The Mask (1961)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Don't listen to the negative reviews

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Blistering performances.

Reading up a list by a fellow IMDb poster about movies which they are keen on seeing from 1961/1,I noticed a film right at the top called The Mask.Searching round for any info about the title,I was eventually able to discover that along with being Canada's first ever 3D movie,the film was also the first ever Horror movie to come from Canada.Finding the really good Cheezy Flicks DVD of the movie (which includes one set of red and blue 3D glasses) going at a good price on Ebay,I decided that it was time to put the mask on.The plot:Falling to get any helpful advice from Dr Alan Barnes over the recurring nightmarish vision which he keeps having when ever he wears an old mask,a patient of Barnes decides that he has only one option left to rid himself of his addiction to the mask:shoot himself.Being interrupted during his daily routine by two police officers,Barnes is shocked to learn that one of his oldest patents has committed suicide.Offering to help the cops out in anyway he can,Alan gets set to finish his day so that he can spend plenty of time in comfort with girlfriend Pam Ablight.Just as Barnes is gathering his last things,he suddenly notices a box put at the end of the desk,which contains a strange looking mask,that he gets a mysterious urge from to pick up and wear it.View on the film:Although the screenplay by Frank Tabues,Sandy Haver and Franklin Delessert does contain some "chewy" exposition dialogue about the troubles with the mask,the writers make the film's brisk 73 minute running time fly by,thanks to having Barnes obsession with the mask get deeper and more insane as the film nears it conclusion,and also due to never making the film's use of 3D feel tacked on,but instead feel like something which is blended into the rest of the movie.Cleverly separating the 3D set pieces into 4 4 bite size chunks,director Julian Roffman covers the films TV Movie of The Week style sets by shooting in a Noir low-lit fashion,which allows for the stunning Claudette Nevins to look truly ravishing as Pam,and also for the obsessed Paul Stevens to make Barnes look like he is about to go off the wall.Seeing that the films 3D effects became 50 years old last year,I have to say that I found each of the 4 segments to hold up extremely well and also be extraordinarily captivating.Despite being uncredited due to Slavko Vorkapich's (who left the movie before it had started filming) "pay or play" contract,director Roffman and his a head of their time team of FX wizards, (Herb Alpert, James Gordon,Herman Townsley, "Skin" Schwartz, Dick Williams,and storyboard artist Hugo Wuetrich) make the world shown when the mask is worn into a brilliantly wild,experimental Horror,as Louis Applebaum's unsettling score stays screeching in the background,whilst Hoofman and co's wonderfully weird,near wordless, segments go from a woman's mask face being pulled off on top of a coffin,to the mask itself turning into a flame-throwing monster.

I saw this once as a kid on television. They usually showed like a 3-d movie once a year and it was usually this one with a killer monkey this particular year they put this movie on about a mask and its super freak out nightmare visions. This one was the better of the two as far as the 3-d effects as the monkey one had only a couple of scenes where one would even notice the effects. This one though had lots of them in the nightmare world when the mask was put on. However, the non nightmare sequences were rather boring and seemed to go on forever. Granted, that really made the build up when he was about to put on the mask even better! The story has some sort of doctor, a psychiatrist I think, treating a guy who has gone killer. The guy blames the mask so the doctor tries it on and he is taken to a strange place full of very big elaborate scenes, scenes that really showcase the 3-d effect. In the regular world though there was virtually nothing going on and it was very slow, made you want to scream at the doctor to put on that mask!

I cant help but think perhaps if i was a bit older, I would have appreciated this movie more..but as it goes, I was only six. My brothers went to the movies earlier that year you see to watch the wonderful and enlightening Born Free..I wanted to see that. But no..by the time I got to go to the movies it wasn't playing in our neighborhood any longer and this was. The Mask..yikes. This is the very first movie i ever saw in the theater and well lets just say it was pretty confusing and scary. I do remember some parts of it being very colorful..:). Anyway, this memory has haunted me for all these years so I was bound and determined to find it and watch it again. Thanks to ebay and the US postal service, I should have this lovely film within a couple of weeks maybe even sooner, so that i can pop open a soda and grab a bowl of popcorn and reminisce..now if I can only find some 3D glasses I will be all set....

Yes, I have to agree that this is really not a great film. However, as the previous reviewer has commented, it is worth watching at least once for the 3-D sequences, which were done by the famous Slavko Vorkapitch. The premise is actually a great use of the 3-D medium. Whenever the main character puts on the haunted mask, that is the cue for the audience to put their 3-D glasses (Which were in the form of a "Mystic Mask" when I saw this in it's original theatrical release in 1961!). He then has these wild 3-D dream sequences, which are definitely the ONLY good part of the film. In order for this to work in ANY movie theater the 3-D sequences are in the anaglyph format, which uses the red and green glasses, and does not require a special projection lens or silver screen. The film is otherwise black and white, except for the 3-D sequences, which use the red and green encoding to create monochromatic 3-D. It should be noted, however, that this process does not translate very well to video. The 3-D effect may be significantly reduced or not work well at all, depending upon the monitor, color settings, etc. Probably the laserdisc version of this will have the best 3-D effects.