After hitting theaters 30 years ago, the horror-comedy Killer Klowns from Outer Space has developed a passionate following, with its popularity possibly being at its all-time high. The artists at Tom Spina Designs recently shared photos of a screen-used mask from the film, which had severely deteriorated, and detailed the measures they’ve taken to restore the piece to its original glory.
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As evidenced by the photo above, the 30-year-old mask had begun to crumble and fall apart, with the studio detailing that previous attempts to preserve the mask utilized duct tape.
The site detailed, “Originally created by our friends over at Chiodo Brothers Productions, this Killer Klowns mask prop came in to our NY studio in need of a bit of restoration and care. There were many cracks and pieces of material that had come loose and even a large piece of duct tape that had been stuck to the mask at some point. Over the years the lack of an interior support system had allowed the fragile material to warp.
“To restore this piece of cult horror movie history, we began by patching only areas necessary to keep the piece well supported. We added a large amount of internal fabric backing by way of muslin strips and flexible archival glues to help support the foam latex mask over time as well. This allowed us to rebuild the bib area which was missing a fair amount of material. This sort of support is a key element in the conservation of original foam or latex movie props. We also carefully removed the piece of tape, being careful not to further damage the foam latex.”
While the artists wanted to make sure the piece looked as restored as possible, they also didn’t want the piece to feel brand new. In that regard, the artists were tasked with not only repairing the piece,but also making sure that the restorations blended seamlessly with the untouched components.
“Whenever we restore these type of pieces we use a technique called ‘in painting,’” the studio noted. “This means we only repaint the areas we patched, not the original material. It’s a great challenge to match the look of aged paint and foam, but worth it for the final result. As an additional step towards preservation, the whole mask was sealed to help provide a barrier to the elements and secure the original paint in the areas that we weren’t patched.”
As you can see in the photo above, the mask looks completely different than it did when it came into the studio, breathing life into the otherworldly character.
With the film being represented at this year’s Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios and with a reported new film on the way, Killer Klowns from Outer Space fans will surely appreciate the love shown to the cult classic.
[H/T Tom Spina Designs]
