Behind The Mask; The Rise of Leslie Vernon

[wayzim]

So I was watching this retrospective on cable about the Friday The Thirteenth movie series when this modest little film came after. Behind The Mask; The Rise of Leslie Vernon. This 2006 slasher pic is Jason Vorhees meets Blair Witch as a documentary film crew goes about recording the planning and preparations behind a killing spree, a la your favorite slasher character. As the title villain explains, it's nothing personal, it's just a job like any other. While this sounds fine and good and fun for all Horror fans, we've seen this all before. Even the presence of Robert Englund as a Dr. Loomis clone doesn't quite raise this Scream wanna-be to the level it could have been, which gets mired in the very same conventions it claimed to skewer early on. Some moments were nice, like a retired serial killer who waxes nostalgic about his time as a movie style mass murderer while his adoring wife happily cheers the presence of an Ahab( a good guy with a grudge )for our rising star. Unfortunately, by the third act Behind The Mask loses alot of steam, and some supposed revelations were telegraphed ahead of time. Still, it's worth a look see with some fun to be had, and a final punchline by Englund( a deliberate rip on Halloween )which was pretty good. Wayne Z Doug Johnson: What kind of a survivor girl passes out in a pinch? Todd Best: Passes out? What kind of survivor girl hops on the nerdy kid's johnson like it's a pogo stick?

[axlish]

I thought that this was the best horror film of last year. Everyone who likes slasher films should see this at once. Independent gold I tell ya!

[MikePizzoff]

I've had this on my XBOX's Netflix since the day the Netflix service started, but still have yet to watch it. It looks pretty damn good to me, though. PS - Wayne, you're a pretty good writer. Do you happen to write reviews for a website or anything?