WEBVTT - The Killer's Mask 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:05.840 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:14.800 Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:17.239 My name is Robert Lynn, and I'm Joe McCormick, and 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:21.919 welcome to October. That's right. October for us is a 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:28.560 just a full month of Halloween flavored, spooky, creepy, monstrous content. Uh. 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:31.280 You know, we would put out monstrous and occasionally horror 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:34.080 theme content at other points during the year, but we 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:37.800 really try and make sure that October is just jam packed. 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:41.760 We take our our we take this one holiday very seriously. Anyway, 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:45.320 it's monster science all month, that's right. And so today, Robert, 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:49.720 he wanted to talk about horror movies and masks. Yeah, 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:53.240 I kind of. I just kept thinking about this recently, 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:55.840 and I don't think there was one particular movie, uh 0:00:56.400 --> 0:01:00.560 that that that inspired it, because obviously I've been watching 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:03.440 slasher movies for a large proportion of my life. I 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:06.000 imagine you have as well, and I and I don't 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:09.199 imagine we have to explain this particular trope to anyone 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:11.360 out there. You don't have to have seen a single 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:15.200 slasher film to know it by heart. A mask murderer 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.160 is on the prow and perhaps by the end of 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:21.320 the film, you'll either discover the killer's identity or the 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:25.880 nature of the disfiguration that forces them to wear that mask. Yeah, 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:29.399 you discover it through this, this unmasking that tends to 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:31.080 happen at the end of the movie. And I think 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:36.120 it's interesting that the unmasking or face reveal trope happens 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:39.760 in horror movies. Now, okay, I'll frame it in two ways. 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:41.800 One way is that it happens in horror movies that 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:45.840 are also mysteries. This makes total sense to me. Imagine 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:49.559 a slasher movie like the scream movies, where it turns 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:51.680 out at the end of every movie that the killer 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:55.280 is a character known to you and you've discovered Ah, 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:58.160 it was this person all along, and the mask revealed 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:00.320 the face you know, the maskets pulled off. The face 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:03.560 revealed tells you who it was. It conveys information. Yeah, 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:06.520 this is the Scooby Doo trope exactly. It was old 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:10.400 man grizzle Bums all along. But then there are tons 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:15.640 of movies with masked killers that have unmasking moments, but 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:19.000 the killer's mask is removed and it is not it's 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:22.839 not a mystery, it's not a character like there's Halloween 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:25.760 and the Friday the Thirteen sequels. In movies like this, 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:28.959 you already know who the killer is, or the killer 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:32.440 is not a previously known character, and in these cases, 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:36.720 I always wonder what purpose does the face reveal serve? 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.520 It still tends to happen at the climax of the 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:42.000 movie as if like this is all what it's all 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:45.040 been leading up to. There's the face, but it's not 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:48.160 like it reveals anything about who it was. It's just like, well, 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:50.359 that's what his face looks like. Yeah, I mean, in 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:52.880 one level, is just kind of like the Fangoria magazine 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:56.160 like gore ahound Ethos, right, you know, it's like you 0:02:56.320 --> 0:02:58.280 just you're building up to that point where you're seeing 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:01.360 all this grizzly stuff, but you want reach like peak 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:04.600 uh pete grotesque, and that's where it's going to occur 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:07.760 when that mask is pulled off, I guess. So. So 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:09.639 it's this is of course all just a very well 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:13.200 worn trope, but a trope that we keep utilizing in 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:15.919 our our horror fiction because, let's face it, it works, 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:18.520 it's fun, and I realized that it can it can 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:21.560 be a little bit problematic when we start to dissect 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:25.480 our love for pretend murder films, which essentially that's what 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:29.120 we're talking about, pretend murder movies. And I just want 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:31.600 to warn people at the top of this episode that 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:34.680 while we often talk about horror movies, monsters, ghosts, and 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:38.600 so forth, we don't usually talk about real world serial 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:41.240 killers and stuff, which can, arguably, at least to me, 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:44.120 be a more disturbing subject matter. And so as a 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:46.760 point of illustration of our topic today, we will be 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:49.680 discussing a few real murderers from history. Just a fair 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:53.000 warning if that sort of thing is likely to bother you. 