Directed by Julian Roffman
A young archaeologist believes he is cursed by a mask that causes him to have weird nightmares and possibly to murder. Before committing suicide, he mails the mask to his psychiatrist, Dr. Barnes, who is soon plunged into the nightmare world of the mask.
Eyes of Hell, The Spooky Movie Show, Eyes from Hell, Die Teuflische Maske, Les Yeux de l'Enfer, La maschera e l'incubo, Die teuflische Maske, Маска, 骸骨面, A Máscara Maldita, La máscara, 마스크
Canada 3D Version (Toronto International Film Festival) 
USA Canada USA 
Pick Your Poison Challenge
Prompt 5: Dream a Little Dream - watch a film that features sleep, dreams, or nightmares
This was such a fun film!
According to its intro, if I had gone to see this back when it was released, I would have received a mask to put on at certain times during the story. And I’m assuming the mask may have had 3D lenses in the eyes? Just based how some of the images in the film would’ve lent themselves well to a 3D experience.
Anyway, the art direction, sets, locations, and visual effects in this were amazing! I loved them so much!!! They carried the film, truly. The premise was about an ancient mask, that when…
The story surrounding three magnificent 3D montage sequences by the great Slavko Vorkapić is fairly bland but you won't care. It's just a delivery device for these brain-seizing temples of doom, violent hallucinations of burning flesh, disfigured faces, flaming skeleton shamans, and choking fog. Unashamedly kooky and truly delirious.
Another one that I think probably worked better during the time of release, in a big theatre or a drive-in. The nightmarish and hallucinatory visuals were definitely a fun time and worth the rating, but the narrative in between did not interest me much until the final twist. I probably would have liked this more had I paid full attention and watched this in 3-D if I had a TV capable of that. This is not to write this film off, I’m sure it would totally be up your alley if you’re into cheesy, psychosexual b-movies. I’ll revisit this someday if I can get my hand on a 3-D television, or if I can use a projector? I’ll have to do my research.
Also, another shoutout to Canada, for this; this is apparently our first horror film, the first film that was widely distributed in the United States, and the only Canadian 3-D feature! Cool stuff!
"The Mask" is a 1961 abstract horror film directed by Julian Roffman. Attached with the niche gimmick of being a 3D novelty film, "The Mask" is also an interesting surrealist piece of art. It starts as a simple of enough standard B list far, more in the vein of a "Ripley's Believe It or Not" kind of energy as we are presented with the ancient tribal mask that carries inherent evil within it. As the introductory period ends, we progress towards more of a formal protagonist narrative of one Dr. Stevens, a psychiatrist who is uniquely observing the mask after one of his patients was supposedly driven to suicide because of it. Under his possession, the film gets increasingly surreal,…
Smmokin!
I didn’t realise I needed to have a mask that I could put on to watch this (you don't), that’s on me, but he asked so nicely and now the rest of you have been warned. We just pretended. And I know they meant 3D masks which were provided by the cinema on its original release, I mean it’s a whole thing, but I like the idea of putting one on when they do and feeling the constraint and disorientation and getting a little mad.
This is a grower. When the mask goes on shit gets 1961 crazy. They really went there with the overlay effects and the skellingtons and snakes and fog machines and fire balls and shooting…
A pretty standard b-movie of the era, but surrounded by some of the most amazing freak-out dream sequences; dense fog, skeletons, melting people, effects shots, eyeballs poppin' out, people reaching towards the screen of course... I was in five-star territory every time the movie told me to PUT ON THE MASK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The rest of the movie? Shrug, it is what it is. That stuff is interesting in-so-far as it adheres to what you would expect from an early 60s b-movie cop procedural (but from Canada!)
Eventually builds to some interesting mask-as-drug-addiction stuff, but it's not quite enough to elevate outside of the 3D scenes. Still, those scenes rule so hard.
100 Days Of Halloween
One of my favorite first time watches of the season! The "mask" segments are Coffin Joe meets Eyes Without A Face. I'm definitely going to have those spooky scenes playing on a loop during various Halloween functions.
Fun fact, The Mask also graces the cover of Incredibly Strange Films (85) by RE/SEARCH publications. Along with The Deep Red Handbook, ISV turned me onto hundreds of films. It's a "must read" for fans of Pychotronic cinema!
MST3K Turkey Day Marathon '24
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"For a bobblehead, you're really judgmental."
I actually have to give some credit to the original filmmakers of The Mask. Sure, it's a shlocky B-movie, and the acting is kind of wooden, and then there's the monotone guy at the beginning who's trying to put you to sleep before the movie even starts. However, you can call it cheesy if you want, but I thought this was a pretty fun and creative use of 3D. The way it's explained is that when the main character puts on the mask, you're supposed to put on your 3D glasses to get the full effect of the trippiness that Doctor Barnes sees. This prompted MST3K to put…
Spooktober 2025
Film #18 of 31 watched
A forgotten Canadian oddity that turns pulp horror into psychedelic art. It might stumble in its framing story, but its surreal 3D dream sequences remain some of the most hypnotic, nightmarish images of early ’60s cinema.
60's film project #43:
Let me save you a headache.
When the voice intones put the mask on (or is it put on the mask) now, put your 3D glasses on as those sequences are the only 3D in the movie. The back of the DVD says this is Canada's 'first and only' 3D movie...not sure if that is true? It's psychedelic nonsense which has nothing whatsoever to do with the 'plot' but it's amazing psychedelic nonsense, though I could only see like half of it. Anything with arms reaching or trees worked fine. Some of the other stuff was just sorta blurry. Still! I would watch this again just for those surreal fourteen and a half minutes! (Yep, four stars for those 14.5 minutes. The rest of the plot was mostly tea drinking. Like, cozy tea. Not psychedelic tea.)
A psychiatrist confronts his own heinous impulses when his subconscious is unlocked by an ancient artifact, a paranoid horror anchored by tight, jittery performances. And yet, even though filmed for 3D, the highlights are those shocking mask sequences, lo-fi, Bava-esque nightmares from the id.
Yes parts of this are like a shitty Twlight Zone episode. But the Mask dimension scenes fucking rip.
Great B-movie, lots of fun camp
