The girl in the film looks EVEN MORE uncannily like her. I suspect somebody had indeed seen the Franju, or maybe just a still from it. In fact, I like the idea that they saw a still and then sort of dreamed up this whole movie in response to that one image.
It’s not 1961 film The Mask, is it? First 3-D film I ever saw (1970 or thereabouts) and not 3-D all the way through – each time a voice from the screen said, “Put on the mask!” you had to put your specs on.
following up my tradition of really random comments http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jck8s this was a really brilliant prog I caught on Radio 4 about black people in uk film & tV
Saw The Mask in 3-D at the Pacific Film Archive a few years back…it’s not a great film by any stretch, but it’s certainly unforgettable! Also saw Ray Dennis Steckler’s The Thrill Killers during that series…PFA is a great place! And The Thrill Killers is actually a much better film than you might expect considering Steckler’s reputation.
I think Steckler had a website… an unbelievably tragic place.
The Incredibly Strange Creatures is quite something — a film you can’t believe exists, and it barely does. Even as you watch it, you feel you wouldn’t be surprised if it just stopped. It’s surprising it actually finishes.
Steckler’s cheapie film Rat Pfink A Boo Boo is the one of the few films I have ever seen purposely thrown away. It starts as kind of a low-budget crime film mixed in with some lame rock and roll star (the criminals are cute – I even gave ‘em nicknames – but they aren’t menacing enough and the music stinks, but it’s mildly diverting what with Steckler’s wife getting naked and all), and instead of continuing on that course, careens into the lamest Batman parody ever filmed. I’m not sure he doesn’t deserve his reputation. If he’d ever done 3-D, I bet the rocks, arrows and other projectiles would fly away from the audience, not for perversity, but just sheer wrongness of execution.
His website is full of typos, misspellings, grammatical mistakes and egomaniacal statements of self-delusion. Like those of his films I’ve seen, it should be funny but is just depressing.
No, I’m not that brave. I’ve conveyed to others that the only thing good to come out of ol’ Cash Flagg’s oeuvre was the review Lester Bangs wrote on The Incredibly Strange Creatures…(yada, yada, yada), which was at least funny. The parts of Rat Pfink where the criminals menace helpless women shows Steckler had half a brain (well, just barely) but didn’t know what the hell to do with it. When he tries to be funny, he’s a freaking disaster. He shoulda directed TV cop shows or something equally humorless.
The Incredibly Strange Creatures would show fairly often on Saturday afternoon television when I was a kid, I always felt cheated when they’d air it. It just seemed so cheap, cheesy, sleazy… which I imagine was its appeal to some people. But not when you’re a kid. I remember that review of Bangs’, who was one of the heroes of my adolescence. He could be damn funny, when he left CREEM magazine it just wasn’t the same.
You wonder how Steckler could come up with such “good” titles, and then you realise in the case of the baffling Rat Pfink a Boo Boo, dumb luck played a part. It was supposed to be Rat Pfink AND Boo Boo but the guy who did the title screwed up, so you end up with this great Dadaist word soup that makes no sense and is beautifully intriguing, instead of an inept Batman spoof — which is what you get when you see it.
I love this movie!
The 3D sequences are wild, and the soundtrack to said sequences even wilder!
I’ve still got a copy of an 80s VHS release of it.
No Elvira introduction unfortunately, instead you get a stage magician and his assistant doing a bunch of cornball magic tricks in order to demonstrate the wonders of 3D.
More unfortunate still, they interrupt the movie half-way through to demonstrate even further how erm…’amazing’ their magic tricks look in 3D.
*yawn*
Still, the movie itself is a long-time favourite of mine, great to see it being justly praised in your review there.
“put the mask on now….put the mask on now….”
September 24, 2009 at 1:39 pm
That looks uncannily like Edith Scob in EYES WITHOUT A FACE
September 24, 2009 at 1:48 pm
The girl in the film looks EVEN MORE uncannily like her. I suspect somebody had indeed seen the Franju, or maybe just a still from it. In fact, I like the idea that they saw a still and then sort of dreamed up this whole movie in response to that one image.
September 24, 2009 at 2:13 pm
It’s not 1961 film The Mask, is it? First 3-D film I ever saw (1970 or thereabouts) and not 3-D all the way through – each time a voice from the screen said, “Put on the mask!” you had to put your specs on.
September 24, 2009 at 3:01 pm
That’s the one! Follow the link for more.
September 24, 2009 at 7:22 pm
September 24, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Franju’s film is a bizarre masterpiece, whereas The Mask is more of a curio. But a fun one!
September 24, 2009 at 9:12 pm
I used to have a super 8mm trailer for this film,The Mask,but have never seen the actual film..
