punisherversion1
Behind the Mask: Directed by Scott Glosserman and written by Scott Glosserman and David J Stieve.This is a movie that I have heard about for years singing its praises and it peaked my interest. I never took the time to actually watch it. I finally broke down and watched the film. Boy am I glad I did. This is a delight. This is a mockumentary that also works as a legit slasher film. It switches back and forth between the mockumentary and an atmospheric slasher film. This movie is really funny first and foremost. It's funny just all by itself. It's even more funny if you're familiar with horror slasher films. It takes place in a world where Freddy, Jason and Michael Myers are real and operate unhinged from the police. Leslie wants to model himself after them and so he goes about training for his night to make his legend alongside his heroes. A journalism student in an attempt to make a name for herself follows him along with her crew. It takes you through the ropes of him setting up a realistic way of doing slasher scenes. It shows you his mentor.But the movie moves past the jokes and takes you into the slasher world itself. The jovial, fun loving Leslie becomes slasher movie villain Leslie who flips around and has a terrifying demeanor. It plays with convention and it brings a smile to this horror fan's face. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone. Just a good movie to watch and enjoy. I give this film a B.
skybrick736
To start Behind the Mask, namesake stemming from Behind the Music, is an extremely clever idea for a fun serial killer documentary. Right off the bat the film takes a very light tone pitching the horror icons of Jason Vorhees, Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers as real-life serial killers. There are all sorts of funny little digs at typical horror clichés, for example moments of the victims running while the villain is walking happens often, therefore cardio for a killer is very important. In the meantime, the flow of the story is well-timed and Nathan Baesel was consistently great. There is a predictability about the film, which can be quickly picked up on but the real problem was the switch of point of view and film making toward the end. The supporting cast around Baesel was weak and there never was a good ending climax. Besides the letdown the film is still very much worth a watch with quality comedy and a cool looking horror villain in Leslie Vernon.
FlashCallahan
The next psycho horror slasher has given a documentary crew exclusive access to his life as he plans his reign of terror over the town of Glen Echo...All the while explaining and deconstructing the conventions and archetypes of the horror genre for them....It's a sound idea, having someone pretend to be an invincible entity such as Freddy, Jason et al, but sometimes, the film is just too clever for it's own good, and promises more than it delivers.homaging Halloween more than anything else, the movie is a treat for anyone who grew up on these sort of movies from the eighties, as it does every single element of the slasher genre by the book.Which means ultimately, it feels a little samey. The cast are great, and at times it's really funny, but the lead girl just reminded me of Home Alone all the time, and every time she spoke, I was expecting her to say the line 'Your what the french call Les Incompetente'.Englund is the Loomis character in all this, and the final third turns into full slasher mode.If Scream hadn't of been made ten years prior, this would have been something special,
siderite
Hard to place this film in category. The best, I think, would be thriller, but this is a very different beast to other movies in the category. It is NOT really a slasher movie, nor a parody of one. It all starts with a young female journalist coming to a small town to report and document the birth of a legendary serial killer myth. The killer explains to her how he chooses his victim, how he plans and sets the stage for the whole sadistic game and how he executes it in his attempt to become the successor of Meyers, Kruger and Vorhees.In a way, the movie reminded me of Cabin in the Woods with the way it explains elements from most slashers. It's monumentally funny to see a very likable character, all nervous and excited and making tremendous professional effort to be the best in "the business".Now I can't spoil the movie by telling you too much about the film, but enough to say that I found the main character to be a very promising actor and the film having a high quality that I didn't expect. Not many movies today make the effort to create an ingenious script that uses hints and clues that are left for the viewer to also figure out. This one did.Too bad the marketing for the movie was not to the level of its quality. I wish I had known about it sooner. I highly recommend it.
AD
