Review of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006) by Mark W — 27 Mar 2016

Most satire usually come from a place of mean spirited mockery, and ends up failing as a result, but Behind The Mask is assembled with such obvious appreciation of the slasher genre that it succeeds in being both a convincing genre piece and an intelligent and funny deconstruction on the nature of iconic slashers and the movies they exist in.

Nathan Baesel is a revelation as Leslie, a consummate professional and warm hearted enthusiast, whose job just happens to be killing clichéd hatchet fodder teens. The last 15 minutes may descend into familiar slasher movie chaos, but the journey there is so full of great performances and interesting character beats that it really doesn't matter.