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.880 You know, I think about the difference between loving fictional 0:03:57.000 --> 0:04:01.120 horror and loving, say, true cry. I am like, this 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:04.240 is a big difference for me. I love monsters and murder, 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:07.200 mystery horror and all that, but I do not really 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:10.720 enjoy true crime at all, and I often find it unpleasant. 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:12.720 I mean, I can think of a few counter examples, 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:15.920 like I like the movie Zodiac, and I love the 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:19.120 Charles Manson season of the podcast. You must remember this. 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:21.360 Have you ever listened to that? Um? I have? I 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:23.320 think I've listened to a few episodes. Yes, it's just 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:24.640 really good, but I have. I have not listened to 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:26.880 the Charles Manson episodes. Well, if you haven't checked it 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:29.880 out that here's a podcast recommendation you must remember. This 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:32.560 with Karina Longworth is about Hollywood history and I really 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:36.560 enjoy it. But in general, I really prefer my exposure 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:39.680 to violence and murder to be fictional. And of course 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:42.200 I know people who are exactly the other way around, right. 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:44.919 I know you probably do too, Robert, Like, they can't 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:48.520 stomach even the mildest of monster movies, but they gobble 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:52.080 up nonfiction crime books and podcasts about the most horrible 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:55.360 kinds of real life murder and mayhem, which to me 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:59.080 is more likely to make me feel just kind of depressed. Yeah, 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.720 I don't know. I do know individuals who fall into 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:04.160 either CATA. I know individuals who like both. I mean, 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:07.320 there are there are people who just really love both 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:10.320 horror and true crime and we'll and we'll we'll take it, 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:14.320 you know, all in however they can, they can get it. Um. 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:16.240 You know. For my own part, I'm not as much 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:19.760 into true crime right now, but I certainly went through 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:22.279 a period of time in college in particular, where I 0:05:22.279 --> 0:05:25.240 was just like consuming everything I could get at the time, 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:27.760 and there weren't as many options, especially online. We didn't 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:30.640 have true crime podcasts that back then. But you know, 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:33.320 I was watching, uh, you know, any kind of forensic 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:36.920 documentary I could get my hands on. I was, I 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:40.120 was visiting some of the the early true crime websites 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:43.760 and and and reading the you know some of those uh, 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:48.000 those those big thick detective manuals about homicide investigation. Now, 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:49.640 one thing that we can come back to in a 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:51.760 minute is, I bet when you were going through this 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:55.720 true crime phase, you may have been surprised to not 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:59.479 encounter much use of the mask in in real life 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:03.520 murder exactly. And that's that's really the the question that 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:06.680 that kind of led to this episode was just the 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:09.680 question and the realization that when you look at you 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:14.560 look at all of these masked psychopathic individuals in our fiction, 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:19.120 and then you you look to real life, um, serial 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:23.040 murders and true crime, and you really don't see that 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:26.960 many masks. You do see a few notable, notable exceptions, 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:29.600 which we will discuss here, but for the most part, 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:34.159 the killer's mask seems to be an obsession of fiction 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:38.200 that is not as present in real life crime. And 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:41.320 we will certainly explore some potential reasons for that later 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:43.279 on in the episode. Now, I do want to mention 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:45.160 one thing here. We we've we've been talking about true 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:48.880 crime and uh in horror fiction. Uh kind of as 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:52.520 if they are just too completely separate kingdoms. Of course, 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:56.360 these kingdoms border each other and actually overlap. Uh It 0:06:56.360 --> 0:07:00.000 it becomes impossible to to really uh keep one away 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:02.920 from the other. You have horror movies that are very 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:08.800 much inspired by real life murders, real life crime, and then, unfortunately, 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:11.520 we also have the reverse, which will discuss just briefly 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:13.760 as well, where you have real life crime that is 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:17.840 inspired by horror fiction. Now, if we stick to fictional 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:20.800 horror for a bit, you can think of some obvious 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:23.720 reasons that it might make sense for a villain to 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:26.640 wear a mask. Right, Yeah, let's roll through some of 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:29.360 the just obvious reasons. First of all, this is the 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:33.480 Scooby Doo factor. Creates a sense of mystery who or 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:36.560 what is underneath that mask. I gotta know, it makes 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:38.400 a lot more sense for this to be the case 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:41.600 in movies where there is actually a known character whose 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:45.760 identity is being concealed. When I was in in high school, 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:50.120 a friend of mine collected these larger scale g I. 