Por Trás da Máscara: O Surgimento de Leslie Vernon

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.

Behind the Mask is a film that's taken me more than a day to decide a fair reviewing score for, since it's such a wonderful idea that would be very difficult to execute perfectly. It sometimes feels kind of silly when it should feel serious, and yet sometimes feels a little too serious when it should feel silly, if you get me.

I enjoyed the movie. I thought it was funny and loved the actors. They truly do a fantastic job of portraying the individual personalities of the in-depth characters. Nathan Baesel plays an oddly likeable slasher, who treats his status like a job. Remarkably, he hasn't done much work outside of this film, which is kind of sad because he reminded me very much of a villainous Jim Carrey, but without ever seeming TOO over the top. He does a brilliant job of getting you to enjoy watching his character develop, making you care about him, whilst never letting you forget that he is a dangerous man.

The script is funny and for the most part well written. There were a few little bits here and there that I felt it could've done without as they made the plot feel a little uneven in bits, but for the most part it was enjoyable to watch. The film never really drags. It's also interesting how the first half of the film is presented as a mockumentary, whereas the second half is your standard climactic horror movie, where you get to see the cameramen who filmed the first half of the film. I enjoyed the transition and haven't seen many similar instances of this.

The film unfortunately suffers a little from obviously fake special effects and definitely won't appeal to anyone looking for a scare. It's comical all the way through and never takes itself too seriously. The ending feels a little incomplete and to be honest, kind of predictable. However, it's a good watch for anyone looking for a funny film with an interest in the classic slasher movies as the jokes and dialogue will be relatable to fans of these. Just don't expect to be frightened.

I saw this at the Fantasia Film Festival. I have to admit the first act has some really funny moment, and the actor who portrays Leslie Vernon is great. That being said, the second part turns into a full-blown slasher. The break is WAY too rough to really make it believable, plus the slasher part does not deliver the suspense nor the action, nor the gore we would expect from that kind of movie, which makes it quite monotonous and basically, dull. The director did an okay job, alternating between hand-held video cameras for the documentary parts and stable HD cams for the slasher parts. The guys does have a respect for the genre, but that won't necessarily make the movie good. The cast is pretty solid, especially the guy who plays Leslie Vernon like I said earlier.

So the ''mockumentary'' part is pretty funny, but the ending is terrible. Watchable, but not amazing.

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.

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!