Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Finally on DVD!, August 23, 2008
Been waiting for this one to get to DVD. My review will be updated when I get the disc, but for now I'll comment on the movie itself and not the disc quality.
FWIW this was also known as Eyes of Hell, it is a 1961 low-budget Canadian horror film produced in 3-D by Warner Bros.
This is a really great B horror flick. One of those Friday night Shock Theater gems for sure. The 3-D sequences, four in all, last only a few minutes each. They were designed by montage expert Slavko Vorkapich, and feature an array of distinctively psychedelic visuals, some of which are mildly gruesome. A crude electronic music score enhances the strangeness of the 3-D scenes.
The movie is well done considering it's low budget, the story concerns a young scientist who obtains a mysterious ancient tribal mask. Whenever he puts on the mask he experiences weird dream-like visions which become increasingly disturbing and violent. The visions begin to alter his personality, and eventually drive him insane! Wee, what great Friday night fun! Pretty obvious where the later comic book and Jim Carry movie plot line came from.
UPDATE: As far as the disc quality, it's good, very watchable for a budget film, don't expect a flawless presentation as I'm pretty sure no master exists that would be better than this disc. Highly recommended.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
PUT THE MASK ON NOW!!!, October 8, 2008
I saw this movie on TV many years ago. As I was much younger, and as I recall, up to my eyebrows in "refreshments", I thought it was a great movie. So when I saw that it was finally on DVD, I HAD to get a copy. It was, at the time, a fairly original idea. And as my old friend Greg Horn (see review above) said, its obvious where the idea of the comic book and Jim Carry movie originated.
Well, despite the flaws in the movie, I certainly got my money's worth. The flaws were absolutely hilarious. The director must have been on some strong medication - probably to offset the tiny budget and third rate actors he was forced to work with. I lost count of how many times the script referred to it being night (i.e. the psychiatrist driving his car and picking up his secretary, whom he was banging behind his fiance's back, in broad daylight, parking his car, and telling her to "Look at the stars!"). The fight scene near the end between the shrink driven mad by the mask and the dour, half-baked looking police detective was hilarious; especially the pathetic parody of a karate chop to the shoulder that finally subdued the hapless lunatic. There were too many holes in the plot to keep track of without taking notes. And EVERYBODY was smoking cigarettes like there was no tomorrow!
But it was the dream sequences and accompanying music that really made the film. The sequences were directed by Slavko Vorkapich; and you knew where the loin's share of the film's budget went. These scenes were quite well done. There is a feeling of fear and nightmarish surrealism in them that one wouldn't expect from the rest of the film. The effects utilized the limited technology of the day with a deft artistry. The 3D element (BTW, the DVD comes with a free pair of 3D glasses; a nice bonus) didn't hit me all that strong. Maybe it was me. But despite this, the dream sequences made the film.
I was also interested in the idea the film presented of exploring the depths of the human mind. Such ideas were rare for 50's grade B (or C) horror flicks. But The Mask wrestled with the idea in a way that was heroic in light of the limits of budget and talent. Somewhere, someone may have been trying to get an idea across and make a statement.
There were also bonus previews of various lost films, serials, and advertisements that were just as hilarious as the bulk of the film.
I gave this four starts partly because of the brilliant creativity of the dream sequences and partly because of the fact that the DVD as a whole was an eloquent relic of a bygone era. The demented innocence of the beginning of a headlong plunge into a spiritual emptiness that has since engulfed the whole of humanity. Yet, looking at it cannot help but bring a smile to our faces. Personally, I'm not the type to long for the "good old days". Nor am I much interested in current popular trends - which will doubtless go the way of the dinosaur and films like The Mask. My own "now" is far too interesting and fulfilling to live in such fantasy worlds. But an occasional visit to the "Old Neighborhood" is always refreshing, enjoyable, and puts things in a delightful perspective.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
About the DVD, October 15, 2008
The DVD ships with just one pair (cheap skates!) of generic red/blue 3-D glasses with a white cardboard frame.
As far as extras, the DVD menu offers chapter stops and an approximately 15 minute sequence of drive-in movie ads and random film trailers that are a fun pre-show (although a "Cheezy Movies" logo watermark appears here and there during the ads).
The film itself is presented in a poor-to-fair transfer that could easily have come from a videotape source (and in fact there is the occasional horizontal noise line one would associate with tape). A disappointment, but watchable. When it comes to old, obscure B-movies on DVD, I've seen worse.
While I've never felt the 2-color 3-D process works very well on televisions (even in newer DVDs like "Sharkboy & Lavagirl") the 3-D segments here were better than I'd expected. Backgrounds recede, while actors and other effects protrude, and there is the occasional "stick in your face" effect. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the 3-D.
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