Rank 'Em! The Many Faces of Michael Myers from Best to Worst!

But HOW would I rank the films? I’ve done it by film preference a dozen times on Twitter and such, and that seemed boring to me as I am not a fan of repeating myself. I could rank the actors who played Myers and their screen presence, but I felt that would just end up being pretty much the same as my film ranking – I dislike Resurrection too much to ever notice if Brad Loree is any good in the role. Eventually I decided to rank the masks themselves; unlike closest screen cousin Jason Voorhees, the mask is more malleable, so not only does each entry have a new take on the classic Myers look, but it also may or may not look that great on the actor wearing it. So the differences are pretty significant at times, and as you’ll see below, sometimes it’s the only thing they really got right. I stress that this is not a ranking of the films’ respective quality – only how much I liked how they revised poor Bill Shatner’s face once again for that entry.

Related:

Best to Worst - Michael Myers

#1

Halloween (1978): Well, duh. Not only did this mask set the standard, but even if you were to show the films out of order to someone they'd probably find the original to be the best. No matter how many times the film is remastered for DVD and Blu-ray, it's never too clear to see Myers' eyes, which fits perfectly with Loomis' "The blackest eyes... the Devil's eyes." Even spookier, his earlier comment about a "pale, blank, emotionless face" refers to Myers himself, but it fits the mask as well. See, there's a wonderful LACK of design to it that makes it scarier, an aspect many of the sequels lacked as new FX artists attempted - often with failed results - to make the mask their own.

P.S. To be fair to the sequels, there are almost no good, fully-lit closeups of the mask in the original (something that I fully appreciated when it came time to make these screenshots), so maybe their flaws wouldn't have been as noticeable if the directors of their respective entries didn't keep showing The Shape so damn much.
#2

Halloween II (1981): For years I thought this was a different mask, but as it turns out it's the same one - it just doesn't fit Dick Warlock as well as it did Nick Castle (or Tommy Wallace, or Tony Moran...). The now-zipped collar also throws it off a bit. Apparently, the mask got warped due to time and Castle shoving it in his back pocket, hence why it looks different (and probably why the hair is so flattened). But it was repainted, and you can often see Warlock's eyes, which accentuates the less than successful attempt to pass this off as the same night.
#3

Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers (1995): This movie is a mess no matter which cut you watch, but one thing is true about both versions - the mask is great! George Wilbur is the only guy to play Myers twice in the original series, and while his H4 mask polarized the fans, I think most agree they got it right for his second go-around. Plus, if you consider the interior logic, it should be the same one he had on in part 5, so we can thank John Carl Buechler's crew for ignoring continuity for the sake of an improved appearance for the series' star.
#4

Halloween 4 (1988): The mask used for 1988's Myers revival gets a lot of flack, but I think it's suitably spooky and thus under appreciated. Sure, the slicked back hair is odd looking, but the face itself is even more featureless and blank than the original's, which gives it that extra bit of creepiness that many of the others lack, even when they otherwise look more like the original's. Hilariously enough, the movie is even smart enough to show a bunch of lousy masks (on the teens that prank Loomis and Sheriff Meeker), as if to say "It could be worse, right?". And no, I have no idea what's going when the hair turns white for a scene, but that doesn't confuse me nearly as much as the fact that a Haddonfield store would be selling a mask like the one worn by a guy who murdered 15 people there.
#5

Rob Zombie's Halloween/Halloween II (2007/2009): No sense separating these, as it's the same mask throughout the film (even when young Michael kills his sister, he's got a giant "Myers mask" on, the same one he digs up when he returns to Haddonfield as an adult). And the sequel barely shows it since he's got a hoodie covering most of it and doesn't even have it on for some scenes, so it's not worth sussing out. Anyway, I like the look Zombie came up with; it's a bit larger than normal (as is Tyler Mane), but otherwise it suits tradition, and the rot/"scars" that appear on it in the modern day scenes is a nice touch. Look, there are a bunch of problems with these films - I don't think the mask is one of them.
#6

Halloween: Resurrection (2002): The SHAPE of this mask is actually pretty good - it's sort of like Curse's, and the mouth is a dead ringer for the original's. What throws it off, besides the often visible eyes, is the scowling eyebrows and over-accentuated cheekbones, which gives him an odd expression, like he's angry but also wearing some makeup. And like H20, it seems they used at least two masks - Myers noticeably has an afro as he chases Laurie around inside the sanitarium, but when he comes out on the roof the hair looks normal. Still, considering how much they screwed up everything else in this movie (the worst of the series, as far as I'm concerned - even Zombie's remake is more respectful of the source material), it could have been a lot worse.
#7

Halloween 5 (1989): In their lone entry for the series, KNB opted to design a new mask - the most drastic overhaul in the series - even though it picks up directly where Halloween 4 left off (and includes footage from it, which just makes the massive change all the more baffling). They might be the best in the biz for gore and makeup FX, but I think it's best that Nicotero and company leave slasher mask-making to the pros - almost nothing about this version looks right to me (a problem exacerbated by the fact that the movie itself was underwhelming, though personally I don't think it's as bad as its rep). It's clear that they were trying to make it more like the original's, but they just bungled it - not sure what anyone was thinking when they opted for lengthened hair and an extended neck flap. Suffice it to say it's a good thing H6's crew tossed continuity out yet again and went back to something more traditional for the next entry.
#8

Halloween: 20 Years Later (1998): 1998's series revival (forever known as H20) may have brought back Jamie Lee Curtis and the series' box office popularity, but for a film that was so steeped in callbacks to the first two films (at one point Laurie flinches upon hearing "Mr. Sandman", which makes no sense since the song never played within the world of the movie, only on the soundtrack) they sure as hell botched Myers' mask in every way possible. There are actually a couple of different ones on display throughout the movie since they realized their first one sucked and kept trying to fix it during filming, but NONE of them look good if you ask me. They even tried to CGI it for at least one scene (HERE, when the kid is digging in the garbage disposal), and while it looks awful it's honestly no worse than the cheap-looking one you see in the scenes before and after it. The average kid on Halloween looks more terrifying.
Bonus

Halloween III: Season of the Witch: I don't care what anyone says about this Myers-free entry: it's one of the better films in the series, and not a single Halloween goes by that I don't wish I owned a set of "Silver Shamrock" masks (with or without Stonehenge chips) to further show my appreciation.