Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is a clever film that spends a lot of time deconstructing the slasher genre. I’m not talking about the kind of deconstruction that is basically a slap in the face of genre fans everywhere, like Scream so successfully managed to do. I’m talking about the type of deconstructionist examination of slasher movie clichés and ethos that are actually handled in an intelligent, respectful and often times humorous manner that doesn’t alienate the people that made the slasher films one of the most successful genres of the 80’s. It is in this respect that this movie achieves. Behind the Mask manages to poke fun at the slasher genre without making fun of its viewers.
The movie is about a documentary crew that has been invited to participate and document the rise of the next great slasher, Leslie Vernon. The crew follows Vernon along, interviewing and documenting his every move… sometimes even participating. The documentary crew soon finds themselves at odds with Leslie Vernon, and they must attempt to foil his plan to become the next Freddy, Jason, or Michael.
There are two distinct parts to this movie. The first part of the movie is told from the point of view of the documentarians and it is by far the strongest aspect of the film. The Q & A sessions between Leslie Vernon and his documenters are both intelligent and hilarious. It is hard to explain just how funny the first half of the movie is unless you have taken in a good dose of slasher films already. Much of the humor alludes to or references the clichés of other films. I can’t help but wonder how much humor a non-genre fan would miss when watching the film.
The most disappointing aspect of the movie is the film’s second half. Abruptly, the documentary feel of the movie switches to a straight up slasher flick. When this happened, I felt like a baby… or maybe an alcoholic, who has had its bottle snatched away. I was enjoying the documentary style of the film so much, that when this was taken away the entire film was ruined. Sure the slasher half of the film is filmed just as well as any other slasher movie, sure it still has some of the intelligence of the documentary portion of the film, but it’s just not the same tone or feel as the rest of the movie.
This effect wouldn’t have been a problem if the character of Leslie Vernon hadn’t been so damn likable and interesting. Nathan Baesal brings Vernon’s character to life in such a personable manner that it is hard to see him as just another stalking, killing machine. By the middle of the damn film, you’re ready for Leslie Vernon to go on an outrageous killing spree that will make him the stuff of legend. Unfortunately, the story does not go in this direction and the film falls apart for the last forty-five minutes. It’s a shame, really… things were going so well.
For a first-time director, I was impressed with Scott Glosserman’s effort. I just find it hard to imagine how he could have gone so wrong with the direction of the second half of the film. For the amount of intelligence that is shown in the first half of the film, it seems ridiculous that Glosserman would try to turn the audience against a character he has built up and entertained the viewer with for the first half of the movie. It makes no sense at all and prevents this movie from being a classic.
Final Synopsis: Slasher fans will love this. Despite its flaws, I would buy this film just for the first half. For Joe Average, the movie is pretty much worthless unless you have some remedial slasher knowledge. If you have had some experience with the slasher genre, then this could be worth some laughs and definitely worth a rent.
Points Lost: -1 for being a lame slasher movie for the second half of the movie, -1 for such a drastic shift from documentary to slasher film in the middle of the movie, -1 for not having the balls to turn a serial killer into a serial killer hero
Burning Question: Why is it that movie serial killers are known only by their first and last names when real life serial killers are known by their first, middle, and last names?
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
7/10
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