Wanting to get in the Halloween spirit, I decided to watch a horror movie I had been putting off for quite a while: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. Although the movie has its moments, almost all of which occur in the first two acts, for brevity's sake I will primarily be focusing on what I didn't like.
Let's begin with the lack of originality. This movie is Man Bites Dog meets Scream. I'm not a fan of Scream (or its shitty sequels, for that matter) but will admit it is far more original and clever than this film. And I'm not even going to compare this film to the immensely superior, Man Bites Dog. Behind the Mask borrows heavily from both of these movies but still only manages to produce a mediocre movie.
In fairness, this is a low budget horror film, so I shouldn't nitpick the script nor bother discussing the quality of acting. But I guess it's not nitpicking when the script is filled with plot holes (big, gaping ones too). The script is at its best during the mockumentary stretch, but the humor is too sparse to carry the movie, let alone make up for the very weak third act. For a movie (and director) so obsessed with the glory of 80's slasher films, the third act is a rushed nightmare of lameness. Part of this has to do with the tired "joke" that all of this has to play out in cliched horror movie fashion; but mostly, it's the lack of an attempt to emulate 80's slasher movies. Sure, the setting is fine, but all of the kills are boring and practically bloodless. The best kill in the film was an accident not involving the killer!
The bottom line: there's just not enough that works here to overlook what doesn't. There's enough here for one viewing, but that's it. I don't want my time back, but I would not give this movie anymore of it, even if a sequel arrives sometime in the future.
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
Score: 40%
