Review of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006) by André F — 14 Sep 2013

Behind the Mask is a brilliant low budget Slasher film that reinvents the wheel and offers genre fans something truly original to watch. Successfully combining traditional genre elements with Black Comedy, this film is a refreshing take on a classic genre of the horror medium.

Filmed as a mockumentary, it follows a film crew that is documenting Leslie Vernon, a murderer who plans his revenge for what the town did to him years ago. Using Clichés to his own advantage, director Scott Glosserman crafts a movie that is an absolute must see for die hard horror fans.

The mix of comedy and horror work extremely well and complement each other effectively well to create something truly memorable. The cast do a fine job in their performances, and the strength of the film lies in the fact that it can go from being pretty funny to a dark, nasty horror film that delivers the goods.

That's rare for a filmmaker to do such a thing, but Glosserman does it effortlessly. The first act of the film succeeds at establishing the humor and legend and dreams of Leslie Vernon as he wants to join the greats of Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers.

There are plenty of funny moments to be had in the first thirty minutes of the movie, but towards the end, the film takes a different approach and travels familiar ground and becomes a straight up Slasher film with plenty of effective kills to delight genre fans.

Any fans looking for something truly original ought to check out this low budget gem, it is sure to become a classic in the genre and it brings some much needed originality to a somewhat stale genre that is overdone with remakes.

Behind the Mask joins the likes of the Hatchet films and Laid to Rest movies as standout features that bring a modern twist to a classic genre.