The Man Who Became A Tiki

As a baby boomer who was also a fan of sci-fi and monster flix, I have fond memories of many a classic and not-so-classic film, usually seen as grainy black & white TV images.

But I also have equally vivid memories of films I NEVER saw, courtesy of intriguingly graphic stills in the pages of magazines like Famous Monsters Of Filmland.

And one such film was 'Hand Of Death' starring John Agar (first husband of Shirley Temple), stalwart lead in SO many staples of the genre. For many years the film was thought to be "lost", and so took on an even more intriguing mystique, not least because of its memorable creature make-up on Agar's character.

Unfortunately, once the film was "rediscovered" and aired on the Fox Movie Channel, it turned out to be a less than stellar experience.

However, aside from having become a guilty-pleasure enjoyment for me -- FINALLY being able to see the film I had longed to view but thought I never would -- it does have a potential added fascination for tiki lovers. Namely, that Agar's transmogrified form bears a striking resemblance to a stylized tiki chiseled from black lava-rock! Additionally, his rather pitiful actions are often accompanied by a "primitive" jazzy theremin-and-bongo-driven score!

Interestingly, the hapless hero/unintentional villain of 'Hand Of Death' also bears a rather uncanny resemblance to the character of Ben Grimm (aka The Thing), and some have hypothesized that this make-up/costume may have been a direct inspiration to Stan Lee in creating his craggy Fantastic 4 character.

The movie also introduces little Butch Patrick prior to his pop-culture fame as Eddie Munster!

Well, for those of you curious to see this little cinematic curio, you can now BUY it on DVD...

So -- be forewarned that this is no gem. But it DOES have its own peculiar pleasures, one of which is seeing a man transform into a "tiki". Now, ya don't see THAT every day!

Cheers! :drink:

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2008-09-18 03:29 ]

In defense of Stan Lee (or more properly, Jack Kirby), Hand of Death came out in 1962, Fantastic Four came out in 1961. No way could this movie have inspired Ben Grimm's look.

Your's truly, from the Chief Comic Book Geek.

Now back to our regularly scheduled movie talk...

Oops!

On 2008-09-18 06:52, Chief Bartender at Brenda's Tiki Hut wrote:
In defense of Stan Lee (or more properly, Jack Kirby), Hand of Death came out in 1962, Fantastic Four came out in 1961. No way could this movie have inspired Ben Grimm's look.

Your's truly, from the Chief Comic Book Geek.

Now back to our regularly scheduled movie talk...

Oh well, then perhaps it was the other way around!

I got my info on that particular speculation from a couple previous articles and assumed (always a risky thing to do!) that they'd already done their homework.

No offense to Stan-The-Man or Jack Kirby, both of whom I admire greatly!

Cheers :drink: