Behind the Mask The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)

[CT]

Jen was kind enough to suggest this one to me and I've read many good things about it. Got my copy in the mail yesterday so I'll be watching and reviewing it soon. What did those of you who have already seen it think?

[Jen]

I love this movie, a clever and fun homage to the slasher genre. I know some people felt the last few minutes were weak comparatively (and its not quite as good as the beginning) but I actually think as a whole (including when it goes into full slasher mode) that it does a fine job of poking a little fun at the genre while also paying it a bit of respect. I think in a lot of ways, it accomplished what Wes Craven was trying to do with the Scream films in more of a fun way (and I actually like the Scream movies). I also think Nathan Baesel is just great in the role.

Not perfect, but just a FUN movie (for me anyway) from start to finish. So I say a 4.

[CT]

This was a very good one! I mean anything original is welcome in the modern genre of remakes. But this one was very original and creative. The performances were mostly good, especially by the main cast. I also enjoyed the end. Not a "twist" ending as some reviews on amazon said, but it was a solid horror ending I liked. The horror references were quite funny, and while it may have beat Scream in that aspect, I still rate Scream higher overall. This was definately one of the better horror movies of the decade though (that I've seen anyway) so a really fun enjoyable watch. Thanks again for the tip Jen.

4/5

[Jen]

Sept 24, 2009 14:46:03 GMT -5 CT said:

This was definately one of the better horror movies of the decade though (that I've seen anyway) so a really fun enjoyable watch.

I agree. Glad you enjoyed it CT!

[CT]

I'm surprised nobody else here has seen it? GL, HNT, Phantom...?

[FireStar]

This is one of my favorites of recent years. It was a slasher but not the kind we're all so used to seeing, lI loved how they gave intelligence and real life to many of our favorite horrror villians. It exploited the rules of the horror genre without coming out and making fun od them in a very teenagery way like Scream did IMO.

[CT]

I liked that in this movies world, Jason , Michael, and Freddy really exist.

[HNT]

I have seen it, and I will give it three stars. It was very funny in the beginning, and it built up very well with lots of amusing elements until the end. This movie warranted so much more than the cheesy and rather average slasher that it ended up as. Still, it was fresh and original enough that I enjoyed

[The Walking Dude]

When I first saw this a few years back, I wasn't really that impressed.I guess I just got caught up in all the positive reviews I was reading.

But a few weeks back I revisited it,and I really really enjoyed it. It was clever and fun and I finally realised that everything I'd heard about it was true.

And now comes word of a sequel in the works - Before the Mask:The Return of Leslie Vernon.

[CT]

I'll check it out. Hatchet II was pretty entertaining.

[GL]

So I finally got to this one at long last yesterday and utterly enjoyed it. One of the more impressive aspects of this one is the fact that there's plenty of utterly clever send-ups of what's at stake in a slasher film that aren't all that obvious which gets spelled out here. From the pointing out the clique that gets targeted to all the pre-attack tormenting that takes place around the town, training and working out for the chase as well as the behind-the-scenes planning for the whole event at the location and how to plan out a typical slasher-film style battle is all unique and quite original in concept and execution. Both of those areas are explored fully in here as the attempt to explain the thinking behind what is obviously a heat-of-the-moment type of situation that doesn't really inspire a lot of thinking when it really comes down to it makes for a rather engaging series of events throughout here as he goes about his plans. The actual execution of the plan, both in the early attack scene at the library as well as the ambushes at the diner make for some rather great stuff, while the big moment here is the actual final stalking of the group in the house as the crew attempts to help them deconstruct the evening before it happens as they try to stop him from going after the group and killing them which is all done in fine fashion with a lot to like here throughout this with a lot of explosive stalking, fantastic action and plenty of wonderful deconstructions of the slasher film norms that allows for a frenetic sequence that's tense, chilling and quite fun. While some of the stuff doesn't work here, namely the fact that this is supposed to be funny when it clearly isn't as the comedy instead comes from the absurdity of the situation rather than anything really done in the film itself so it can get rather annoying thinking this is funny when it really isn't, and as well the fact that the majority of the gore comes off-screen does get old a little fast. Otherwise, this was a rather impressive and enjoyable outing that I'll award the full 5 for.