The Crimson Mask

I loved this film. I believe Plagianos's choices are intelligently made - it also doesn't hurt that the two leads, Burrow and the underused journeyman Clohessy, understand their roles and play them with the type of passion deserved. Watching Parker on his last legs of life still able to talk back to his employer—a great no nonsense turn of Brooklyn underbelly from Lee R. Sellars—with humor and wit, as well as have the ability to attempt to retrieve his pride when defeat by sword seems his only option, goes a long way in making the climatic scene resonate. It may be one more convenient connection at the hands of a higher power, using 'The Book' of Chapter Three's title to bond these two men together as slaves unwilling to back down and be pushed around like puppets, but beneath the contrivance is a measure of truth. If anything, the multitude of overlapping plot threads and crisscrossing of paths only adds to the illusory aspect of the film, making The Crimson Mask into the morality tale its creator set out to make. It's inspiring job of professionalism as a first-time feature with little in the way of monetary resource shows the promise this young man's future holds. I look forward to checking out his next projects!

....But FIRST: Let us FOCUS on the Title's Content and Context! ....A Post-Modern-Film Noir flavored cautionary tale with a touch of inspired surreal signature spin from larger-than-life director Elias Plagianos. Take note of that name. You'll be hearing more of it in the future!

My wife and I saw CRIMSON MASK at the Orlando Film Festival in November 2008. Mesmerizing film! As luck would have it, we had the opportunity to discuss CRIMSON at length with Mr. Plagianos at an "After" get together for the screening of the production.

After viewing his labor of love, our encounter brought to mind a Native American saying from my college linguistics classes: "The man who walks with his feet firmly on the ground and his head in the clouds is truly a giant among men".

Director/Writer Plagianos lures you into his lair. A Mobius-Strip, House-of-Mirrors story line, which tauntingly keeps you focused but clueless, chasing mirages. From a technical standpoint, CRIMSON has been meticulously crafted. Elements such as lighting, cinematography, musical score, editing and sound display an originality and freshness that belie its limited budget.

There is quite a bit going on here, but the Director manages, when CRIMSON is taken as a whole, to deliver a kind of cinematic seamless fusion collage. Even the action segments demonstrated an intriguing mix of bravura, detached fantasy and intense underlying inevitability, that make them quirkily unique, reminiscent of absolutely no others.

If you enjoy independent cinema, CRIMSON offers something for everyone. It is tailor-made for enjoyable multiple viewings; a great addition to any DVD collection.

9*********......ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!

Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en ESPAÑOL, are most welcome!

I saw Crimson Mask opening night last year in Downtown Disney. All I can say is what a complete boring disaster of an independent film! Watching the carpet was so much more exciting than this film. I would have to agree with iacon6 as I also share in his opinions about this film. A lot of people go to film school for a good reason, and my guess is that the film maker and writer of this film should have stayed in school for at least a few more years. You must learn to have appealing story lines for your audience, and not once was there a fragment of intellectual story telling. As an editor, I found this film offensive to the arts of film making. As it goes to show that I guess if this film can make it on a big screen, anything can make it.

I just saw this movie in the IndieFest USA 2009 festival in Anaheim. This review does not include spoilers, only my opinion on this movie.

First of all I want to tell the film maker: Dude, what the hell was that ? You call this a film ? I saw you in indiefest and I didn't want to tell you what I thought of the film in front of all the people. If you ever went to film school, you should go back and re-take all your classes cause your film making skills suck big time. One can't even call this a movie. Just a bunch of unrelated shots and scenes in order to deliver a stupid story.

It was my ever first time in life that I wanted to scream "rape" in a movie theater just to stop the screening and tell everyone that this film is raping my brain cells. It was my first time ever that I wished I had forks so I can shove them into my eyes because this film is HORRIBLE and I don't have enough words to describe how bad it is.

Usually the best part in bad films are the rolling end credits but in this case even the credits were 6 min. long.... C'mon.... The film maker even screwed the end titles by showing a very slow titles that didn't even had the right video field to them and were blurry as hell.

I only wish that IMDb had a 0/10 but it doesn't so I gave this film 1/10.

Story : 2/10 - I see what you were going after but you ruined the entire story.

Acting: 1/10 - Not even going to comment on that.

Cinematography: 0/10 - A blind man with Parkinson could have done a better job.

Directing: 0/10 - don't make me laugh. This un-matched puzzle you call a film is a total FAIL.

I was able to catch a screening of The Crimson Mask Directors cut at the Los Angeles Cinema festival where it won best picture. The director's version of the film changes many aspects from the original cut that I saw on Bluray. This cut of the film is actually shorter and focuses on the characters more than the secret society and supernatural elements of the first version. The film intertwines the stories in a traditional way rather than the originals time displaced chapter pacing. It opens with a focus on Thomas Caine played by Josh Burrow ( Captain Morgan ) and stays with him for a while before introducing Jack Parker played by veteran character actor Robert Clohessy. While some scenes have been cut from the original, we are given a couple of deleted scenes that make Parker more likable and I wish were in the original. The original film was very polarizing when it hit the festival circuit. Winning big awards at some festivals and being slammed by critics at others. If you liked the first film, you will enjoy this version. If you did not then I would not give this a try.