Skull: The Mask

"Skull" is a dumb film from Brazil that has little to offer cinematically other than lots of blood and practical gore effects. But if you like those things, it might be worthwhile if you're starved for entertainment. I'm actually being very generous with 4 stars, and that's because in this day and age of excessive CGI, it's nice to see the real deal.

So it starts off with a really confusing explanation of the origin of the Mask, which is hidden in a Nazi underground bunker. A leather-clad individual strides in and starts murdering people, then steals the mask and it ends up being used in a ceremony in front of a Nazi (I said it was confusing) and the mask melds itself onto a guy being sacrificed who goes crazy and starts murdering everyone in sight. Cut to present day. (What happened in the meantime??) The mask has been found and others are looking for it. Someone clueless lets it out, performs a ceremony and the mask somehow kills her and her girlfriend. Fun fact: Brazilian TV news shows grotesque crime scene photos in their reports. So later, a cleaning crew is working at the scene and the mask chooses the biggest guy to attach itself to his face and take over his body. He then starts killing people everywhere he goes in vicious and grotesque ways. Amazingly, it takes the police a long time to find him even after he attacks a disco, and when they do, only a couple of cops take him on. One would think they would be on the radio asking for backup and several dozen officers would be rushing to stop this maniac. Maybe it's different in Brazil. Anyway, the dumbness continues and a guy who looks disturbingly like Sylvester Stallone and has a connection to the confusing start eventually takes over.

The cinematography is really awful, as is the acting, the script, direction...really everything except the gore, which isn't great, but as I said earlier, I do respect the effort. It seems to have been the only thing the makers of this ridiculous film did put an effort into.

Skull The Mask is both an hommage to 80's slasher and a great take on Indegenous Brazilian folklore with a cool backstory to explain the mask's nature coupled with many aspects that define contemporary Brazilian cinema identity.

This movie almost look like a spin off to the Elite Squade/ Tropa de Elite movies as the themes of these movies are present.

The practical gore is on point and the look of the mask killer is worth the most iconic slasher killer. The last quarter is nonetheless pretty weak and some characters are too bland with not enough development.

It is overall a very good slasher and a honorable take on Brazilian horror themes.

7/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This movie might have cost tens of dollars! And the filmmakers must have had some excellent experience, with home movies and such. Recommended only for hardcore lovers of exotic, foreign, B horror movies.

Okay, I actually finished this movie. The paragraph above was written 5 min into the film. So I have to amend this review by saying that this movie has fantastic practical effects, very cool makeup, and some impressive shots. It gets better, after the clunky intro. But it also gets worse towards the end.

The dialogue is especially atrocious. Almost every line uttered could be either removed or improved. The poor lead, Natallia Rodrigues, is given a thankless role of a seething detective, but I cannot tell you what she's so angry about. I guess killing those kids in the flashback?

If the dialogue is not the weakest part, then the "action" scenes would take that honor. A buddy of mine makes home videos with his 2 kids where they fight and stuff. Their videos look about as good as the stuff in this movie.

All in all, a heroic effort which results in a crappy movie, but one that shows moxie and potential.

With a title like Skull: The Mask, you know exactly what you are getting here. 80s style horror made with a lot of heart and a hell of a lot of blood. Engaging and well made. Definitely worth checking out!

You think you know what you're getting into when you throw on a movie called Skull: The Mask, and for the most part, you'd be right, as there are ample servings of the monster slasher gore promised by the cover. However, between the carnage, it takes on a more relaxed pace than you might expect, with a lot of time spent on mythology and police politics. Frankly, it's a little more convoluted than need be for the film's modest aspirations, but I guess it's nice that they at least try to carve a plot around the senseless killing rampage.

Once it gets down to brass tacks, it delivers on everything you could hope for. They bring to life some pretty sick ideas through gloriously gooey practical effects, the titular creature looks pretty badass and they even get a little arty with some psychedelic interludes and a pretty rad stained glass fight sequence. It's nothing you haven't seen before, so there are few surprises, but it's a half decent bloody b-movie if that's all you ask for.