Already stylishly, almost-definitively deconstructed in 1996’s Scream, the slasher genre is subject to further dismantling in director Scott Glosserman’s Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. The film begins as a mockumentary following the detailed training and preparations of the titular villain (who aspires to be the next Jason/Freddy/Michael) and ends as an impressively suspenseful horror flick in its own right. It’s clear that Glosserman loves this stuff: watch for quick cameos by genre stalwarts Kane Hodder and Zelda Rubinstein, and a lengthier bit by erstwhile Freddy Krueger Robert Englund, who channels Donald Pleasance’s “Ahab” role from the Halloween series. And while many of the observations here are familiar, listening to Leslie prattle on about phallic and yonic imagery is pretty amusing for those of us who think about this stuff.
Nathan Baesel is disarming as Leslie, who comes across as kind of a nice guy except for…you know, and Angela Goethals hits the right notes as Taylor, the grad student documentarian who at times seems a heartbeat away from playing Mallory to Leslie’s Mickey. Together, they generate a kind of twisted pathos that doesn’t entirely dissipate when the mask goes back on and genre conventions take a firm hold.
I’d suggest a double feature with Baghead, but that might be too much self-aware filmmaking for any single night.
by Victoria Large | Source: Anchor Bay DVD
12 Nov 2008 8:16 AM | Submit Comment