Masks in Horror Films

In our research, we noticed that a lot of horror films seem to use masks in their films, such as:

• Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• Saw
• Nightmare on Elm Street
• Hannibal Lecter films
• The Strangers
• Scream

All these films have masked character, but its not just the facial expression on the masks that scare us, but the fact that the face of the character is hidden - like the girl from the Grudge. We are frightened by masks because they hide the true identity of the character and their emotions. The unknown strikes fear in many because people want to know what they are acing so they have a way to deal with it.

Masks make people devoid of emotion and this makes them powerful. Masks make it so that the audience can't sympathise with the person wearing it, so it singles them out as the bad character. Since masks hide identities, it leavesthe film open for many plot twists because it could be a character thats already known and has a strong relationship with the victim.