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:52.800 Joe figures, not the like old school ones, but kind 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:54.760 of like a you know, a new school version that 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:58.160 was out, and he had one of Destro uh, and 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:01.560 apparently the mask would come him off, but he refused 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:05.960 to take the doll out of the box, which always 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:07.560 just I was like, how can you do that? Don't 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:09.040 You've got to know, right, You've got to know what 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:11.760 Destro's face looks like underneath that mask on this doll. 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.560 And I never found out, so uh, And to my knowledge, 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:18.320 he never opened the box. But there's there's this this 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:20.720 even when we know that it's not vital to like 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:23.560 the true identity of the character, there is something about 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:26.520 the identity of the character wrapped up in whatever is 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:28.680 being hidden from us. What do you think you're gonna 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:31.320 learn by seeing his face? I don't know. It's kind 0:08:31.360 --> 0:08:33.880 of it's it's almost something that's not put into words. 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:37.440 I mean, it might be something again to this, like 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:43.559 we are so dependent upon uh, the human face to 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:48.800 understand intention and motivation. I mean, the face is a 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:52.319 communications array, and if that and if the other individual's 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.920 face is hidden from us, true communication cannot take place. 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:59.839 So I feel like part of the unmasking psychology is 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:02.840 faced in that, like, like we're having a one sided 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:06.600 facial conversation here, and you must remove that mask for this, 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:10.000 for this understanding to be true. Well, in general, to 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:12.720 be uncovered is to be vulnerable, and to be covered 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:16.280 is to be guarded. Any way, right now, another advantage 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:18.320 to having a mask killer in your fiction is, of 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:20.840 course it sets up that potential big reveal we've been 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:23.600 talking about, right, what's the identity of the killer, what's 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:26.640 the what's the monster's face? Look like? You're gonna build anticipation, 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:29.040 especially if that is the trump, especially if that is 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:32.400 what is expected. You go into that Friday thirteenth movie 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:34.840 knowing that there's going to be a moment where you 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.640 get to see Jason Vorhees's face. There are also some 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:42.120 very practical filmmaking concerns you can take into account here, right, 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:45.480 oh yeah, because it's generally cheaper to just put a 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:47.960 mask on your character than to do all of that 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:51.600 crazy makeup special effects, you know, especially if you're using 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:54.240 a generic mask like a hockey mask or a sack 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:58.960 or a gas mask or some of Yeah, just something 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:02.480 you find and uh and you might say, well, we'll heck, 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:07.400 there's some really impressive like Tom Savini u um uh 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:10.000 makeup effects that are utilized to create Jason in many 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:12.960 of those films right when them unmasking does occur. But 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:15.360 if you think, if you think of it this way, 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:18.600 it's like that's a that's a costly um makeup effect 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:21.360 to roll out, and you can't just you know, film 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:24.080 put it on once. If you're filming it multiple times, 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:26.600 you're gonna have to put it on multiple times. It's 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:29.000 gonna cost time and money. But if you have him 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:31.040 just wear a hockey mask for most of the time, 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:33.880 then that just makes filming easier. And if you can't 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:37.360 afford that fancy makeup at all to begin with, then 0:10:37.400 --> 0:10:40.360 there you go. That's that's the easiest step to take. 