The Lineage of the FRANKIE Mask

While it's not as steeped in lore or fan fascination as the William-Shatner-goes-Michael-Meyers tale, the origin of the mask worn by Walt Hunnicutt in the 1988 filming of TOGA PARTY MASSACRE has been revealed.
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​I distinctly remember reading the word JAPAN on the mask, I think on the back of the neck, and not really considering the implications at the time. The vintage Travelers Ogawa Japanese Frankenstein mask is a classic, highly collectible rubber latex horror mask originally manufactured in Japan by Ogawa Studios and distributed by Travelers Company. While it resembles the Karloff Creature, and from some angles the Glenn Strange Creature, it is neither exactly, though the flat-top almost ensures it would warrant a cease-and-desist from Universal now.

While I don't recall the specifics, I'm sure I had read about the thrifty use of the Don Post Captain Kirk as the killer from Halloween, and, spray-paint can in hand, attempted to capture the same spirit. Were I to do it today, I think I would airbrush a knd of eye shadow look to make the eyes larger (though the determined stare of the Ogawa sculpt is nice too), and in homage to the original sort of 'tear off the sideburns' by painting over them as well. I will say this paint job is nothing fancy, primarily to get rid of the factory green and assume a more monochrome Meyers look. A side benefit I probably wasn't considering at the time is that it takes down the graphic darks of the scar and metal neck stitches and gets him looking a little more ghostly.

While the related Ogawa/Travelers Dracula mask famously appeared in the background of the Vincent Drug store scene in Halloween 4, the Ogawa Frankenstein shares the same legendary vintage Japanese mask lineage. Sadly, the combination of toxic spray paint, latex rubber, and improper storage resulted in the demise of the original Frankie mask; one day I pulled it out of the plastic bag I had stored it in to discover that it had turned into a rigid collapsed pancake. However, the Frankie coveralls (I believe obtained from Sears) remain in like-new condition to this day, and sometimes moonlight as Meyers himself around the house.