Tiki is back.. again

Last weekend I was in Portland for Tiki Kon 2016. This was my fifth consecutive year and it has been great to see it continue to grow. I even met a couple from here in Missouri.  I love to meet and spend time with the tiki crowd, they are good people. My goal is to make it down to Tiki Oasis next year. That is still the biggest Tiki culture gathering that I know of. 

  So, this got me to thinking; why is there still such a following?  As I looked around Tiki Kon there were few if any millennials. The crowd was mostly Gen X or Boomers.  Is this because we are still living the "dream of the 90s"?  There was the big lounge and exotica music revival in the mid-nineties and that is how most of us became interested in tiki I'm sure. I know that was the case for me.  Yet 20 years later here we all still are, when many other fads have fallen by the wayside.  Why is that?  I think the retro revival really tapped into something in parts of my generation. Something that we are missing today. A simpler life? A more civil society? Pure escapism? Maybe all of that and more- or maybe it's just the self mocking kitsch factor, but I doubt you would still have so many that are still involved in the subculture if that was all it was.  Speaking only for myself, the appeal is an idealized mid-century society where people are polite and sincere. A quieter world.  A world were there is still romance and mystery.  The exact opposite of the times we find ourselves in now,  filled  with hate, fear and vulgarity.  

That may be why we are having another Polynesian pop revival now. I have read about several new 'real' tiki bars opening within just the last year or so. Maybe some of the younger generation are getting fed up with the increasingly loud and violent world of today and are looking for a quiet paradise amid the maelstrom. I say, "Aloha and welcome my young friends." We have cool, dark lounges with soft music and delicious drinks. What's not to love?

 To celebrate Canada Day

 The Mask (1961) 

Oh Canada!
Billed as Canada’s first horror film, ‘The Mask’ (or ‘Eyes of Hell’ as it was called in the US release) is NOT the dumb Jim Carey vehicle from the 90′s.  This is a creepy tale of madness driven by an ancient, evil mask.

The story is about a psychiatrist, Dr. Allen Barnes who receives in the mail an ancient Aztec?(they never really say) mask from a patient of his that has committed suicide.  The former patient was an archeologist who found the mask and blamed it as the cause of his madness after he wore it.
The good Dr. Barnes is a sensible man of science and reason and doesn’t believe in superstition. To prove to himself that the mask has no powers, he puts it on and immediately experiences bizarre, psychedelic visions.
The effect is like a drug and he quickly becomes addicted and wants to wear the mask more and more. Each time the line between reality and the visions of the mask get more blurry. They also become increasingly violent and at one point Barnes states; “I must experience the greatest act of the human mind, to take another human life” .  His young secretary becomes the object of his fatal desires.   Barnes fiancee, Pam tries to help him and he realizes he needs help and also asks a colleague of his, Dr Quincy to help him as well.  Unfortunately, they don’t believe in the power of the mask and think poor Barnes is just having a breakdown.  In the end he escapes their intervention and is determined to fulfill his blood lust when Pam decides to help the police stop him and the good doctor is arrested. The film ends with the mask on display in a museum where a tour group goes through. However one man remains behind the group, gazing intently at the mask…  The end?

The film is B&W except for the psychedelic mask sequences which are 3-D. The 3-D fad of the 50′s was over by this point and it was usually just a cheap gimmick. However, in The Mask I think it works great for a couple of reasons. First, it’s limited use. There are only three or maybe four of the 3-D Dream sequences. The rest of the film is normal. Second, the 3-D sequences aren’t just random jump scares (though there are a couple of those) they actually are part of the story and draw in the audience in a personal way.
Once Barnes puts on the mask, the film begins it’s journey into the realm of the three dimensional world. During it’s theatrical release the audience was actually given cardboard copies of the mask with built in 3-D glasses.  When Barnes puts on the mask, there is a strange echoing voice that says, “Put the mask on. Put the mask on, now!”  that was the audiences cue to put on the 3-D mask as well. So we as the audience experience the strange visions of the mask along with Barnes.

The 3-D is actually done well, one of the better examples of anaglyphic 3-D. And, these are some of the most bizarre 3-D horror sequences ever seen. Full of unsettling and grotesque images, and with a nightmarish stream-of-consciousness technique and eerie as well as grating electronic soundtrack. These scenes from The Mask are clearly inspired by hallucinatory drug experiences, and contain such macabre, surrealistic imagery and repressed sexuality  - it’s a wonder it ever got made.

I fist saw this film on broadcast TV in the mid 80′s where it often played in concert with a couple of 3-D Three Stooges shorts and was hosted by magician Harry Blackstone jr. Who did magic tricks between commercial breaks. I even recall there was a deal at 7-11 where you could get a free pair of 3-D glasses if you bought a big gulp or something.  This was a lot of fun and the nostalgia may play into my love of this film, but I feel it has earned it’s place within the pantheon of horror films. With it’s gestures towards German Expressionism, experimental and avaunt guard film-making techniques, and utilizing some disturbing studio noises, early electronic music, and eye-catching special effects The Mask is unlike anything else from it’s time–and perhaps since. Most certainly worthy of a look. It left a deep impression on me as a child and I still consider it of of my all time favorite B-movies.
Two paws up from Tiki Momo and Mr. Buttons.