Join The Community
Loki - The Mask (1994)
The Mask: A wooden mask as discovered by nervous bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss (Jim Carrey) in an Edge City harbour.
When he puts it on, he tornadoes into a green-faced ADHD-sufferer who'll leave your head spinning.
Why It's Magnificent: This is so much more than just a mask - it's also a personality implant, transforming Ipkiss into the life and soul of the party.
"Hey! Pachuco!"
Rorschach - Watchmen (2009)
The Mask: Quite simply one of the coolest creations ever, as Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) wears a white bit of fabric over his face.
On that fabric, living Rorschach patterns constantly shift and change.
Why It's Magnificent: It's mesmerising, for a start, and entirely unique.
Plus it looks great when paired with a raincoat and hat.
Leatherface - The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
The Mask: Well, a sliced-off human face.
It's worn by the aptly-named Leatherface, a chainsaw-wielding cannibal who likes to chop his victims up into little pieces - but not before removing their faces as grisly accessories.
Why It's Magnificent: It's a mask made out of a face, which sort of defeats the object of a mask. It's also just plain horrible.
Ghostface - Scream (1996)
The Mask: Created as part of a 'Fantastic Faces' series by fancy dress company Fun World, this terrifying slasher mask was originally called the 'Peanut-Eyed Ghost'.
That is until Scream produce Marianne Maddalena discovered it, and it was turned into a slasher hallmark.
Why It's Magnificent: It both references Edvard Munch's painting The Scream and the Pink Floyd album cover of The Wall.
But mostly it's just creepy as hell - Ghostface almost looks upset as he stabs you to death.
V - V For Vendetta (2005)
The Mask: Copied direct from the comics, this is a Guy Fawkes mask worn by freedom-fighting vigilante V.
Why It's Magnificent: Though we never see V's face, the mask acts as an ironic reference point - he's a pretty angry man, something that's literally masked by this benign grin.
It's also used brilliantly at the end of the film, with hundreds of vigilantes also wearing the mask, making for a sea of revolutionary grins.
Christiane - Eyes Without A Face (1960)
The Mask: A blank, almost skin-coloured (though it's hard to tell in black and white) mask worn by Christiane (Edith Scob), whose face was disfigured after a car accident.
She keeps the mask on for almost the entire movie.
Why It's Magnificent: It makes Christiane look like a china doll, particularly with her fringe hanging over her masked forehead.
Odd and sad at the same time.
Michael Myers - Halloween (1978)
The Mask: Killer Michael Myers doesn't like people seeing his face, so he wears this spooky mask instead.
Movie legend has it that this was a prototype Star Trek William Shatner mask turned inside and painted white by the film's production.
Why It's Magnificent: It's easily one of the most terrifying movie masks ever - recognisably human, but warped into something unsettling.
They messed with it a lot over the course of the franchise ( Halloween 5 is a low point), and none of them can match the original.
Jason Voorhees - Friday The 13th Part 3 (1983)
The Mask: The infamous hockey mask. Jason comes up with the idea of wearing it after watching a male character scare a female character by putting on a hockey mask and brandishing a harpoon gun.
Why It's Magnificent: Thirty years later, it's now impossible to separate Jason from that hockey mask.
It even gets a little post-modern shout-out in Halloween H20, when it's worn by none other than Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Batman - The Dark Knight (2008)
The Mask: Technically, a cowl, modelled on a bat (what else?) but given a real-world-y feel that makes you believe a guy really could turn into a superhero.
Not only that, Batman can finally turn his head thanks to work on the neck part of his suit. Awesome.
Why It's Magnificent: It's different to the Batman cowl worn by Michael Keaton, and a huge, huge improvement over the farcical costume donned by George Clooney in Batman & Robin. Seriously, what were they thinking?
Darth Vader - Star Wars (1977)
The Mask: A complicated breathing apparatus that both makes Darth Vader sound like a raging asthmatic and shields us from the sight of his mangled head.
Why It's Magnificent: It's Darth frickin' Vader! Which means that this is imposing as hell, and one of the coolest villain outfits ever created.
'Iconic' just about covers it.
