Detrás de la máscara: el encubrimiento de Leslie Vernon

I must say this film was great. I'm not typically one to watch movies that are both Comedy and Horror. But this was definitely a standout film in the Comedy Horror genre. I would recommend Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon to horror film buffs especially. Being a horror movie buff myself, I found that this flick really put the classic slasher films to good use. They formed a sort of method to the slasher's madness and I have to say I loved that. I also appreciated the slight twist at the ending. I would love to see another film like this to be created. It is definitely worth the watch. Although if you are prone to motion sickness, it may be triggered by the moments where a hand-held camera is used. Other than that, I highly recommend the movie!

Wes Craven's "Scream" was a strikingly dead-on persiflage of the Slasher genre while at the same time including enough scares to become more than just a parody, but an important part of that genre itself. "Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon" is very similar in that aspect, but it's also completely different in others.

For the most part the movie is a fake documentary in true "Spinal Tap"-fashion. A TV crew follows Leslie Vernon around, a guy who has the ambition to become the next slasher legend after his idols Michael Myers, Jason Vorhees and Freddy Krueger (who exist in the movie's reality). As Leslie shows the team how he prepares for a killing spree he deconstructs one horror rule after the other with pretty amusing results. The movie observes the genre pretty well and the sort of "Backstage" look we get of a horror icon lovingly planning his big night is nothing short of hilarious. Where "Scream" made fun of some ridiculous horror clichés and toyed around with them, "Behind The Mask" is merely explaining just how those seemingly supernatural killers are able to work so effectively. So, although both movies cover similar ground, "Behind The Mask" is never in any way repetitive.

Leslie Vernon turns out to be a really sweet guy who just loves what he's doing. He's friends with an older, more experienced slasher, who's also very warm and talkative. Neither of those guys look like typical maniacs, so when Leslie does make his first appearance masked and all, it's rather amusing.

However, the movie makes a pretty amazing turn in the final third. For the big showdown we leave the movie-within-a-movie scenario created by the documentary set-up and are taken right into the movie's reality. All of a sudden "Behind The Mask" turns into a real slasher film. Although this last part isn't half-bad, it's not quite as enjoyable as what preceded it. The twist is a bit predictable and the movie lacks real gore and suspense at the end in order to work as a slasher flick. One has to say that "Scream" coming from an old professional such as Wes Craven was more successful in that aspect. Still, regarding the fact that this movie strictly concentrates on fun in the first two thirds and only begins to throw in full on horror bits in the end, the showdown works quite well.

Leslie's mask was chosen wisely. It can look ridiculous and scary depending on the mood of the scene. Nathan Baesel, who makes his movie debut here, was chosen even more wisely. He can play the nice guy and the psychopath without ever overacting and hands in a great, great performance. The other member of the cast that must be mentioned is horror legend Robert Englund who does a nice Donald Pleasance-impersonation.

The subtle little homages to "Friday The 13th", "Halloween" and "A Nightmare On Elm Street" throughout the movie are the icing on the cake and will make the heart of every true horror fan beat faster. And that's the only true flaw of "Behind The Mask" right there: it's for true horror geeks only who can laugh about the inside jokes. Everyone else will probably not be entertained as much. If you're into the genre, though, there's no way you should miss this excellent motion picture.

I saw this on the recommendation of a friend. I had never heard of it, but I was assured it was a good movie. Understanding the premise helps a lot, because this is a great movie and excellent concept. The beginning of the movie sets up the second half. In the first part, we see Leslie as human. He sometimes says creepy things, like when they begin to discuss his library of text books, mostly medical and anatomy. He makes a joke of this, saying these are necessary for the trade. He always refers to his need to kill as a profession and even has a mentor. Through them we see the world as if it were a game. The mockumentary parts are not only hilarious, we get to see the monsters side of things. The door that won't stay open? Probably rigged. Those ever-so-creepy newspaper articles the main character always seems to find at just the right moment? Those require more effort then the viewers might consider.