September 24, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Worth seeking out an old tape! Complete with intro by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.
September 24, 2009 at 9:35 pm
following up my tradition of really random comments http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jck8s this was a really brilliant prog I caught on Radio 4 about black people in uk film & tV
September 24, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Must go listen to that now, thanks!
September 24, 2009 at 9:42 pm
yes didn’t realise that a black british film won the palm dor one year for short feature !
September 24, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Saw The Mask in 3-D at the Pacific Film Archive a few years back…it’s not a great film by any stretch, but it’s certainly unforgettable! Also saw Ray Dennis Steckler’s The Thrill Killers during that series…PFA is a great place! And The Thrill Killers is actually a much better film than you might expect considering Steckler’s reputation.
September 24, 2009 at 10:38 pm
September 24, 2009 at 10:46 pm
I think Steckler had a website… an unbelievably tragic place.
The Incredibly Strange Creatures is quite something — a film you can’t believe exists, and it barely does. Even as you watch it, you feel you wouldn’t be surprised if it just stopped. It’s surprising it actually finishes.
And with Laszlo Kovacs camera assisting!
September 24, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Just looked at the Thrill Killers trailer — http://www.reelzchannel.com/trailer-clips/27326/the-thrill-killers-trailer
My word! At last — a film BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL.
September 25, 2009 at 1:51 am
Steckler’s cheapie film Rat Pfink A Boo Boo is the one of the few films I have ever seen purposely thrown away. It starts as kind of a low-budget crime film mixed in with some lame rock and roll star (the criminals are cute – I even gave ‘em nicknames – but they aren’t menacing enough and the music stinks, but it’s mildly diverting what with Steckler’s wife getting naked and all), and instead of continuing on that course, careens into the lamest Batman parody ever filmed. I’m not sure he doesn’t deserve his reputation. If he’d ever done 3-D, I bet the rocks, arrows and other projectiles would fly away from the audience, not for perversity, but just sheer wrongness of execution.
September 25, 2009 at 9:49 am
His website is full of typos, misspellings, grammatical mistakes and egomaniacal statements of self-delusion. Like those of his films I’ve seen, it should be funny but is just depressing.
http://www.raydennissteckler.com/ if you’re brave enough.
September 25, 2009 at 12:46 pm
No, I’m not that brave. I’ve conveyed to others that the only thing good to come out of ol’ Cash Flagg’s oeuvre was the review Lester Bangs wrote on The Incredibly Strange Creatures…(yada, yada, yada), which was at least funny. The parts of Rat Pfink where the criminals menace helpless women shows Steckler had half a brain (well, just barely) but didn’t know what the hell to do with it. When he tries to be funny, he’s a freaking disaster. He shoulda directed TV cop shows or something equally humorless.
September 25, 2009 at 1:26 pm
The Incredibly Strange Creatures would show fairly often on Saturday afternoon television when I was a kid, I always felt cheated when they’d air it. It just seemed so cheap, cheesy, sleazy… which I imagine was its appeal to some people. But not when you’re a kid. I remember that review of Bangs’, who was one of the heroes of my adolescence. He could be damn funny, when he left CREEM magazine it just wasn’t the same.
September 25, 2009 at 3:07 pm
You wonder how Steckler could come up with such “good” titles, and then you realise in the case of the baffling Rat Pfink a Boo Boo, dumb luck played a part. It was supposed to be Rat Pfink AND Boo Boo but the guy who did the title screwed up, so you end up with this great Dadaist word soup that makes no sense and is beautifully intriguing, instead of an inept Batman spoof — which is what you get when you see it.
September 25, 2009 at 10:39 pm
I’m also a huge fan of Rat Pfink a Boo Boo, but The Thrill Killers actually passes muster as a real movie.
September 26, 2009 at 12:34 am
OK, maybe it’ll turn up as a future Forgotten piece — I’ll try and check it out soon.
September 28, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I love this movie!
The 3D sequences are wild, and the soundtrack to said sequences even wilder!
I’ve still got a copy of an 80s VHS release of it.
No Elvira introduction unfortunately, instead you get a stage magician and his assistant doing a bunch of cornball magic tricks in order to demonstrate the wonders of 3D.
More unfortunate still, they interrupt the movie half-way through to demonstrate even further how erm…’amazing’ their magic tricks look in 3D.
*yawn*
Still, the movie itself is a long-time favourite of mine, great to see it being justly praised in your review there.
“put the mask on now….put the mask on now….”
September 28, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Wonder who owns the rights? Whoever it is, they don’t seem too devoted to giving it the best treatment on home video.