A Cautionary Tale

Somewhat apropos for the moment…a cautionary tale, of sorts.

A Scout Paget Hi-Fi remix of a 1965 classic…play at max volume…*heh*

It's Been A While...

...but this blog is still alive.

Astro and I are going to have to catch these cats on tour, maaan...

THE MANAGEMENT IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR NERVOUS BREAKDOWNS!

Image via 3-D Film Archive

The Mask, 1951 (aka The Eyes Of Hell), directed by Julian Roffman, is officially Canada's first film in the horror genre...and a notable first it was.

A precious ancient Mayan mask possesses whoever wears it, turning them into a mad killer ostensibly taking blood sacrifices for some extinct diety.

Psychiatrist Allan Barnes (Paul Stevens) is upset when his disturbed patient Michael Radin (Martin Lavut) commits suicide. He feels he could have done more to help the young man. Radin told Barnes about a horror-mask that was compelling him to murder, a claim that Barnes too hastily dismissed. It so happened that [Radin] mailed the mask to Barnes just before he died. Barnes ignores the warnings of [Radin's] fianceé Pam (Claudette Nevins). Instead of taking the strange object to the cops, he tries it on in private, just to see what happens. He’s immediately projected into a parallel dimension of horror ruled by demonic magic and ritual sacrifices. A ‘phantom Radin’ is there, along with other ghostly phantasms. - Glenn Erickson

Pretty straightforward horror stuffs. But, Julian Roffman had something more in mind:

The legendary 3-D sequences in The Mask are more than worth the price of admission. They’re really quite unique. At three places in the story the obsessed psychiatrist is compelled by a phantom voice that commands him to “Put the Mask on NOW!  Put the Mask on NOW!”  The movie audience follows suit with their 3-D viewers, and participates in a trio of hyper-real 3-D hallucination scenes. Vincent Price’s character in 1959’s The Tingler actually drops LSD in one scene, and communicated the experience through over-the-top acting. The Mask takes the audience right into the acid nightmare. What we see is a great fun-fair spook ride version of a trip to Hell.

The 3-D dream hallucination sequences have little connection to the framing story, but that doesn’t turn out to be a problem. We’re told that Barnes is exploring the dark secrets of his own subconscious, which sounds like a lot of hooey — he’s transported to an alternate dimension of evil, with spooky forests and hellish rivers, all covered by thick ground fog. The damned souls he finds there wear wax masks that turn them into strange puppet people: a creature that corresponds to Radin, a long-haired blonde woman who becomes a sacrificial victim, and a trio of masked demonic priests. - Glenn Erickson

The [anaglyph] 3-D sequences, three in all, last 14.65 minutes (879 s). They were designed by montage expert Slavko Vorkapich. A pioneering electronic music score (billed as "Electro Magic Sound" in publicity materials) enhances the strangeness of the 3-D scenes. - Wikipedia

And that is what makes this film a classic. In the early 1980s, a restored stereoscopic version of The Eyes of Hell was released for television, and in 2015 Kino Classics produced an exceptional release of The Mask on Blu-Ray 3-D and DVD. The original theatrical trailer below transports us to the excitement, and general fun, of 1961 when Canada first unleashed its brand of horror to the world.

A Quick Jump To The Retro-Tech 1990s And Stereolab's 'Miss Modular'

Miss Modular by Stereolab. Tune from the band's 1997 album, Dots and Loops.

'Lune Fin de Siècle' - A Wonderful End of the 19th Century Automaton

The wonderful and very rare 'Lune Fin de Siècle' (The End Of The Century Moon) Musical Smoking Automaton by Vichy, c. 1891:

Depicting a young man with large full moon face leaning against a fluted column, a cigarette between his lips and a walking cane in his right hand, with plaster-composition head, articulated brown glass eyes and wire monocle, dressed in burgundy satin tailcoat, cream silk waistcoat, yellow tie and pointed shoes.

The figure tilts his head from side to side, rolls his eyes and twirls his cane as he inhales from a lighted cigarette placed in the holder and blows the smoke out through his nose.

The 'Lune Fin de Siècle' - one of Vichy's most recognisable automata - draws on the popularity of the moon as a motif in French literature and visual culture during the late 19th and early 20th century.

