and passions in the main headquarters. For the hussars of the Pavlograd regiment, this entire retreat campaign, in the best part of summer, with sufficient food, was the simplest and most fun thing. They could become despondent, worry and intrigue in the main apartment, but in the deep army they did not ask themselves where and why they were going. If they regretted retreating, it was only because they had to leave a comfortable apartment, a pretty lady. If it occurred to someone that things were bad, then, as a good military man should, the one to whom it occurred to him tried to be cheerful and not think about the general course of affairs, but think about his immediate business. At first they cheerfully stood near Vilna, making acquaintances with Polish landowners and waiting and serving inspections of the sovereign and other senior commanders. Then the order came to retreat to the Sventsyans and destroy the provisions that could not be taken away. Sventsyany was remembered by the hussars only because it was a drunken camp, as the whole army called the Sventsyany camp, and because in Sventsyany there were many complaints against the troops because, taking advantage of the order to take away provisions, they also took horses among the provisions, and carriages and carpets from the Polish gentlemen. Rostov remembered Sventsyany because on the first day of entering this place he replaced the sergeant and could not cope with all the men of the squadron who had drunk too much, who, without his knowledge, took away five barrels of old beer. From Sventsyan they retreated further and further to Drissa, and again retreated from Drissa, already approaching the Russian borders.
On July 13, the residents of Pavlograd had to deal with serious business for the first time.
On the night of July 12, the night before the case, there was a strong storm with rain and thunderstorms. The summer of 1812 was generally remarkable for storms.
The two Pavlograd squadrons stood in bivouacs, among a rye field that had already been knocked out to the ground by cattle and horses. The rain was pouring down heavily, and Rostov and the young officer Ilyin, who was his patron, sat under a hastily fenced hut. An officer of their regiment, with a long mustache extending from his cheeks, was on his way to headquarters and, caught in the rain, came to Rostov.
- I, Count, am from headquarters. Have you heard of Raevsky’s feat? - And the officer told the details of the Saltanovsky battle, which he heard at headquarters.
Rostov, shaking his neck, behind which water was flowing, smoked his pipe and listened inattentively, occasionally glancing at the young officer Ilyin, who was huddling next to him. This officer, a sixteen-year-old boy who had recently joined the regiment, was now in relation to Nikolai what Nikolai was in relation to Denisov seven years ago. Ilyin tried to imitate Rostov in everything and, like a woman, was in love with him.
An officer with a double mustache, Zdrzhinsky, talked pompously about how the Saltanov Dam was the Thermopylae of the Russians, how on this dam General Raevsky committed an act worthy of antiquity. Zdrzhinsky told the story of Raevsky, who led his two sons to the dam under terrible fire and went on the attack next to them. Rostov listened to the story and not only did not say anything to confirm Zdrzhinsky’s delight, but, on the contrary, had the appearance of a man who was ashamed of what was being told to him, although he did not intend to object. Rostov, after the Austerlitz and 1807 campaigns, knew from his own experience that when telling military incidents, people always lie, just as he himself lied when telling them; secondly, he was so experienced that he knew how everything happens in war, not at all the way we can imagine and tell. And therefore he did not like Zdrzhinsky’s story, and he did not like Zdrzhinsky himself, who, with his mustache from his cheeks, according to his habit, bent low over the face of the one to whom he was telling, and crowded him into a cramped hut. Rostov looked at him silently. “Firstly, at the dam that was attacked, there must have been such confusion and crowding that even if Raevsky brought his sons out, it could not have affected anyone except about ten people who were near him, - thought Rostov, - the rest could not see how and with whom Raevsky walked along the dam. But even those who saw this could not be very inspired, because what did they care about Raevsky’s tender parental feelings when it was about their own skin? Then, the fate of the fatherland did not depend on whether the Saltanov Dam was taken or not, as they describe it to us about Thermopylae. And therefore, why was it necessary to make such a sacrifice? And then, why bother your children here, during the war? Not only would I not take Petya with my brother, I would not even take Ilyin, even this stranger to me, but a good boy, I would try to put him somewhere under protection,” Rostov continued to think, listening to Zdrzhinsky. But he did not say his thoughts: he already had experience in this. He knew that this story contributed to the glorification of our weapons, and therefore he had to pretend that he did not doubt him. That's what he did.