Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon: Review By Niteowl

I do not like horror films. It's mainly because I'm a big fat chicken, but it's also because filmmakers have run out of original ideas. The horror films that do have original ideas end up a victim of independent releasing, resulting in a total box office of about $70,000. This film fell prey to that whole process. The film is called Behind the Mask: the Rise of Leslie Vernon. It's set in a world where Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Freddy Kruger, are all real. Now, a new slasher wants to follow in their footsteps.

His name is Leslie Vernon, and he hires a group of college kids to film him as he begins his reign of evil. Sounds scary right? It turns out this is a combination of mockumentary, and horror. The first half is absolutely hilarious filmmaking. It exposes all the slasher movie cliches, from making up a legend about how the slasher came to be, to picking out a heroine.

Then, the actual attack on high school kids comes into play. It is pretty creepy, and it didn't have to use too much blood to creep out the audience. The ending is okay, but it truly redeems itself if you stay after the credits, which exposes one final cliche.

There were a few problems with this movie, however. One, why did they have to pick that really ugly girl for the head of the camera crew? Second, why does the film talk about Freddy Kruger, and then Robert Engluend is in the movie? Those were the only two things I had trouble with.

Everything was really excellent, like the acting, directing, and story. The visuals were the best part, but it was nothing you haven't seen before.

This is a truly underrated classic, that is really worth your time. You can probably catch it on starz (thats were I saw it). It is really worth your time, and if you are a fan of great horror comedies like Shaun of the Dead, Behind the Mask is the movie for you!