Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
Review by Peter Syslo

Behind the Mask (2007) is the story of a young man named Leslie Vernon (played perfectly by Nathan Baesel), who wishes to be a killer along the lines of Michael Myers, Jason Vorhees, and Freddy Krueger. Okay, here is the neat twist; in the realm of this movie Michael Myers, etc. really do exist (I think this is really what sold the movie to me). A film crew of three grad students (wonderfully lead by actress Angela Goethals) is making a documentary about Leslie as he meticulously plans his next murderous rampage. As the story moves along, the film crew realizes that Leslie is dead serious about his plans and the actual killing begins.

Basically, the best way to describe this movie is that it is a well-balanced mix of a horror documentary and a slasher film. It is filmed in both documentary (video cam) and cinematic style; this “duality” actually seems to enhance the effectiveness of the overall movie. It may sound a little too complicated and a bit tough to swallow, but the movie pulls it off - brilliantly. The documentary portions of the movie are simply ingenious – like a combination of the documentary opening of Blair Witch 2, the dry wit of This is Spinal Tap, and the analytical/neurotic dialog of Seinfeld (scenes of Leslie talking with his serial killer neighbor/mentor (played by Scott Wilson) are great). The cinematic portions can best be described as giving a slasher fan what he/she wants to see in a slasher film. It is almost a tribute to 70s & 80s slashers, with all of the stereotypes in place (masked kill er stalking teens, etc. – I don’t want to say too much and spoil it). Actually, the movie as a whole is a celebration of the slasher genre, with horror references in some of the backgrounds, appearances by horror icons (Robert Englund, Zelda Rubinstein, and Kane Hodder), and a final scene that will make you smile (sit through the credits!).

In short, I can’t say enough good things about this movie. First of all, it is AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT, which is refreshing in this era of remakes. Second, the movie moves to and from documentary and cinematic style, seamlessly and effortlessly; and the plot holds together really well – cheers to director Scott Glosserman. Third, the movie is truly entertaining and it accomplishes this through good old-fashioned story-telling, interesting dialog, and really good acting by everyone involved. Finally, the film goes beyond and takes the slasher to a new level. You know what the killer looks like, you know why he is killing, and you know how he is going to kill. Everything is already exposed, but seeing the slash-fest play out is still engaging and exciting – now that is what I call filmmaking.

Cutting to the point, if you enjoy slashers or docu-horror, definitely check this movie out. It’s really not a gory film, and it is not a frantically-paced montage of scenes either. But, if you are in the mood for a film that has laughs, depth & substance (but not overbearing), and a few scares, then give Behind the Mask a try. I don’t want to seem over eager but, (gulp) can 2007 mark the rebirth of the slasher film? I don’t know, but with Behind the Mask and the upcoming releases of Halloween and Hatchet, it sure looks promising.