Best movie of this year hands down!

Sorry, this movie sucks

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

best movie i've ever seen.

This is a nice little low budget horror film, made by and for horror fans. It has horror, murder, comedy and all kinds of neat little in jokes for those who pay attention. It basically follows a movie crew who is following a self confessed serial killer around as he talks about his profession and stacks potential prey, little knowing that he has other plans in store for them. This movie is definitely different, and may not be to every horror fans taste. But stick with it. You really will enjoy it if you're looking for something outside the usual gore and jump scares.

I have always been a fan of horror movies. Even as a small child I would sneak into the living room, and peer from behind the couch at the Freddie movie that the adults were watching. I still really enjoy all of the old 80s horror movies with the infamous larger- than-life serial killer.As an adult I also became a fan of mockumentaries. This is Spinal Tap, and Best in Show both brought to life the genius of Christopher Guest and introduced the world to documentaries gone mad. As a genre, it is typically only comedies that it showfronts.This movie merges the two genres but not in the way they'd have you believe. The movie begins with an interview between a very green newb journalist who seems to be doing a college project of some sorts. She wants to interview Leslie Vernon who believes himself the new Jason Voorhees, the new Freddie Kruger. As interesting interview subjects go, you can't really tell as the viewer if this guy is just a giant douche bag, or if they are just poking fun at the movie serial killer genre as a whole. Are we meant to take him seriously as he describes how to stalk and get-to-know his newest obsession, his proposed subject?Then something amazing happens. After his description of how to be a killer, the movie shifts entirely. Enter music, effects, dramatic acting, and all things you would expect from a horror movie. The movie, which was a shaky-cam low budget documentary, becomes a horror movie – if only for a scene while his plan (previously described to you in detail) sets into action.And this is how the movie plays out. We cut from documentary style to horror movie and back and forth until his movie and story are told. Its akin to watching a horror movie DVD special edition – if all the behind the scenes were cut into the film itself.Its not something I have ever seen before or since. And it was worth every single minute.

To start Behind the Mask, namesake stemming from Behind the Music, is an extremely clever idea for a fun serial killer documentary. Right off the bat the film takes a very light tone pitching the horror icons of Jason Vorhees, Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers as real-life serial killers. There are all sorts of funny little digs at typical horror clichés, for example moments of the victims running while the villain is walking happens often, therefore cardio for a killer is very important. In the meantime, the flow of the story is well-timed and Nathan Baesel was consistently great. There is a predictability about the film, which can be quickly picked up on but the real problem was the switch of point of view and film making toward the end. The supporting cast around Baesel was weak and there never was a good ending climax. Besides the letdown the film is still very much worth a watch with quality comedy and a cool looking horror villain in Leslie Vernon.

When the slasher boom hit the 80's horror scene, filmmakers had no idea how iconic the genre would become, spawning endless sequels, remakes, offshoots, and then years later as the culture evolved we see spoofs, satires and send ups. One of the finest and more clever of these is Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon. Many horror comedies struggle with tone, which is understandable when you consider the the stark difference between scaring a person and making them laugh, two reactions which come from opposite ends of one's perception, but when handled right can blend together in dementedly awesome ways. Behind The Mask does this very well, with an inventive streak that won't quit and a clear goal established with its satire, adding to its status as a hidden horror gem. Angela Goethals plays a perky investigative journalist, doing a piece on infamous serial killers. She's been to Haddonfield, Elm St. and Camp Crystal Lake, and is looking to break new ground. She arrives in the sleep Midwestern town of Glen Echo, and goes looking for the legendary Leslie Vernon (Nathan Baesel), a killer who is said to return to his stomping grounds for one misty fall night every year on the same date. She finds Leslie, and is invited into his home. He's a charming, hospitable average joe with a tidy house, a welcoming attitude and some cute pet turtles. Also, he's a masked serial killer. It's like when you get a Saturday Night Live skit that actually works, and actor director Baesel plays the laugh card deftly so that we're caught offguard when the scares come later on. Freddy Krueger himself Robert Englund does a sly take on the nemesis archetype, channelling Dr. Loomis as Doc Halloran, an old man on the hunt for Leslie. Scott Wilson is all brittle wit as Eugene, a fellow gentleman mass murderer who has a few tongue in cheek pearls of wisdom for Goethals. When the horror scenes do come, the atmosphere takes a 180 degree turn and the scenes are actually quite visceral and impressive, contrasting the docudrama tone which preceded them. I'm always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to play around with the horror genre, be it scary, funny, experimental or throwback. This one's a treat, and a real keeper.