Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter Stunt Mask Replica Restoration Project
The Friday The 13th community can be a valuable resource for learning new facts about the franchise and finding images and props from the films that were either never seen before, or displayed in a finer detail. Within the mask and collecting community, genre fans have gained access to even more treasures, more specifically, screen used props or masks that are utilized in projects that are reproduced for fans to take advantage of. Such is the case with a truly rare item from Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter.
Fans may not realize that stunt masks for Jason Voorhees were used from time to time during production as having a Jason actor performing stunts with make-up appliances on would make little sense due to the fact that those appliances would fall off or become damaged. Special Effects legend Jim Kagel was responsible for creating the look of Jason Voorhees for The Final Chapter and the stunt mask created for filming was based on his Jason design. Recently, a collector and fan of the films got a hold of a second generation stunt mask from the film and has started a restoration project on bringing the item back to pristine form. Read below from the Nightowl Forums a little about the history of the mask accompanied by some pics.
From Nightowl Forum
1.) There were two sculptures created for Jason in The Final Chapter: The first was Kagel's original design that he arrived with on set. This version was used for all the stunt masks and prop dummies. The second was a resculpt by Kagel of the first design with much more detail and heavily refined shapes. This version was used solely for prosthetic applications directly to Ted White's face.
2.) The "stunt mask replica" referenced herein is a direct recast of a (then) surviving, production-used, latex Jason stunt mask. This recast appears to have been produced in secret - perhaps for friends only - in extremely small numbers sometime during the late 80s or early 90s. From those 2nd generation castings, progressively smaller recasts were made and have passed around the hobby for years. The particular stunt mask replica that was graciously volunteered and used for this restoration project is apparently the largest and most crisp version of this replica ever seen publicly, and has even appeared in Dr. David Lady's book, "Dr Lady’s Collector's Guide To Movie & TV Monster Masks".
3.) The Mangler originates from a mold of a surviving, production-made "original design" prop dummy, but is only partially accurate to Kagel's original design because it has been heavily retooled - even the 2nd generation "master mold" pulls directly from Savini possess these changes. The back of the head, lower half of the neck, all teeth, and likely most of the upper torso life cast have all been resculpted. There are also three or four small lines on the face and a gigantic, awful gap in between the dividing line of the two-piece mold that produced them. Other than that, most of the detail present is cast directly from an original film prop.
This is a pretty exciting project for fans that are also collectors of items from the films and there is also an opportunity to own a resin replica of the mask. To read more about the project and view more images, please visit the Restoration Thread started at Nightowl Forums!
Fans may not realize that stunt masks for Jason Voorhees were used from time to time during production as having a Jason actor performing stunts with make-up appliances on would make little sense due to the fact that those appliances would fall off or become damaged. Special Effects legend Jim Kagel was responsible for creating the look of Jason Voorhees for The Final Chapter and the stunt mask created for filming was based on his Jason design. Recently, a collector and fan of the films got a hold of a second generation stunt mask from the film and has started a restoration project on bringing the item back to pristine form. Read below from the Nightowl Forums a little about the history of the mask accompanied by some pics.
From Nightowl Forum
1.) There were two sculptures created for Jason in The Final Chapter: The first was Kagel's original design that he arrived with on set. This version was used for all the stunt masks and prop dummies. The second was a resculpt by Kagel of the first design with much more detail and heavily refined shapes. This version was used solely for prosthetic applications directly to Ted White's face.
2.) The "stunt mask replica" referenced herein is a direct recast of a (then) surviving, production-used, latex Jason stunt mask. This recast appears to have been produced in secret - perhaps for friends only - in extremely small numbers sometime during the late 80s or early 90s. From those 2nd generation castings, progressively smaller recasts were made and have passed around the hobby for years. The particular stunt mask replica that was graciously volunteered and used for this restoration project is apparently the largest and most crisp version of this replica ever seen publicly, and has even appeared in Dr. David Lady's book, "Dr Lady’s Collector's Guide To Movie & TV Monster Masks".
3.) The Mangler originates from a mold of a surviving, production-made "original design" prop dummy, but is only partially accurate to Kagel's original design because it has been heavily retooled - even the 2nd generation "master mold" pulls directly from Savini possess these changes. The back of the head, lower half of the neck, all teeth, and likely most of the upper torso life cast have all been resculpted. There are also three or four small lines on the face and a gigantic, awful gap in between the dividing line of the two-piece mold that produced them. Other than that, most of the detail present is cast directly from an original film prop.
This is a pretty exciting project for fans that are also collectors of items from the films and there is also an opportunity to own a resin replica of the mask. To read more about the project and view more images, please visit the Restoration Thread started at Nightowl Forums!
Here's a link to pics of this restoration all painted up -http://forums.nightowlpro.com/index.php?/topic/43992-f13th-final-chapter-resin-stunt-mask-paint-up/page__pid__396813#entry396813
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