The Laughing Mask

Most fans watching this flick are very much like myself waiting for a brainless slasher type. Unfortunately we don't get one.

This is a thriller, Im not sure why the horror sites picked it up as a horror movie but its not at all. Some other reviews already went over it so Ill just make it simple the good and bad..

I watched this recently, was not at the event but was given the opportunity to watch it and was both disappointed and surprised at the same time..

Disappointed because even though the movie is made in FL and we have a ton of wannabe filmmakers here dishing out all kinds of garbage, I had high hopes for this and was not happy with the lack of blood. The kills are solid and atmosphere was creepy, but there was not enough blood to make me happy..

Surprised because although it wasn't a good horror film, was a great police thriller. There was the main plot and the subplot running at the same time, a cool killer and a twist ending. The acting was there but clearly the low budget aspect of the film shows in the acting but it needs to be taken into consideration.

Cinematography was on point and I was given a link to watch this in full 4k. Although I don't have the TV or monitor to run it in full 4k it looked amazing to me, the colors very vibrant and the script was an old school revenge flick with a saw type twist.

I was surprised overall and even though I was upset it wasn't the horror movie I signed up for it definitely was worth the time.

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.

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.

Caught it on Tubi, Im a low budget film freak, and I don't mean low budget like these 3 mil plus movies out there, I mean I like to see what people can do with near nothing, for me its the closest we get to real cinema. With that in mind, this is a perfect example of a full-feature film being done with whatever you have around you and turning out great. There is obviously no budget to speak of. The actors are all unknowns, and some only have this as their only film, Aguiar's strengths were the character itself, referenced in tons of other reviews here, its polished and a great killer. Using music to deliver the dialogues was a great touch and free music even better. The more technical aspects fail somewhat, sound is rough and ADR sounded spotty in several outside scenes but the cinematography is truly great with some really inspired kill scenes. Is it super polished? No, is the acting rough at parts? Yes but its the fun of low budget films. Give it a try!

Looked interesting, was free on Tubi and why not? Its not high budget but the use of practicals was very well done. The quality shifts a lot, like the scene where they find the body was awful but the kill scenes and especially his "lair" was very well done. The killer steals the show but there are little things here for everyone. Ending left it super open to what? I couldn't find anything after this. The killer character has the bones to be a superstar to be honest, I loved the look, the 30s aesthetic and music choices, Unfortunately it was wrapped around some very mid talent outside the main actress and the main bad guy.