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This week saw the Entertainment Memorabilia: Treasures from Film and Television live auction, with a tonne of amazing props on sale for those with deep pockets. These have ranged from a ‘Terror Dog’ stop motion puppet from Ghostbusters (sold for $11,000), a Velociraptor egg prop from Jurassic Park (yours for $16,000), to Vasquez’s M-41A Pulse Rifle from Aliens (a whopping $85,000). But all of that pales in comparison to how much an iconic Friday the 13th prop went for.
This was Jason’s mask from Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday, which is signed by Kane Hodder, and has been screen-matched (meaning it’s verified as being worn in the movie). The listing bills it as:
“Jason’s (Hodder) spirit passed his signature mask from body to body before he was dragged to hell by Freddy Krueger (Hodder). This mask screen-matches to the scene in which a SWAT team ambushes and blows up Jason. This version of the iconic Voorhees mask was designed by effects supervisor Howard Berger and manufactured by K.N.B. Effects Group to appear battle-scarred, burnt, water-damaged, and fused to the face of the latest wearer. As such, the mask is extensively aged with grime, scratches, and chips made throughout by production.”
Prior to auction, the estimated price was somewhere between $20-30k, though there are obviously some seriously dedicated slasher fans out there as the bids just kept coming, with the hammer falling at $180,000 (with the total sales price, including buyer’s premium, being $225,000). That’s a huge amount of money, particularly as Jason Goes To Hell isn’t even one of the more iconic Friday the 13th movies.
Still, regardless of which movie it appeared in, owning Jason’s actual on-screen hockey mask has to be the dream of every horror memorabilia collector and I’m assuming it’ll take pride of place in some private display room. Even so, that colossal closing price must have other owners of similar Jason masks looking at them and wondering whether it’s time to sell up.
Sadly it may be a while yet before a similar mask returns to menace more teenagers in a new Friday the 13th. The ongoing lawsuit between Victor Miller and Sean Cunningham shows no sign of wrapping up soon, complicated by the death of the judge due to rule on it and COVID gumming up the legal system. Even so, you’d think that a verdict would be due sometime this year and Jason can finally climb out of (legal) hell.