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.200 Putting a mask on, I would say, also requires less 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:46.360 of your actor, That's right. You don't have to really 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.640 worry as much about your your the acting abilities of 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:51.520 the actor, or you don't have to depend on them 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:55.959 having a particular uh, you know, unique face. So I'm thinking, 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:58.440 on one hand, you don't have to have Christopher Lee, 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:03.680 who who as you know, an accomplished horror actor, and 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:05.400 you don't also don't have to worry about do I 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:08.920 have a like a Robert Zadar, somebody who maybe you know, 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:11.960 arguably is was not as great an actor as Christopher Lee, 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:17.600 but definitely had a very interesting face. You don't have 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:19.440 to have either of those. If you just have a 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:21.840 mask you can throw over the individual. No, you can 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:25.520 basically just cast your stunt coordinator exactly, which I believe 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:27.520 is generally what you see in some of these cases. 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:29.760 You just have the stunt player or just somebody with 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:34.360 a large frame perhaps playing the character. And then hey, 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:36.400 you can use as many actors as you actually need. 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:38.920 You can recast it every movie. You don't have to 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:42.320 worry about getting into into, you know, deep contract negotiations 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:46.080 with your with your slasher character. It's also great branding, 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:49.720 great for Halloween costumes. Oh I see, so that's the 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:52.440 I mean, that's the reason that Jason Vorhees so easily 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:56.480 pops up on every street during Halloween, or certainly at 0:11:56.520 --> 0:12:00.640 every haunted attraction, um, you know, any haunted else, commercial 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:03.560 haunted house you might go to, they will inevitably be 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:07.040 somebody in a hockey mask. And then finally, it leaves 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:09.360 lots of room for the creepy and the uncanny. And 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:12.920 this I think gets into the deeper history of of 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:19.079 the the use of masks in humans civilization, in various cultures. Uh, 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:24.319 the idea that the mask is an ancient, uh, performative 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:28.800 tool that allows an individual to become something else. Yeah, 0:12:28.800 --> 0:12:31.800 and we see this in everything from drama to religious ceremonies. 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:35.400 Um So what, Robert, what are some of your favorite 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:38.360 horror movie masks? Well, I have to say I've always 0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:42.360 been very partial to leather Face from the Texas Chainsaw Masker, 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:46.280 especially for the first film. But but I I say, 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:50.000 I love one and two and I and I and 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:51.920 I really like I like three and four as well. 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:55.160 And four. Yeah, I mean you got u you know 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:57.920 Matthew McConaughey. I mean four is a bit wackadoodle, but 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:00.880 you still have McConaughey in there doing his thing. I 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:04.960 have what's the one with the aliens? Um? I don't 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:08.400 know about. There's illuminato in the fourth one. Maybe that's 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:10.640 what I'm thinking about. Yeah, I don't think we've been 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:15.840 blessed with an alien um uh plot in Texas Chancel 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:19.559 Mask yet. Part three, though, had a Vigo Morrison in it, 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:23.360 Vigo Mortenson. Yeah, yeah, so that's that was worthwhile. Three 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:27.160 was pretty good. Yeah, But but you're into the mask, right, Yeah. 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:30.400 The mask is the main factor here that we're talking 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:32.360 about here today. You know, he had this mask that 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:37.079 was stitched together from from pieces of leather faces victims 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:40.439 or perhaps the bodies that the leather the lead the 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:44.000 chainsaw family is stealing out of the cemeteries. Um. And 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:46.920 in that first film especially, you never see what is 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:49.480 underneath it. You might wonder about it, but it's there's 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:53.880 no reveal or anything. Eventually, Hollywood couldn't resist and they 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:57.760 depicted leather Face unmasked in two thousand three. That's in 0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:01.959 the remake. Yeah, and to Michael Bay remake. Yeah, And 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:05.040 that was fun enough, you know, but it wasn't for me. 