Gustave Vichy and his son Henry both used the face of the 'Lune Fin de Siècle' as a registered trademark on the company's letterheads, labels and advertising. The original model may have been sculpted by Henry Vichy himself. Certainly the figure shows signs of Henry's influence, including the shapely modeling of the slender body and a sense of the unexpected in the large round head that appears to rest upon it. Another indication of Henry work is the pencil date "9.12.91" found on the figure's bedplate (sic?).

'Lune Fin de Siècle' was part of the Atracciones Apolo, an indoor amusement park opened by Josep Vallés Rovira on Parallel Avenue, Barcelona, in 1935. Atracciones Apolo was a popular destination and featured in two films: 'Apartado des Correos 2001' (1950) and 'El fugitivo de Amberes' (1955). Alongside the magic grotto, the 'Autogruta' ghost train and other rides, the park also contained the 'Museo las Maravillosas Figuras en sus Dioramas' (Museum of Marvellous Figures in their Dioramas) featuring automata exhibited as scenes in floor-standing cabinets.

The marquee of Atracciones Apolo is pictured in the right center.

All operated from electric motors but many (including the 'Lune Fin de Siècle') also retained their original clockwork motors inside the cabinets. According to an article published by 'Edición del Domingo' on 19 August 1990, the automata exhibit closed in 1957. The park closed its doors to the public in around 1991 and the bulk of the building was demolished. The Apolo's collection of automata and mechanical effects was eventually dispersed amongst La Fira bar in Barcelona, the Museu de Joguets i Autòmats in Verdú and a well-known antique doll specialist in the South of England. The automaton [shown] here has been restored to full mechanical function at the House of Automata in Forres, Scotland.

Side views show the magical charm of this fantastical figure.

To read a bit more about this outstanding automaton, as well as view pics of the clockwork and pneumatic system, click this link to get to the Invaluable auction listing. On 7 November 2015 this Lune Fin de Siècle sold for €135,264 ($145,004). Below is a video of the fine Dandy at work.



- Original descriptions and photos found in the Invaluable Auction listing -

Were You There During The Great Martian War?

Using World War I archival footage, CGI, and some reenactment footage as well, this shows what a real Martian War would have looked like in 1914. Found at http://vimeo.com/107454954. The footage is from a fake documentary called "The Great Martian War"

H/T Author Fabio Evangelista da Silva Publisher Page

Archive recreation for The Great Martian War documentary by impossible factual for History Canada.
Directed by Christian Johnson, (Plazma). and Steve Maher (impossible factual).
plazmadesign.co.uk
Music: "88" by Working for a Nuclear Free City.
history.co.uk/shows/the-great-martian-war

Read All About It: 'The Man From Planet X'

EXTRA! EXTRA! INVASION FROM SPACE - The Man from Planet X, 1951 (USA) promotional news sheet. (image via wrong side of the art)

Right click & choose view image for larger view.

If you have time for a movie, you can view The Man From Planet X below.


The Man from Planet X by MargaliMorwentari

What Curiosity Can't Show Us About Mars

The cities are underground!


Original Cinecolor theatrical trailer for the 1951 Monogram Pictures' space adventure, FLIGHT TO MARS, starring Cameron Mitchell, Marguerite Chapman and Arthur Franz.

For Your Entertainment Pleasure: Beyond The Blue Horizon

Beyond the Blue Horizon from Bill Domonkos on Vimeo.
A short film by Bill Domonkos (2015)
Music: The Three Suns (Beyond the Blue Horizon 1940s)
Archive film footage from the Prelinger Archive.
Animation, compositing and editing: Bill Domonkos

Long Ago And Far Away - The Empire Strikes Back (1950)

A brilliant Premake trailer of The Empire Strikes Back (1950 from whoiseyevan on YouTube:

Let's turn back the clock, shall we? Back to a distant time in an alternate universe far, far away... The 50s! It was a simpler age of 3-D movies, and robots named Robby, Gort, and Tobor. A hidden gem of this period in cinema is a little film called "The Empire Strikes Back", the second chapter in a planned three-part epic science fiction trilogy. While the preceding and succeeding episodes were never actually produced due to budgetary constraints, "Empire" shines as an example of 1950s 3-D space opera. The re-release of this trailer coincides with the 60th anniversary of this amazing film.