Well, I am in no way as enamored with this film as others. I was bored right out of my mind through most of it. We get some guy at the beginning who kills young women, goes to his psychiatrist for help, then commits suicide and sends the deadly mask which has made him a killer to the doctor. What does the doctor do? Put the mask on! Yep, he does. Soon he wants to kill. To be what primordial man is all about. To experience everything life has to offer - like killing! There really is no plot to this film. Take out the dream sequences(the 3-D bits) and you have very little to work with. Yes, it pushes what little story there is...but to nowhere. By the end of the film there is no real ending. I did like the final bit with the mask in the museum. What about those dream sequences when the mask is being worn? I don't have a clue what they are to represent. Yes, they are done stylishly. I enjoyed the creativity put into them(that is why I gave this dreck four stars instead of two). We get skulls emitting blue and red flames. A masked figure in a robe cavorting with some strange man(was that the doctor?) A beautiful girl on a sacrificial alter. Things like that. The 3-D effects are some of the better ones for its age, but that is really all this film has going for it. Dream sequences done artistically but no real plot, no directorial savvy, and no acting. None of these folks are very good in front of the camera. The doc is played by Paul Stevens(a very dramatic performance indeed!). How about his doctor friend played by Leo Leyden? All the spark and life of a dead battery! The female cast doesn't fare better in the acting department yet both leads are gorgeous. The doctor's girl is played by Claudette Nevins in her first screen role. You can tell it is her first role, but she is so pretty with those alluring eyes. His secretary is played by blonde lovely Anne Collings. Not much talent but she is a sight for sore eyes. Outside of those perks, I was not impressed at all with The Mask. I did watch the Elvira version on video and was disheartened that she didn't interrupt during the film. She was, as always, funny and has her own highlights to showcase.

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.

Wonderful movie. First I have seen from this time period (aside from "The Incredible Shrinking Man") that actually scared me. A psychiatrist gets addicted to an alternate reality that can be entered by putting on an ancient mask. Trouble is it slowly renders the wearer insane. I wholeheartedly disagree with the majority of viewers here who say the non-3-d sequences are dull. I found them entertaining and well acted. The whole thing can certainly be read as a metaphor for drug use. The actual 3-D isn't that great (it isn't like things are thrust out at the viewer). It looks more vaguely 3-D. But the sequences themselves are fascinating and weird and demand repeated viewings. I think the really striking aspect of this film is the sound design. It truly was ahead of its time. I can't think of another film that makes such mesmerizing, hypnotic use of sound design. I'd be curious to know how they did it.Sounds are slowed down to a throbbing groan, echoes reverberate in and out and a sonic thumping pounds every time someone gets ready to put on the mask. Just listen to the voice-over when the suicide note is read (doctor's patient). I love it. Watch it. I watched scenes again and again after my first viewing.

saw photos from this in the Re/Search "Incredibly Strange Films" issue. taped it when shown locally, and later snagged the Elvira edition. oddly enough, the 3D works a little better from the EP recorded tape of the local broadcast. why? no idea. I disagree with the comments about how bad the film is. Other than the 3D. it's a typical, thriller of the time. No better or worse than much else. But, when the narrator says, "Put the mask on now!", it really comes alive, with beautifully composed 3D hallucinations that hang in the mind for a while. Among the best 3D movies ever made, aided by the fact that the glasses are only needed part of the time. Only a perfect showing of "Flesh For Frankenstein" in a local theater, ever even came close, and it was mostly just gore. Not to be missed, if you get the chance.