Movie villains + their masks (except superheroes)

I can understand killing someone while being fully exposed is not such a good combo. Which is part of the reason the villain-mask was invented. Kill anyone you please but please conceal yourself. Especially if all goes wrong. Don’t want your victim to recognize you in a police-line-up. Awkward. Not to mention the ruined suspense it would cause for the viewer/audience. Not much fun if everyone knows who’s the perpetrator too early on.

Let’s have a look plus what we think of some of them:



Scream
Worst one of the lots? The fact that this is also supposed to be a “celebration o all vintage scary movies” makes it even worse for me. The cape? Who can move in that. The mask? Who can see in that. Thank god they were two so they had “one up” on their victims.



Jason (Friday the 13th)
Aah. A classic. Vintage and tasteful with a design that never really goes out of style. However, in terms of nimbleness and visibility (for Jason that is) we can’t give it a full approval.



Leatherface (The Chainsaw Massacre)
Another poor choice. Don’t get me wrong. Leatherface might be the meanest fuck of the bunch. But. Skin on top of your own face needs to be used carefully and cleverly (see Hannibal on this one). Not as your main disguise. Besides, how does it smell in there? Not that Leatherface is our average slayer, but still, we consider all aspects when judging.



Michael Myers (Halloween)
This one stirs a lot of confusion (I have seen the film but might have missed it) why the white baby doll mask? He’s on a rampage journey to slay his sister, sure, but what’s up with that mask? We have to give him credit for the slick, minimalistic, expressionless design though. Cause it works. Intimidating that is. Cause it sure as heck doesn’t give him the best disguise or visibility.




Predator
Think we (already) have a winner here. First things first though. It’s not perfect in the sense of blending in. So. To. Speak.
BUT. If you’d look like this geeza, you’d hide too.
This is also one of the rare masks that actually seem to improve and enhance his killing-ability, as opposed to the very much too often ones, that obstruct eyes-sight, agility and blending in functionality.



Heat
Your average sunglasses usually don’t make for a perfect disguise. Which is why they had ski masks on during the robbery, one might say, but the moment they’ve exited the bank they’re all fully exposed – hiding behind nothing but sunglasses (hence I win this discussion). The police also knew exactly whom they were, where they lived, whom they fucked, etc so the sunglasses actually make up for an exceptional exception here as they surprisingly pass.



Freddy Kreuger (Nightmare on Elm Street)
Not your best disguise – but then again (just as we’ll see on Hannibal below) – this was clearly not Freddy’s choice to look like this (and not really a mask - but I'm the judge and executioner here). Nonetheless, we only judge a book by its cover here and sorry Freddy. Could spot you as scary from miles away.



The Joker (Batman)
“You said no superheroes!” Well. We always make an exception for the Joker. While insanity rarely is behind the best decisions when disguising to kill, the Joker doesn’t let us down. It’s all part of the show that he looks like this. Which is why we let him get away with it.



Jigsaw (Saw)
Obviously someone who intends to use wit and cleverness rather than chasing and pure strength (i.e. Jason, etc) dress like this. One look at this joke of a mask and we know it’s created by movie-makers. Not a brilliant villain. This mask doesn’t work anywhere if we didn’t know this villain – Jigsaw – actually manage to control everything from aside. He’s not the killer – his victims are (become).
Which is very contrary. The reason it doesn’t work is exactly why it does.



Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs)
This is slightly different because it’s not Hannibal’s decision to put this on his face – it actually interferes with his most desirable intentions (eating them nom nom nom). But since it has become such a classic it’s hard to ignore it. Side note kudos to Hannibal for nicking someone else’s face - as a mask- to escape as well.



Norman Bates (Psycho)
Now while dressing up like a 60+ -year old lady doesn’t come across as the immediate best solution to slay people; this is the one that actually seem to work. Who would ever think that some nice old (dead) lady would stab someone in the shower?