Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

[Dolemite]

Saw this last night. It's not bad.

Basically, it's a fake documentary of sorts. The premise of the movie is that guys like Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers are real and are actually out there killing people in their respective film neighborhoods. A film crew is contacted by Leslie Vernon, an up-and-coming psycho-slasher, who invites them along as he plans his first mass-murder spree. The film crew shadows Leslie as he stalks his intended victims, tours the lonely country house the killings will occur at, and even meet Leslie's mentor, himself a retired maniac killer from the 60's who's now settled down and married.

Overall, the movie has some novel ideas. Watching Leslie explain how he's rigged possible on-location weapons to break if the teens attempt to use them on him or how he chooses his "Survivor Girl" are funny, but the movie itself drags on way too long, and it's only 90 minutes in length. It's obviously a pretty low-budget movie, but the acting manages to be okay and it never looks too cheap.

Anyway, Leslie is a likable guy (for a serial killer) and I guess the movie's worth watching, if only to see something different. Horror fans will get a kick out of all the slasher movie references and cameos, at least. Pretty much zero blood and gore, however. In fact, it doesn't really do much to deserve its 'R' rating. It could have easily gotten away with PG-13. Weird.

[Korian]

Thanks for the impressions. Wanted to see this, but it's not
at any local theatres.

[D_N_G]

just finished this one up... Dole nailed most of my feelings

it heavily borrows from the belgian/french film Man Bites Dog, but at least they added a little flair to BTM by building up to the murders and by taking the end in a different direction

since these movies are so similar, i cannot remove the comparison between the two from my mind

Man Bites Dog is brutal and disturbing even in its comedy. The main difference between the two films is that Behind the Mask didnt quite nail the dark humor and didnt quite nail the demented mind of the killer.

Behind the Mask was more relatable to a SCREAM type movie for its flavor of suspense, it really did not push the limits. I guess this ok for what it was.

I did enjoy the little detail that Leslie put into his planning and the way he relayed all of his secrets. The big twist was kinda fun, but it took the movie out of the documentary type feel and more into a full blown (not very good) horror flick. The references to other films throughout were also a big plus.

Nathan Baesel (Leslie) was relatable and I enjoyed his acting, the reporter chick not as much so. She was just annoying, if her role was cast better, might move this flick to a B.

Anyways Id say its a solid B-. Definitely a new approach to presenting a horror film, and sets up for a possible recurring series.

And for anyone who enjoyed this, definitely check out Man Bites Dog (it has a US criterion release)

[arjue]

If you want to see a cool documentary-esque horror movie, I'd suggest The Last Horror Movie. Very low budget but quite well acted, and a cool premise.

[Mr-K]

Eh. I saw this a few months ago and was enjoying it before the camera crew turned off their cameras and it turned into a legitimate crappy horror movie. Really, when it tried to be funny and cute it won, but it most certainly sucked at being scary. It's a pretty good idea, but turning it into a "real" movie at the end was a bad move imo.

[Dolemite]

Yeah, I agree that the movie lost a lot of its charm when it became "real."

And Man Bites Dog sounds really interesting. I may have to check it out.

[animegirl]

And for anyone who enjoyed this, definitely check out Man Bites Dog (it has a US criterion release)

Man Bites Dog is an awesome movie. I have never seen a more likable serial killer. There are some really fucked up scenes in it though.