The second half of the movie is when we get to see Leslie in action. Because we have seen him as human in the first half, seeing him as a monster in the second isn't as scary as one might expect. It is not supposed to be. Leslie Vernon has become a person we know, who made us laugh, who keeps pet turtles. He is not some random resurrected guy with an axe to grind. He is a guy at work, albeit disgusting and immoral work, he is still a guy at work. Set up this way, it is a bit like watching two movies. The two parts play off each other very well.

This movie is darkly funny. No one wants to laugh as scary things happen, but when things work out just as Leslie predicts they will, even the "documentary" crew gets very enthusiastic.

Robert Englund (Freddy Kreuger) read this script and was impressed. being a big name in horror, he admittedly gets swamped with scripts. This movie interested him enough that he accepted the role. If you can't decide if you should watch it, remember that. And then rent it, with friends.

Everyone needs someone to look up to. Leslie realized he will never reach the fame of Mike (Meyers), Chuckie or Freddy, but he is trying.

This film is one that I checked out as I believe it was part of Fangoria's Top 300 Horror Movies issue. I didn't hear of it before that and I've seen it a couple of times now. It is another one that I heard more about when I got into listening to horror movie review podcasts. This viewing here is due to the Podcast Under the Stairs Summer Challenge series for the 2000s. The synopsis is the next great psycho horror slasher has given a documentary crew exclusive access to his life as he plans his reign of terror over the sleepy town of Glen Echo.

We start with Kelly (Kate Miner) who works at a diner. She is taking out the trash for the end of the shift. She props the door open with a brick. There is an uneasy feeling and she thinks she sees someone in the shadows. The door closes behind her. She flees around the building.

The film then shifts a documentary film crew that we will be following. The woman doing the interview is Taylor Gentry (Angela Goethals). The two guys behind the camera in her crew are Doug (Ben Pace) and Todd (Britain Spellings). It should be pointed out that this film is telling us that Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kruger and Michael Myers are all real. They all have killed a lot of people and there is a new man that is going to join them, Leslie Vernon. The crew is doing a documentary on him as he stalks and kills his victim in order to join their ranks. We then meet him and he's played by Nathan Baesel.

There is a legend in this town of Glen Echo. Leslie Vernon was killed by the citizens by throwing him over a waterfall to his death. Much like the other legends, he is back to get his revenge and claim his birthright.

They sit down to do an interview with him to get more information and he is fine with it. They ask him questions to get into the mind of a killer like this. To that he tells them he has to show them. They get into his vehicle and go to town. He explains how he chooses his victim. He looks for a virgin with a group of friends. There needs to be a good mix of tough and easy kills to help his numbers. He tells them though that he has already picked out his victim, or they'd be well behind schedule since it takes so much planning.

This takes them to the opening scene we saw with Kelly. It is interesting here is that we get to see how it is done, which feels a bit like peaking behind the camera of filmmaker as well. From here, Leslie introduces us to his mentor from the business, Eugene (Scott Wilson) who is now is now retired. Along with his wife of Jamie (Bridgett Newton), the documentary is given a look into killers like him from the 1960's and 70's before the big three took over.

We are then given more into the planning stages that Leslie has to go through to prepare Kelly. He has to do a lot of cardio and prepping the house for the night of the killings. Taylor seems intrigued to continue to learn more, but the deeper they get into it, they have second thoughts. It is interesting, but she is also an accomplice to the potential murders. A decision has to be made, but Leslie might be on top of it more than they realize.

I have to say that the first time I watched this I loved some of the aspects to this movie. One of the firs things is stating that the many of the horror film legends were real and that they all know each other. On top of that, I love that they all do follow a similar plan, which if you look at the films, would make sense. This movie does a really good job for me in setting the world that we are living in before peaking behind this curtain as I've said.

