The Laughing Mask

Those of you who saw several posters and stories about The Laughing Mask within the last few years and like myself were expecting a horror film will be somewhat let down with this film. If you don't watch it till the end...

I was expecting pure unadulterated gore honestly when I first saw the shot of the dude with the Chaisaw I was like "YES"! Then I got to see this film recently and although my thirst for gore remained unquenched, I was surprised to see a very well put together thriller with horror tendencies.. And then I was hooked.

This is definitely not a slasher film, not a torture porn or gore fest. This is a thriller in the veins of "along came the spider" and others starring serial killers. The plot revolves around the murder we first witness in the beginning of the flick. Jaycee Johnson was murdered in cold blood by this laughing maniac and we pick up 6 months later with her husband Jake (played really well by John Hardy) who conjures up a plan to have The Laughing Mask come after him in hopes to find his missing daughter..

There is definitely a cool subplot involving a gang of thugs called Rancors and a very interesting twist in the end, so if you're looking for a gore fest stay out, but if your'e looking for a cool thriller with horror tendencies, a good story and a kick ass killer I suggest this movie for sure.

Its not easy to find a good one on screambox but I think I got it. I know, there's a lot of nay saysers on this and lots of 9 plus which also don't make sense but this movie falls right in the middle. The Acting is what you would expect from low budget, so if you're going in looking for Daniel Day Lewis just keep going. Its mostly day players, some decent, some godawful, Rivers is great, so is Gabriel Lee. John Hardy was given the main role here but he's not ready to carry. He looked great but sounded wooded like a soap opera star. From the day players, the best is the talent agent guy, it cracked me up. The story is decent, the killer is incredible and if you took the character and injected some money you would have a new Horror Icon, the intro and the cartoons were really well put together and if you can forget some of the acting there is some solid writing and its visually entertaining. Its a horror B movie for free guys, just sit back, crack a cold one and have fun.

Best things of the movie are the killer and the aesthetic. Ive seen other people mentioning, there are scenes in his lair or house that are VERY well done, really stylized and give a great sense of what the director was going for. Unfortunately those are sometimes sandwiched with wooden acting from John Hardy for example who seemed to be having a seizure in the final reveal for some reason. This is definitely a low budget feature with a lot of potential with a higher budget, especially for the main killer.

For example since this is on Tubi TV for free and they have 0 content that is original, throwing a little money on making a series based on this killer with some A talent actors even B involved would be freaking awesome. The weakest part of the movie really is what plagues every low budget feature, but they still managed to get a few strong performances from Rivers, Gabriel Lee and a few others.

Admittedly, it does start to drag in the beginning and is kinda cheesy and low budget at times... I almost gave up on it, but glad I stuck with it.

It picks up nicely and has a very solid end. The killer is the best part of the movie, for sure.

And while the acting many times does really leave something to be desired there are also several moments of good dialogue, and as I said I thought the killer for sure was well acted.

Perhaps the best thing about the movie is that there are several very funny moments but it doesn't stoop to like 'B' movie humor - it does keep a straight face (pardon the pun couldn't resist...)

Give it a shot - just remember you might have to stick it out for a little bit but worth it, IMO.

Caught an early screening and was very surprised. Honestly from the previews I was expecting another Jason or Michael Myers but this was so much more.

I've read somewhere that the director was inspired by "Angel Heart" and you can see several nods to this movie there, the twist ending was unpredictable and fun, and the acting was very good. I loved the character of the Mask though, the mask was cool, creepy and still fun. HIs attire was a total nod to Angel Heart with the 1930's old school clothing with a dash of Joker on top, The Laughing Mask killer is not just funny, he is Lethal..

At first you think all the killings are random, but once the story develops you see exactly whats all about

I won't give any spoilers but its a jaw dropper ..

The story starts with a random murder. We don't know anything about the victim until months later, we're told her name was Jaycee Johnson and her husband Jake is a writer hellbent on revenge. As far as Jake knows, The Laughing Mask killed his wife and kidnapped his daughter. Enter Kate O'malley (played by Sheyenne Rivers) a tough cop with a the language of a sailor, Kate was friends with Jaycee and took a leave of absence after her death.

Jake writes a book about The Laughing Mask, telling all kinds of disparaging things about the killer hoping to goad him to attack Jake.

The rest falls under spoiler territory but you won't be disappointed.