The Crimson Mask

Taking into consideration different aspects, before you trash this film, keep in mind that it was clearly done on a budget! The thing that strikes me most about this film is how fresh it is, the plot is different, the performances are different, the presentation of certain scenes and elements is also different. The two stories get together revealing another amazing aspect in the movie, through combining the two stories and knitting it all together. The fantasy factor is handled very carefully in this film, added to strengthen the scenes without taking from the reality of the stories. For creativity this movie definitely stands out for me. The acting was kind of tricky because as a character you'd have to maintain your personality and balance between your realistic and imaginative features. Excellent.

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!

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.

This movie speaks well of greed and provides a very witty image of social differences by showing two separate stories that eventually blend together in an interesting turn of events. An ancient ritual combines the two characters and reveals parts of the truth. The storytelling in this movie is quite appealing, it doesn't get too vague and mysterious but it still holds that exciting vibe to keep you watching until the end. The movie in general is unique and not like anything I've seen before, it is an interesting point of view presented in a smart way, and sadly underrated. The movie was clearly done on a budget yet it didn't look cheap at all. The performances felt awkward at some points but were overall pretty good. This kind of filmmaking and fresh cinematic style promise a very bright future, especially with more attention and a higher budget. I would love to see different points of view from this director, and the movie definitely deserves an 8/10 from me.