This is really two different movies that are combined into one. The first part of this is a mockumentary done in the vein of found footage. Taylor sets that stage with their opening monologue as I've said. In this part, it is mostly Leslie and her with Doug and Todd interjecting at different points. I also like that more information is provided by Doc Halloran (Robert Englund) who is a Dr. Loomis of sorts, Eugene, Jamie and even Mrs. Collinwood (Zelda Rubinstein), a librarian that helps Kelly. This part feels like we are watching a slasher be made from behind the scenes.

The second half of the movie is a normal movie that is a slasher. It is smart though and I think that is what makes it work. Leslie has shown us what his initial plan was, but much like Scream, this takes a meta approach where despite the characters knowing, things have been changed to incorporate the new elements. I give credit to the depth of planning and knowing from Leslie there.

That meta approach brings me to something else I wanted to delve into really quick. I've said I love that they state Jason, Freddy and Michael are all real and are legends. Chucky gets brought up as another killer briefly as well. There is some realism that is lost with the latter, but I do feel this movie is a bit odd with just accepting these killers. Like they know they're real. I don't know if Taylor truly believes Leslie is going to do what he says or not, but Doug and Todd do and seem to be on board. I feel this could be a commentary on us as an audience that we know we're going to see these horrific things and we are complacent as it is entertainment. Regardless, the co-writer of David J. Stieve and the other co-writer/director of Scott Glosserman really know their slashers so this works there.

I'm not sure this movie would be as good though if it wasn't for the acting. I'm not saying anyone here is going to win awards. Baesel is really good for me as Leslie. It is interesting as I believe this was his first acting role in a feature. I love how charismatic he is when things are going good and then turns on being a monster when it becomes time for that. He is a likeable guy so I can see why this crew wants to be around him as he looks into everything that he is. Goethals is solid as Taylor and I love what the movie does with her character. I love the cameos by Englund, Wilson, Rubinstein and even briefly Kane Hodder. Newton and Miner were quite attractive and I love how their characters fit into this story. Pace and Spellings are also solid as well in helping round this out for me.

That will take me to the last thing I wanted to go over which would be the effects and cinematography. Where I want to start would be the latter. As I've said, the first part of this is mockumentary. It does feel like we are getting a legit doc on Leslie Vernon. It all feels real including interviews and it also feels like we are seeing how a slasher film is made on top of it. When it actually becomes a slasher, I do feel that the effects are good. I'm assuming some of this would be budget, but we don't actually get to see a lot of the kills or much in the blood/gore category. I am forgiving here though due to how things lead up and eventually play out. The cinematography I would say is well done.

So in conclusion here, this movie keeps getting better and better for me with each viewing. I really like the concept here of doing a mockumentary on a new killer that is trying to join the likes of the legends. Baesel's take on Leslie Vernon is what really makes this work for me and I love the meta approach this movie is taking to the slasher genre. The rest of the cast helps get us to bring this life. The effects are a bit light, but the found footage stuff works for me. The soundtrack also fit for what was needed as well. I've come up on this last viewing with my rating, which I think this is a good movie. If you haven't seen this and you're a slasher fan, I would definitely recommend giving it a viewing. This is also interesting if you enjoy seeing how filmmaking is done as that is part of it as well.

Leslie Vernon, a highly-enthusiastic wannabe "supernatural" serial killer, along the lines of Halloween's Michael Meyers or Friday the 13th's Jason, invites a film crew along to document his initial spree this original horror comedy that allows you to see a killing spree from the point of view of the killer. The film crew soon finds itself rooting for the likable Leslie, well-played by Nathan Baesel, who has planned his spree to the last detail. The crew slowly moves from documenting the events to aiding and abetting them, but it has second thoughts as the reality of the events overwhelm them. They discover too late that Leslie isn't exactly who he claims to be, and he has worked out everything, including their last minute hesitations, into his meticulous plan.

The documentary approach gives the filmmakers enough distance from the events to successfully spoof the conventions of slasher genre. However, the filmmakers managed to restore genuine tension by limiting that distance by making the witnesses, the filmmakers, into participants. That's why this film succeeded where other spoofs and "found footage" failed. It delivers both narrative perspective and intimacy.

Well done.