Masquerade

This is not the usual horror. The closest to this I can remember is Hushed. It has unpredictable end, it is mysterious, and it explains everything at the end, although bit too unclear or complicated. Unlike in most thrillers here we could see somebody so innocent looking getting badly hurt, so no censorship. Blood looks bit fake and story looks unfinished unfortunately. But at least unpredictable.

Well, the 2021 thriller "Masquerade" from writer and director Shane Dax Taylor wasn't exactly a groundbreaking addition to the genre of home invasions. But I am getting ahead of myself here.

As I sat down in 2022 to watch "Masquerade", I had literally never heard about the movie. I picked it up and saw that Bella Thorne was on the cover. And with it being a thriller that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to watch "Masquerade".

But I wasn't in for a particularly great movie experience. And even for a home invasion movie, which has a tendency of being tedious, if not downright boring, in my opinion, then "Masquerade" wasn't really leaving a lasting impression on me. Sure, I managed to sit through the entire movie, but I was only partially entertained.

Storywise then "Masquerade" was a generic one. The story written by Shane Dax Taylor just didn't offer the audience anything new or innovative. So you are in for a pretty straight forward and generic thriller without much of any surprises or twists.

It should be noted, though, that the movie had Bella Thorne, Alyvia Alyn Lind and Austin Nichols on the cast list, among others as well. So they definitely had an okay ensemble of performers in the movie. Just a shame that they only had a mediocre script to work with.

As for the characters in the movie, well talk about it being a bland serving of stale soup. The character gallery in "Masquerade" was just out the window. I didn't care one bit about any of the characters in the entire movie, and they could just as easily have been replaced by cardboard cut-outs. The characters were flat and had no distinguishable traits, personalities or quirks. So it was a massive swing and a miss.

As for the entertainment value of "Masquerade", well don't get your hopes up. Let's just leave it at that.

My rating of "Masquerade" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.

This was the longest 80 minute film I've ever seen. The majority of the film is summed up in, "Where is she?".

Some reviewers here brag that they (and only they) understood the big reveal at the end. Sorry, but you aren't that special. And you also missed the hole in that twist that you could drive a truck through.

By the time one gets to the end and sees the twist ending, it's hard to care. If you are feeling masochistic, you could watch the movie again to "get" the twist. But is it worth it? No.

An average and interesting movie at the same time where everything is mishmash. It could have been so much more, but with a screenplay plots so confused that even the writers didn't quite figure out where it was going and headed, it couldn't generate satisfaction.

The last 15 minutes was their last thrown arrow that disappeared into the surrounding woods.

• Screenplay/storyline/plots: 4.5
• Production value/impact: 4.5
• Development: 6.5
• Realism: 5
• Entertainment: 4.5
• Acting: 5.5
• Filming/photography/cinematography: 6.5
• VFX: 6.5
• Music/score/sound: 6
• Depth: 4.5
• Logic: 2
• Flow: 5
• Horror/mystery/thriller: 4
• Ending: 3.

With indie small budget full feature films getting easier to produce and getting distribution thanks to streaming, this film is not bad. You have a unkown cast as with most low budget shoots like this but you have to get over that and just enjoy that. I see too many arm chair critics wanting A list actors and MGM-Universal Studio level production values. Move on then. This you will not find. Up and coming indie productions like this are meant to entertain you as you pass the the time, not waiting for the oscars.