Masks

As a huge Giallo fanatic I was so excited to have finally tracked down a bluray of this movie. I came in with hopes high as I've heard it basically Suspiria in an acting school. It started out promising with two back to back gruesome kills but then the plot just dragged and meandered. The editing and pacing was atrocious and not in a fun way like Argento's films. There was zero character development so you didn't care of anybody lived or die. The movie feels very low budget and has that cheap direct-to-video early 2000's horror movie look. This DOES not look or feel like anything like the classic giallos of 70s. And for a movie called MASKS, the killer doesn't even wear a mask (wtf!) but the murder weapon is pretty cool. The ending is a little shocking but when it finally comes around you've probably stopped caring.

Accustomed to being rejected by acting academies, the ambitious but talent-free Stella is elated upon learning she's been accepted into the Gdula School whose imposing edifice has a wing that was boarded up after the institute's founder committed suicide back in the '70s. Matteusz Gdula had perfected a dangerous "method" guaranteed to make an actor "shine" but only a select few are permitted to learn its secrets by entering the abandoned wing. The last student chosen emerged after a week and performed "like Hepburn" before she mysteriously disappeared and now Stella's been asked if she'd like to learn...

Director Andreas Marschall takes his lead from Dario Argento and MASKS does for acting school what "The Maestro Of The Macabre" did for dance class in SUSPIRIA even though the horror here is giallo-esque rather than supernatural. Like its inspiration, the film is "style over substance" all the way but that style is the director's own and a potent one it is, too, with impressive cinematography accompanied by an ominous score filled with foreboding. The abrupt WTF ending comes as a shock but it makes one think about all that's gone before and works rather well in retrospect. The overall premise is similar to the director's previous TEARS OF KALI (2004) where former members of the Taylor-Eriksson group, a cult that tampered with a terrifying type of transcendental meditation, can't escape their killer karma in three loosely woven tales involving exorcism, psychotherapy, and an insane asylum. Both films are very effective low-budget shockers with judicious -albeit explicit- use of gore fx. Masks won "Best Horror Film" and (ironically) "Best Actress" awards at the 2011 Paris International Fantastic Film Festival, the 2011 Morbido International Film Festival, and the 2011 Fright Nights Horror Film Festival.

In the last decade and a half, or so, many aspiring and nostalgic-minded directors attempted to revive the glorious Italian Giallo genre from the 70s and early 80s. Even though several of them are admirable efforts ("The Editor", "Francesca", "Abracadabra", ...) none of them truly captured the true spirit of old-fashioned Gialli. Heck, even the master himself - Dario Argento - didn't succeed anymore with his two final attempts "Giallo" and "Dark Glasses". For quite a long while into "Masks", however, I had high hopes that it would become a terrific and genuine throwback. Writer/director Andreas Marschall eventually does lose his grip on the plot and stylish trademarks, unfortunately, but the film remains worth discovering.

"Masks" definitely ticks a few mandatory and quintessential boxes. The plot is delightfully twisted and complex (and clearly inspired by "Suspiria"), the setting is theatrical, the atmosphere is effectively unsettling, there's (gratuitous) nudity, and the murder sequences are sadist and very gore. The first thing to catch anyone's attention is the authentically nightmarish DVD start-menu, what with its grisly images of a human eye nervously moving around behind a stoic and spooky mask.

The story takes place in a dubious acting academy near Berlin, where after numerous unsuccessful and downright embarrassing auditions, the aspiring twenty-something actress Stella is happy to finally get accepted somewhere. The institute has a very questionable reputation and history, though. The founder Mattheusz Gdula invented a groundbreaking new acting method during the 70s, but many of the contemporary students also died under mysterious circumstances. The acting method is still being practiced, although in the forbidden parts of the school building and for a small selection of students, and there's a vicious killer roaming around to make sure the Gdula legacy remains a well-kept secret.

Andreas Marschall, who also made the more than competent "Tears of Kali", clearly did his homework and studied all the elite trademarks of the finest 70s Gialli. "Masks" is full of nail-bitingly tense moments during which our heroine wanders around dark and ominous corridors while she's being watched, the use of spooky scenery (notably the titular masks) is excellent, and the violent kills are well-spread. The film is at least 20 minutes too long, though, and the third act feels dragging and tedious. There also isn't much mystery regarding the identity of the killer, in my opinion, and the climax should have been a bit more spectacular.

The Style and the atmosphere brings us back to the 70s. The equipment and the color selection of the rooms show a perfectly chosen dark picture of the events. The tension is kept high all the time. And there are really a few shocking moments in this movie which makes it an unforgettable experience for all horror fans. And to all the people who watched Suspiria in 2018 I just can recommened this german Horror jewel as it´s really very well made.

The movie looks pretty good and the work that has gone into the art department is quite a feet, especially considering the budget. On the other hand, the director tells us, that some of the equipment were borrowed from schools (art schools for the masks). Still you have to respect the choices that were made. It's obvious what this movie is paying homage too and in general terms it succeeds.

The story does have some issues, but if you're a fan of Giallo, you know that story was never something that people paid too much attention to. Character flaws and other things might spoil your fun, otherwise you will get a nice little horror movie with neat effects