13
May
Friday the 13th Mrs. Voorhees Head Prop Restoration
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to camp… A restoration and a custom display for a screen used Mrs. Voorhees head prop from Friday the 13th Part 2.
This is the original, Friday the 13th part 2 Mrs. Voorhees head prop. On arrival, the foam latex and plaster bust was in fair condition, but showing its age. There were several areas where the paint had cracked and flaked off. The fragile foam that coated the face had also started to crack. One of the most unique challenges with this piece was the fact that the head was made of heavy plaster with a foam facial appliance. This meant that the prop was actually its own worst enemy. The weight of the heavy plaster limited our options for the position of the head in the display. This was always a concern throughout our discussions with the client. We finally came up with the idea that for the display we would recreate the shrine which Jason keeps his mother’s head on.
Maria Teran, the lead restoration artist on the project, began by addressing the areas of deteriorating foam and missing paint. She rebuilt several areas of the face and ears where the foam was missing. Once these areas were patched they were meticulously painted to match the original surrounding material. We finished the head up with a replica wig, which was heavily distressed to fit in better with the rest of the display.
While the movie prop head was being restored we started creating the display base. Steven Richter carved the base out of EPS styrofoam and it featured a carved recess that was carved to fit the severed head prop perfectly. We also added a headrest which provided support from behind for the heavy plaster head. The base was then coated for stability as well as to give the base a realistic stone slab look. Melissa Dooley and Christine Richter painted the display base and added the finishing details. Several candles were distressed to match the look of the candles in the Voorhees shrine seen in the original film. The base was also given several layers of paint to give the look of dirty, natural stone as well as some areas of faux moss.
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Just when you thought it was safe to go back to camp..
