Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

Behind the Mask is original and weirdly delicious, and executed with gory aplomb.

An ingeniously twisted mockumentary.

The movie's a cheeky, low-budget goof on dice-and-slice horror films, but for all the visible seams, it's a lot cleverer than "Scream."

The movie has more cleverness than violence, and its breakdown of cliches is vivid and witty. Baesel is an extraordinary presence, holding the film together with his mesmerizing performance, charm and openness, and Goethals measures up to him.

Stieve and Glosserman may yet strike a vein: This thing screams out for a Hollywood remake with, say, writers from "The Simpsons."

Most of this is fairly predictable spoofing, and Englund is wasted as a psycho-hunting shrink clearly modeled after Donald Pleasence's character in "Halloween." But there are moments when the proceedings are unsettling and original.

Working in a mini-genre whose bones would appear to have been picked clean by the likes of Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven, Glosserman and Stieve find a few pints of fresh blood.

This one is a post-scream Slasher (kinda. It's incredibly low on blood or even onscreen kills) that is incredibly smart. I liked what I saw a lot. For a well worn out genre, this one actually succeeds. It is incredibly original. Plot/Characters: The film is like Blair Witch in that the more main characters (That aren't the killer) are pretty much the three characters from Blair Witch. Well acted though for the most part. The only truly original bits come from the aspect of the killer. Now that aspect is truly original and I loved it. The film was generally well acted and the characters were great and a lot of fun to watch (And Robert Englund in any horror film makes the film better to watch). Now, the main non-killer characters aren't as bright as they could be but they are still smarter than your average slasher teens. 8.5/10 Plot: Blair Witch meets Scream meets dissection of the genre. Since Scream came out every film in the Third Age was somehow ripping off of scream. This one is too kinda but it does so in a brilliant manner that I have never seen before and I hope not to see again (because it is so unique and if a film like this came out again, it would be an obvious rip-off). But the plot of this is incredibly intelligent and there were aspects of it that satirized the genre even more than Scream did. I must give it a lot of credit for that. It was a breath of fresh air for me because I have only come across a few truly smart slashers...Pretty much Scream 1 and 2, this and in some ways, the original Nightmare on Elm Street (In terms of basic plot. Most original). The plot of this one was incredibly original. I'm glad I saw it just for the plot. 10/10 Screenplay: Man, this one augmented the plot and made it more fun as opposed to a lot of slashers that may have an original plot (most don't) but the poor screenplay kills it. Not so here. They said things about horror killers that I absolutely adored. Plus there were obvious references galore in this film. Some good subtle ones too. I highly enjoyed listening to the dialogue. It was the best part after the plot. 9/10 Likableness: Heavily likable. If I saw it cheap enough I would buy it in a heartbeat. I absolutely adore original and intelligent slasher films so this one is a must have for me at some point in the future and a MUST SEE FOR ANY FAN OF HORROR!!! I liked it a lot and I would certainly re-watch it again and again. 9/10 Final Score: 36.5/40 91% (N) TRIVIA TIME: 1. The first time Taylor interviews Eugene and his wife, a Lament Configuration puzzle box from Hellraiser can be seen sitting on a table. 2. Doc Halloran's wardrobe (and beard) is nearly identical to that of Donald Pleasence's character Doctor Loomis from the Halloween films. 3. When Leslie is applying his makeup while being interviewed about his target, the song playing in the background is the same as that heard at the end of The Shining: ''Midnight, The Stars and You,'' sung by Al Bowlly with the Ray Noble Orchestra, 1934. 4. Kane Hodder (Jason Voorhees), in seen walking into 1428 Elm Street. This was the address that Nancy lived in, in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street.

This was actually a mid movie. almost funny, almost enjoyable, but felt just weird and out of place..

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

This dissects a slasher movie and takes an irreverent look at the making of a monster. The problem is that it tries to be funny and it tries to be a slasher. It fails at both. Freak Out (2004) was funny and knew all about all horror. This knew about mainstream horror and nothing more. It does turn against most slasher movies by removing the gore and replacing it with mild humour. You know what? I liked where it was going but I didn't like it when it got there.

While it started off interesting and fun, The final act switched from the mockumentary style to just a flat out cheesy horror movie that I couldn't help but roll my eyes at. It ruined the movie IMO.