Revenant
11-02-2007, 02:36 AM
Wednesday night I watched Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. Excellent movie! Loved it. Scream has been officially replaced as best deconstructionist self-referential horror movie.
In this film, the great serial slashers -- Jason, Leatherface, Freddy, Michael... hell, even Pinhead and Chucky -- were real killers, legends of the modern age. Young Leslie Vernon is a budding serial killer who is planning out his Swan Song massacre, his version of "The night he came home." But he does not have a truly infamous past and legend like his heroes Jay, Fred, Mike et al.... so he allows a documentary film crew to follow him and be a part of his preparations for The Big Night. We get to see him choose his victims and why... the right "survivor girl", the right group of friends and associated butcher fodder that must be dispatched before the big showdown, the initial stalking incidents to get his main victim in the right frame of mind etc. We meet "Eugene," the retired serial killer who has taken Leslie under his wing and taught and encouraged him.... We meet Doc Halloran, Leslie's "Ahab" (serial killer speak for the good guy who single-mindedly pursues the killer).
Scream gave us a breakdown/analysis of the slasher movie genre by following the scenario from the victims side. Behind the Mask does the same from the slasher's side. It's loaded with little references, right down to the character's names. And... Leslie's "Ahab" is played by none other than Robert Englund (sporting a Donald Pleasance "Dr. Loomis" beard), and the creepy librarian who gives us the dark legend of the killer's past is Zelda "Step into the light" Rubenstein, everyone's favorite Small Medium At Large from "Poltergeist."
Like any movie, you might like it, you might not. I loved it. Personally I liked it better than Scream. It's loaded with humor (dark, obviously) and homage, but (IMO) doesn't come off as "wink-wink" referential. It was made by people who clearly love horror movies, and pokes a little fun while being quite respectful of the genre and giving an engaging story. The first 3/4 is documentary style, consisting of the "footage" of the accompanying docu-team, and the rest of the film is regular cinematic style of what happens on The Big Night, which plays out like the best of the slasher genre flicks. I'm gonna buy this one.
In this film, the great serial slashers -- Jason, Leatherface, Freddy, Michael... hell, even Pinhead and Chucky -- were real killers, legends of the modern age. Young Leslie Vernon is a budding serial killer who is planning out his Swan Song massacre, his version of "The night he came home." But he does not have a truly infamous past and legend like his heroes Jay, Fred, Mike et al.... so he allows a documentary film crew to follow him and be a part of his preparations for The Big Night. We get to see him choose his victims and why... the right "survivor girl", the right group of friends and associated butcher fodder that must be dispatched before the big showdown, the initial stalking incidents to get his main victim in the right frame of mind etc. We meet "Eugene," the retired serial killer who has taken Leslie under his wing and taught and encouraged him.... We meet Doc Halloran, Leslie's "Ahab" (serial killer speak for the good guy who single-mindedly pursues the killer).
Scream gave us a breakdown/analysis of the slasher movie genre by following the scenario from the victims side. Behind the Mask does the same from the slasher's side. It's loaded with little references, right down to the character's names. And... Leslie's "Ahab" is played by none other than Robert Englund (sporting a Donald Pleasance "Dr. Loomis" beard), and the creepy librarian who gives us the dark legend of the killer's past is Zelda "Step into the light" Rubenstein, everyone's favorite Small Medium At Large from "Poltergeist."
Like any movie, you might like it, you might not. I loved it. Personally I liked it better than Scream. It's loaded with humor (dark, obviously) and homage, but (IMO) doesn't come off as "wink-wink" referential. It was made by people who clearly love horror movies, and pokes a little fun while being quite respectful of the genre and giving an engaging story. The first 3/4 is documentary style, consisting of the "footage" of the accompanying docu-team, and the rest of the film is regular cinematic style of what happens on The Big Night, which plays out like the best of the slasher genre flicks. I'm gonna buy this one.