Maskerade

I had never actually heard of this movie before I watched it,so I had pretty low expectations....maybe that's why I enjoyed it as much as I did....Not that it's a masterpiece by any means, but it's worth checking out....The acting is fine, the special effects aren't bad, plus I always enjoy when they bring in a horror movie icon like Michael Berryman....If you're not overly critical,you might actually enjoy it......

While not overly great, the movie "Maskerade" wasn't overly bad either. It had enough material to prove entertaining enough for a single watching.

The story in "Maskerade" is fairly horror / slasher movie cliché. Roughly summarized; a group of young people go to an old house (in this case, they buy it) with a vile, dark history. They awaken something wicked from its slumber, unintentionally. And now they are being killed, one by one. End of story. And it is pretty much straight from the 'how to make a slasher movie' handbook. Nothing new here in those terms.

The acting in the movie was good, and there were some interesting names on the cast list. Those including Michael Barryman (playing Fred), Terry Kiser (playing Mr. Peck), Treat Williams (playing Mr. Tucker) and a very short appearance by Jason London (playing Arthur Bronw). These people were the most impressive, but the young cast did a good job as well. Most memorable was Nikki Deloach (playing Jennifer), though.

As for the gore and guts in the movie, well it isn't a splatter-fest. The movie has just enough gore and gruesomeness to keep you interested, without being too much.

The biggest turn-off in the movie, if you will, was how it too much like other classic horror / slasher movies such as "Friday the 13th" and "Halloween". How you ask? Well, the "Halloween" part would be with the mask. Sure, Meyers used a firm-set rubber mask, while the killer in "Maskerade" wears a mask from people's faces. Oh wait, back it up here, can you say "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" anyone? And as for the "Friday the 13th" part, well when Jason Voorhees saw what he believed to was his mother, he froze up and stopped, as did the killer in this movie when Jennifer was wearing his mother's old dress. No, no, no! You do not "borrow" these things from classic movies, you make up your own stuff. This really brought the movie down in value and worth.

One thing that the movie should get praise for, though, was the ending. Now, I am not spoiling it in anyway by revealing stuff, but I will say that it is a typical Hollywood horror movie ending, but with a really great 'twist'. I liked that ending, and it almost, just almost, brought justice to all the other stuff that went wrong in the movie.

Overall, then "Maskerade" is good for a single watching, so if you have nothing better to do one evening, and if you like horror / slasher movies, then give "Maskerade" a chance. Despite its faults, it still is a decent enough addition to the genre.

When Jen's boyfriend buys her an old farm house sitting on top of 40 acres, she's at first mortified that he'd be so utterly stupid' but when she sees how hurt this makes him, she attempts to make the most of it not knowing that the child of the previous occupants still resides around the area and I've very productive of his mom old house.

Tired, generic slasher derivative that brings nothing at all new to the table. The back-story is a rather small variation of Jason Vorhees, the kills which one would think would be where Inovation could at least peek through is sadly lacking, almost every kill is mainly the same. I'd be hard pressed to even recommend this movie even to slasher genre aficionado, much less anyone else..

Eye Candy: Mariah Bonner shows some T&A, Anabella Casanove is briefly topless

Another slasher film. They still make them, I still buy them for about 10 pence. This one involves an annoying couple who have just bought a house that needs a bit of fixing up. You know, a bit of re-wiring, some double glazing. They might want to think about getting rid of undead serial killer in the back garden too.

No serial killer is worth anything unless he has some victims, so this couple's annoying mates show up to get killed. You know the type – They're younger than you, better looking than you, have more sex than you. Kind of makes you want to kill them, remove their faces, and wear them as masks yourselves.

So just like recent slasher films such as Stitches (okay), Blood Cabin (good), Madison County (pretty poor), The Bunnyman (ok) and The Rockville Ripper (ok), the killer chases folks around the house/barn/garden, they get the drop on him and fail to do anything about, blah blah you know the drill. Nothing much new to see here, although the 'using the victims faces as masks' thing kind of works.

Slashers are a dime a dozen in the B-movie horror genre, so when a good one gets released, we should celebrate it.

There's no point in telling the story as it's one we've heard times & times before. What differentiates this slasher from the thousand others on the market is the great acting & writing. I found myself smiling more than I few times to one-liners, delivered by the able leads and supporting cast. My hat goes off to the female lead for being a great addition to the Final Girl mythos. She does tip her own hat to Amy Steel in the pop-psychology finale. For once, the group of friends actually act like real friends, not just a salade composée of geeks, bimbos, punks and jocks. The face-ripping shtick is a wink to "Texas Chainsaw" and some of the cinematography is straight out of "Halloween". But "Maskerade" stands on its own. Slasher fans MUST check it out.