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:06.959 It wasn't a says, I think it's the original film 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:10.199 by by any means. I always like the implication that 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:13.599 that it didn't matter, like you didn't there wasn't it 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:16.640 wasn't set up for an unmasking, like maybe there wasn't 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:19.200 even an identity under there. You know. It's like his 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:23.320 identity was the mask made out of his crimes. Now, 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:26.400 another favorite of mine Uh, and I understand this is 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:29.640 one of your favorites as well. Dr Philip K. Decker's 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:32.840 Button Mask and Clive Barker's Night Breathe. Oh, this one 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:35.480 is so good. This is probably this might be my 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:39.360 favorite horror movie killer mask. Uh. So it is worn 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:43.600 by David Cronenberg, or at least David Cronenberg plays the 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:45.360 character that's wearing it. I don't know if that's actually 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:47.720 him and all the scenes, because it seems like this 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:50.720 is another case of like Cronenberg is great, but we 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:53.720 really can't have him on set all the time or 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:55.680 like doing all these stunts. So let's just have the 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:57.800 stunt guy play him, and then whenever he pulls it off, 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:00.560 we'll get we'll get Dave on on set. If he said, 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:03.400 if you haven't seen it, it's basically a sock over 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:07.240 the head with buttons for eyes and a zipper mouth, 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:11.720 but impeccably designed, like it's a highly stylized mask that 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:14.280 actually makes no sense. Then I didn't even really think 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:17.680 about this till yesterday. How did he see out of it? 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:20.080 It's almost like he didn't see like when he became 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:23.640 the killer, he was like using some sort of like uh, 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:26.800 you know, barkery six cents, you know, like he saw 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:31.000 through murder or something. It's a very creepy mask, especially 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:33.520 knowing that the person under it is supposed to be 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:38.200 a soft spoken, floppy hair David Cronenberg, just imagining how 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:40.240 that mask over the top of his head is pressing 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:43.160 his hair down is one of one of the great 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:46.360 sources of horror in that movie. Uh. Cronenberg, of course, 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:49.240 is usually known as a horror director. This movie makes 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:51.640 me think he should take more acting roles. He is 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.720 so unsettling in it. He was he was so good. 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:57.960 Another one of my favorite horror movie masks is not 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:01.120 worn by like a movie kill or but in the 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:03.640 nineteen seventy three The Wickerman, which is one of my 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:08.040 favorite horror movies, it's not explicitly a single killer with 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:11.040 a mask, but the masks that the villagers wear for 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:14.560 the celebration of their pagan religion are just awesome. There's 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:18.440 like rabbits and fish and bear masks. Uh, It's it's 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:20.480 all there. And I keep thinking, one of these days, 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:22.800 I'm gonna have a really good Wickerman party on May 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:27.320 Day or something. Well. That really sets expectations very high 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:30.280 for whatever you're gonna burn in your backyard. But the 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:33.960 but the masks are great here because they highlight the 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:39.240 continuity between horror movie masks and the traditional use of 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:43.680 masks in religious ceremonies. They just make that connection explicit. Yeah. Yeah, 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:46.560 there's there's an explicit treatment of like, you know, pagan 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:50.160 pagan practices and pagan belief systems in that movie. Yeah, 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:53.560 excellent film. And again you're talking about the original, not 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:55.880 the the remake, not not the one with the not 0:16:56.000 --> 0:17:00.520 the bees, though that one's worth watching for different reasons. Now, 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:02.680 there are a lot of films where the masks, uh 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:05.960 that the slasher wears are unimpressive or they're trying a 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:08.720 bit too hard. Um. And in some of these cases 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:10.560 I haven't. I have admittedly not given the film a 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:13.679 proper shake. Like I know there was that the Groundhog 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:16.239 Day slasher movie that came out in the last year. Well, 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:18.920 I don't know what you're talking about. Um, I can't 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:20.639 remember the name of the film off hand. But the 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:24.639 character wears like a baby mask. So it's like this 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:27.040 kind of goofy looking baby mask, but then it's creepy 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:29.480 because he's wearing the baby mask. Oh that reminds me 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:31.800 of one of the creepiest masks in movies, which is 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:34.679 not a horror movie, but in Terry Gilliam's Brazil the 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:38.680 baby mask that terror carrogator. Yeah. Yeah, well I think 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:41.840 it's Michael Palin, Michael Palin's character in that. But yeah, 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:45.200 he is. He is acting as an interrogator and torturing 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:47.560 our hero. Uh so, I guess it is kind of 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:50.720 a horror ish scene and that that is a terrible mask, right, 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:54.520 terrifying indeed. But you know, so sometimes mask I feel 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:57.679 like they're trying a little bit too hard. I was. 