Jim Carrey’s The Mask Should Be Rebooted As A Horror Series

1994’s The Mask was a huge hit for comedy superstar Jim Carrey, but the property actually has the potential to become a horror franchise. That might sound like an odd prospect, but stranger things have certainly happened, and there’s less of a divide between comedy and horror than some like to argue. There’s a reason so many horror movies offer laugh breaks, as repeatedly laughing and being scared can both take viewers on a rollercoaster of enjoyment. Plus, a laugh can serve to lessen tension that’s steadily built up, only for the movie to surprise the unsuspecting with its next scare.

Even just looking at The Mask as presented though, it’s not hard to see the potential for a horrific scenario, if twisted just ever so slightly. The titular mask causes changes to one’s face and body that would be considered David Cronenbergian “body horror” if it had been shown in a dramatic instead of comedic context, and also drastically lowers the inhibitions of the wearer, letting their id run the show.

That might not be too dangerous when there is someone like Carrey’s Stanley Ipkiss behind the mask, but it’s a different story when the mask is worn by a villain, as briefly showcased by criminal Dorian Tyrell. And Tyrell was only a fairly low-level gangster with delusions of grandeur. The powers of The Mask on someone a lot more evil could spell true disaster. Interestingly enough though, the creators of the original Mask comic books were well aware of the possible horrific consequences of its use.

The Mask Started Out As A Cult Horror Comic

Many who watched the Jim Carrey movie may not be aware, but the Dark Horse comic line that The Mask is ostensibly based on is wildly different in tone. In fact, it would be entirely fair to consider it a horror comic more than anything else. Instead of the titular mask making Stanley Ipkiss – and other wearers – do wacky dances and romance Cameron Diaz’s Tina Carlyle, it grants them supernatural abilities at the price of completely removing their inhibitions and sense of morality. As one might imagine, this eventually leads the wearer of the mask to entirely lose their grip on sanity, usually resulting in bodies piling up by the dozen.

While The Mask comics weren’t without humor, it was mostly of the pitch black variety, which isn’t surprising considering the dark subject matter. When one learns of what The Mask began its creative life as, it becomes apparent just how big a 180 the 1994 New Line movie starring Carrey really was. Since the comic was a cult item though, most audiences were none the wiser, and even if they found out later, wouldn’t have had their movie viewing experience colored by their perception of the changes made. What the existence of the comic does make clear though is that The Mask was actually a horror story before it became a wacky comedy, and one filled with blood and guts at that. A serial killer yelling out “Somebody stop me!” would certainly have had a much different reception.

Why Jim Carrey’s The Mask Switched To Comedy

Upon first thought, some might be quick to surmise that the casting of Jim Carrey is what ensured The Mask would become a comedy, but that’s actually not the case. The decision to make The Mask a comedy had already been made prior to his coming aboard, and Carrey wasn’t even the first recognizable comic actor to be considered, as Martin Short and Rick Moranis were also up for the role. New Line, often referred to as The House That Freddy Krueger Built, had originally envisioned The Mask as a franchise that could replace the A Nightmare on Elm Street movies as their go-to mix of horror and dark comedy.

The big catalyst for the switch of The Mask to a straight-up comedy came courtesy of director Chuck Russell, who didn’t much care for the grim tone and disturbing graphic violence found in the source material, and thought the premise worked better as a light, funny story the whole family could enjoy. He pushed New Line in that direction, and also pushed for the hiring of the then still rising Jim Carrey to play the lead, eventually achieving both his goals. This is surreal in hindsight, as Russell had himself previously directed A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, released in 1987, that featured a great mix of horror and dark comedy. He had also originally joined the project when it was a potential horror piece, which makes sense, as all he’d directed up until then was horror.

Why The Mask Could Still Be A Great Horror Franchise

While it’s hard to argue too much with Russell’s instincts, as The Mask ended up a huge success as a comedy starring Carrey, that doesn’t mean that the now long-dormant property can’t be resurrected and allowed to fulfill its original horror potential. The franchise possibilities are obvious, and it wouldn’t even necessarily need to be a continuing narrative. Warner Bros. could go the anthology route, having each movie focus on a different mask-wearer, and show the horrific behavior they got up to. The central conflict could be something along the lines of whether the wearer could escape the mask and recover, or have to be taken out for good.

The Mask could even be taken in a more psychological horror direction, with the wearer kidnapping, torturing, then murdering victims, and the dramatic thrust being the police attempting to figure out who was behind the mask and where he was working out of. Horror movies based on The Mask could also go back to basics, and adapt the comics, presenting unsuspecting fans of the 1994 movie with an all-new Stanley Ipkiss that would be more liable to chop up Dorian Tyrell and hide his body parts inside walls than solely partaking in wacky antics. Of course, the best part would be if Warner Bros. could somehow get Jim Carrey to return in some fashion, but his tendency to avoid follow-ups to his movies is well-known – hence why the world got 2005’s atrocious Son of the Mask, starring Jamie Kennedy, a horrifying film in its own right.

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