Jason Voorhees is one of the most popular horror movie slashers of all time. As the main antagonist in the long-running Friday the 13th franchise, Jason terrorizes teens in one feature after another. Like Michael Myers, Voorhees's reputation rests on his iconic image, which includes a hockey mask and a machete.
The development of Voorhees's mask is an interesting tale of equal parts luck and hard work on the part of the design teams for the films. From a deformed boy in Crystal Lake in the original 1980 film to a mask-donning, space-bound serial slayer in 2002's Jason X, Voorhees and his mask have come a long way over the decades.
Producer Phil Scuderi Is Responsible For Making Jason The Focus Of The Sequel
At the very end of Friday the 13th, the deformed corpse of Jason Voorhees attacks Alice, the only survivor of his mother's murderous rampage, by jumping out of Crystal Lake and into Alice's canoe. This shocking turn of events ends is picked up in Friday the 13th Part 2, the first to star an adult Jason.
Producer Phil Scuderi believed Jason should be the star of the second film, and director Steve Miner felt the same way. They both predicted fans would want to know more about the boy in the lake.
Jason Wears A Bag Over His Head In Part 2
Scuderi and Miner were right. An adult Jason is the main antagonist in Part 2, but his look veers far from the one he would go on to become iconic for.
Hiding out in a shack around the lake, the deformed Jason uses what's available around him to clothe himself, including a burlap sack over his head. This fashion choice was inspired by movies like David Lynch's The Elephant Man, whose disfigured protagonist wore a bag over his head in public.
The Original Mask Seen In Part III Is Modeled After A Detroit Red Wings Goalie Mask
At the end of Part 2, Jason loses his burlap sack, so producers needed to come up with a new look. They arrived at a hockey mask for Jason by chance during a lighting check.
Instead of putting make-up on their Jason actor, Richard Brooker, the 3D effects supervisor grabbed a random Detroit Red Wings goalie mask to put on the actor's face. Director Steve Miner fell in love with the mask.
Red Triangles And Extra Holes Were Added To Make The Mask Unique
In order to personalize the new Jason mask, which was too small for Brooker, the special effects crew created a new, larger mold. They also added additional holes and red triangles to make it extra creepy.
While the mask covers Jason's face, it leaves his head exposed, giving audiences a glimpse of what lies underneath.
The Mask Earns A Battle Scar From An Ax In Part III
Chris Higgins manages to fend off Jason by hitting him in the head with an axe at the end of Part III, and the mark is made worse by Tommy Jarvis's machete in The Final Chapter. To maintain continuity between films, the axe remains a feature of the mask until it's destroyed by Tina Shepard in The New Blood.
One exception to this is A New Beginning, which features a copycat killer in a copycat mask with blue triangles. The mask is also missing the axe mark in 2003's Freddy vs. Jason and 2009's remake.
Special Effects Guru Tom Savini Played A Big Role In Developing Jason
While he put most of his efforts toward perfecting Jason's physical characteristics, Jason would not look like he does without the efforts of Tom Savini. Savini is one of the most recognizable names in horror special effects, and it was his idea to make Jason deformed.
Without Jason's physical malformations, his use of a mask wouldn't be justified. Savini worked on Jason in the original film and later returned for The Final Chapter.
In Jason Goes To Hell, The Mask Is Made To Look Like It Has Fused With Jason's Skin
Inspired by Jason's water-logged appearance in The New Blood, special effects supervisor Howard Berger created a disintegrated hockey mask for Jason that features just one red triangle on its forehead. The edges of the mask are fused with Jason's skin, making him a monster indistinguishable from his disguise.
At this point, actor Kane Hodder played Jason. A full-body foam latex suit was designed for Hodder that gives audiences a better view of Jason's rotting skin underneath his decaying attire.
Jason's Mask Is More Angular And Gothic In Jason X
By the 10th Friday the 13th film, Jason X, the sky seemed to be the limit for reinventing this horror movie villain. In this film, Jason is portrayed as a mechanical, machine-like being equipped with chains, leather, and aluminous outfittings who undergoes a transformation into Uber-Jason as the plot progresses.
The two masks designed for Jason X follows suit, from their metallic bases to their angular contours. It's a futuristic departure that contains a few homages to its predecessors: the axe mark from Part III and the bottom crack from The New Blood.
Jason's Mask Acts As A Visual Framing Device In Freddy Vs. Jason
Jason received another make-over for Freddy vs. Jason, one that gave more shape to his slowly decomposing body. The goalie mask returns in its near-original condition from Part III, but it lacks the axe mark and contains extra holes.
Director Ronny Yu used Jason's mask as the centerpiece of the film, which was achieved by painting his old skin a dark grey. This makes the mask pop in the movie as Jason battles Freddy Krueger.
For The 2009 Remake, The New Mask Is Modeled After Jason's Look In The Early Films
Jason returns to its rural roots (a bit) in the 2009 remake of Friday the 13th. In order to humanize Jason, special effects expert Scott Stoddard equips the killer's skin with rashes, bruises, and bumps.
Stoddard designed six different hockey masks to express varying levels of wear during Jason's journey. While their shapes pay tribute to Jason's original hockey mask, Stoddard's masks each contain unique stamps and features.