Malicious Monday: Michael Myers

"I met this six year old child with this blank, pale, emotionless face, and the blackest eyes; the devil's eyes […] I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply…evil."

— Loomis' description of a young Michael was inspired by John Carpenter's encounter with a real life mental patient. 

Today, we pay tribute to the ultimate, horror movie badass, Michael Myers from the Halloween franchise. You can say that Michael isn't as badass as say, Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th, or Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street, but I'd have to whole-heatedly disagree. Michael Myers is the tits. He's not dead or alive. It's like he's in his own universe and is driven by pure evil. I believe if Michael had to face off with other horror movie serial killers, he'd win hands down. He's smart, calm, has no emotion and straight-up full of malice.

No thanks.

He also has a cool mask! The mask is actually a William Shatner mask used for the Star Trek series. This was seen as an urban legend, until Rick Sternbach, who worked as designer/illustrator on Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Nemesis, recently posted the following on his Facebook page:

"There are a number of historical threads through various production people over the years that validate that; I've got one of those threads here (I've told this story once or twice before). I was hired as an illustrator on HALLOWEEN 2 in 1981, working for production designer J. Michael Riva. In a supply cabinet at Pumpkin Pie Productions, we had one mask left from the original HALLOWEEN, and no idea where to get any others for the sequel. It appeared that we'd need to go check out some of the toys stores and such, but I noticed that there was some wording molded into the neck area. There was a model number, and 'Don Post Studios.' I made a call, read off the model number, and the word came back 'It's our Captain Kirk mask.' I asked if we could buy a number of them, and was told 'We'll give you a box, just give us credit.' With that, I turned the official dealings over to the higher-ups. Brush with greatness".

Michael Myers, the character, was created by Debra Hill and John Carpenter. Carpenter was inspired to create the character after visiting a mental institution in Kentucky where he visited"the most serious, mentally ill patients".. Among these patients was a young boy who gave Carpenter a schizophrenic stare. This stuck with Carpenter.

It's okay, I don't need to go upstairs... I'll sleep on the couch.

We first meet Michael Myers in Halloween (1978) when he stabs his sexually promiscuous sister on Halloween 1963. He's taken to an institution for the mentally ill where he is treated under the care of Dr. Samuel Loomis (Donald Pleasence). After 15 years of trying to reach Michael, Loomis determines that there is nothing left of Michael but an empty shell of a person and pure evil. Michael escapes and returns to his hometown of Haddonfield, IL on Halloween 1978 where he begins stalking a teenage Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis).

Guurrrl... I'm gonna need you to turn yo ass around. 

Michael kills many people trying to get to Laurie, It turns out Laurie is his sister and he wants her dead. It's not until Halloween 6 that there's actually a reason Michael is so fucking crazy and unstoppable. We're ignoring Halloween 6, because seriously, fuck Halloween 6! It's stupid! Even the people who did Halloween 6 admitted they didn't like it. 

I'm sorry, you're stupid. You kept the damn door open? GOOD LUUUCK!

Michael is scarier when he doesn't have motivation. He's driven by pure evil. He wants to kill any surviving family member he has. To date, Michael has been shot, stabbed, ran-over by a car, burned alive, even decapitated. It doesn't matter, the evil within Michael has taken a life of his own. 

Some theorize that Michael was sexually attracted to his sister, and her having sex with another made him feel betrayed so he killed her. While that's creepy as hell, i don't necessarily buy it. Unlike Freddy Krueger, Leather Face and Jason Voorhees, I don't think Michael Myers has a motivation for what he does. He just wants to kill people on October 31st. It's fine, he can keep doing his thaaang! 

Happy Halloween! I hope it's better than Laurie Strode's!

What is it with you not turning around!?!?

VILLAIN SCORE: Captain Kirk Mask

Check out this video where William Shatner actually addresses the infamous mask!