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:00.439 I was never a big fan of the mask that 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:02.919 are are the mask or masks that are utilizing the 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:06.160 Saw films, because he seems to have just a lot 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:07.720 of gimmicks. He has too many gimmicks, you know. He 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:11.440 has the traps, he has like a theatrical Robiwars. There's 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:14.760 a pig mask. There's also the creepy puppet, a lot 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:17.919 of stuff. I'm just biased against the Saw movies in general, 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:21.160 Like I don't get down with the whole torture thing. Yeah. Well, 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:23.960 I will say though that again, I've only seen like 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:27.119 the first one, and I did read that They later 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:29.440 established that there's some sort of connection between the pig 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:33.359 masks and the Chinese zodiac. So so kudos for like 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:35.600 somehow working that in. I was not aware of that. 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:39.400 Angle doesn't really tempt me to watch the films though, 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:42.080 well you know they're there are a number of slasher 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:44.879 films where they did just like pick out a mask, 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:48.080 an existing mask, like it's the like it's a like 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:51.480 a coal miner's mask, right, or it's a gas mask 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:55.240 or something something that that that already exists. Let's claim 0:18:55.280 --> 0:18:58.160 it and make it part of our slasher movie motif. Right. 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:01.440 So you've got Jason in the Thirteenth Movies just wears 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:04.840 a hockey mask. Uh, the in My Bloody Valentine, it's 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:07.639 just sort of like a miner's gas mask. That's a 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:09.560 that's a classic of the kind of as an early 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:12.080 slasher film. And then of course just like grabbing a 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:14.520 mask off the racks of the Halloween Store. Yeah, the 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:18.280 Screen movies classic example of that, the ghost face mask. 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:21.520 I do have this. I have wondered about this, and 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:23.840 I looked around. I couldn't find an example of anybody 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:26.080 doing this. But why do we not have any horror 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:29.639 movies where the slasher wears a Greek tragedy mask, because 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:32.920 so many of these are just mega creepy looking. If 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:36.359 I recall correctly, there is a scene in Scream Too 0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:40.520 that uses the Greek tragic chorus masks. But I think 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:42.919 maybe it's that the killer is just in the normal 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:45.760 ghost face mask from the screen movies and is blending 0:19:45.840 --> 0:19:49.880 in among a crowd of Greek masks. They're like trying 0:19:49.920 --> 0:19:52.479 to do a murder during a play rehearsal. It's not 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:55.640 a very smart strategy. Well, as far as I know there, 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:58.760 I think there's a there's a huge area of opportunity here, 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:00.440 you know, not so much for ghost face killer. I 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:04.639 guess this would be like Greek face killer. Alright, Well, 0:20:04.640 --> 0:20:06.560 we're gonna take a break and when we come back, 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:10.359 we will we'll get in more to the real life 0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:14.600 killers and why we don't really see that many masks 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:20.159 utilized in their crimes. Thank alright, we're back. All right. 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:23.560 So we've been discussing how masks are extremely common in 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:28.520 horror movies horror stories about fictional killers, but this doesn't 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:32.800 appear to reflect reality so much. Yeah, when you start 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:37.240 looking around for examples of of especially serial murderers who 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:40.560 used a mask during the commission of their crimes. You 0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:44.560 do not find that many cases. And we looked around, 0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:48.200 um and I we even employed um the the true 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:52.199 crime expertise of our of our colleague, Scott Benjamin on 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:55.280 this as well. Scott knows what's up. Yeah, and uh 0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:57.040 and he helped us with a few of these examples 0:20:57.040 --> 0:21:00.560 that will will mention here. But but but let's lay 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:03.840 some ground rules here. So we're gonna be looking for 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:09.840 actual masks serial killers or spree killers. Uh. And and 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:12.679 we're discounting any kind of mass that was used purely 0:21:12.720 --> 0:21:18.119 as a disguise, like a fake beard, false hair, etcetera. Um. 0:21:18.200 --> 0:21:21.040 And also we have we're gonna require that the mask 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:25.600 be used during the commission of the crime itself, because 0:21:25.640 --> 0:21:27.600 that's what we see in these slasher movies. Right. It's 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:30.720 not that Jason goes home afterwards and where's the hockey 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:33.320 mask and his den It's not that, uh, you know, 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:35.439 it's not that he's wearing the hockey mask to blend 0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:38.720