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Posted By: Verbal Kint at 9:54pm, November 4, 2009
I though this movie was so clever in what it does. I like how it sets the mood in a light manner to only go to the road of horror in the last act. If you have seen a lot of slasher films this is a film you need to watch.
I absolutely love this movie, its extremely original, and i love the concepts. This was such a refreshing movie in the horror genre. it deserves way more credit then it got. if you haven't seen it go check it out right away.
Good creative new style of horror movie. Very well directed and good acting for the most part. Started to drag for me a lil bit but picked up nicely. Very different take on the usual slasher film. I would haved liked this one to have been the sequel so that we could have seen LESLIE VERNON in a much more spooky or unhuman slasher. Anyway well done good movie, watch it if you haven't already.
Posted By: Slasher_Guy at 12:39pm, October 5, 2009
This was a major disappointment. The film has a great premise and a solid first half hour. However, it then becomes quite repetitive and somewhat dull. Then, in the last twenty minutes, we are introduced to a crappy, low-budget slasher flick. That's it.
This movie was truly incredible. I loved the way it switched from the documentary view to the movie view for the more dynamic scenes. Truly put a new spin to horror movies and was a great overall movie, with its scary and funny parts.
I can honestly say I've never enjoyed a movie that was hyped as much as this one.
All I heard about for months was Behind the Mask and I rented it, completely prepared to be let down and I wasn't. At all.
It was such a new, funny, and cool look at Slasher's. They really brought to your attention that these killers have lives outside there massacre's, well kind of.
Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon makes you get close to Les and not want to dislike him. You find yourself even rooting for him eventually, at least that's what happened with me and everyone I've shown this to.
It really is an enjoyable film. Here's hoping for a sequel!
This is a very fun(ny) and entertaining film. It is a real gem to true horror fans; it refers a lot of great horror movies including the obvious Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm St., and Halloween franchises, along with The Shining and many other classics. It also includes a pretty good cameo (not Robert Englund) that only true horror fans will notice. A very inventive and original plot makes for a great movie.
Incredibly creative and fun to follow. Any fan of the slasher genre can find something to appreciate here. Leslie Vernon manages to nit pick every cliche and give it meaning and put strategy behind it. The first hour of the movie is a sheer masterpiece in that respect.
Too bad the last twenty some odd minutes of the film transforms into the exact antipode of what the film initially depicted. In other words: it turns into a regular old boring slasher movie and even throws in all the cliches the last 60 minutes taught the characters how to avoid. The deaths are bland and the gore is non-existent. The climax leaves much to be desired as well.
Luckily the credits manage to bring back the originality; setting the viewer up for a potential sequel, though I somehow doubt one will ever be made. Which is a shame because Leslie Vernon has style and is just begging for more screen time.
If you were a child, like me & you ran around with hockey mask, or freddy glove, etc on then this movie is for you. One of my personal favs, its fun, funny, the characters are very engaging & when it needs to it gets intense. Great time & I hope we see more of Leslie Vernon!
bravo!! original, funny as hell, and somewhat scary...very effective movie.
i really didn't know what i was getting myself into when i bought this; i just thought it looked like a cool slasher. after the first couple minutes when i realized they're doing a documentary starring the guy who is going to be the killer, i was really taken by surprise.
leslie is charming, witty, and just a blast to watch. he's one of those characters that really draws you in with his personality. they really lay the sarcasm on thick, poking fun at the formula of slashers, and if you're a slasher fan, you appreciate every bit of it. just to see it in this light is priceless. gradually, it morphs into the real thing, and actually can be a little scary at times.
this is one i can watch time and time again. great idea, good acting, good script, good atmosphere...all around good. highly recommended!!
This is a rare gem in the slasher genre.It starts off as a cynical blueprint comedy of how a slasher film guidelines for character and plot development are to unfold.And it's done brilliantly.Then it turns into a traditional by the number horror ride.Great acting out of the main character and Robert Englund as well.This one of coolest ideas for this genre in years.Now if they could make a smart sequel to this I'm up for it.I highly recommend this for your horror collection.
absolutely loved this film. awesome laughs and a good slasher as well. It had me laughing out loud throughout the whole thing. Def. Recommend it and can't wait for the sequel!
Hahaha, This movie was fucking AWESOME!!!! It covers EVERYTHING that people bitch about in slashers, hahaha. I was laughing so hard. Watch it for yourself. only thing missing is gore, but its still pretty damned good.
this is the worst movie i have ever seen, it's an insult!! wimpy killer, and a shi*ty plot...
Scream was 100 times better than this crap!!
Posted By: txvoorhees at 2:14pm, February 15, 2009
a unique way of telling a story about a killer. it was good at times but it was kinda slow, i saw the whole trap at the end comming a mile a way but it was entertaning. not enough gore for me and not enough robert englund should've done more with his charecter.
Posted By: GRUDGE4life at 8:50pm, January 27, 2009
WOW!! this movie gets straight up into the psyche of the serial killer that is Leslie Vernon! i want to see a sequel and i want it now!!!!!!!!! Leslie brings back the old school killers like that of Jason, Freddy, and Michael... it even has freddy in it!
Posted By: Slaser Maniac at 3:07am, January 25, 2009
A alright film. could of used a little bit of blood. It was kind of funny. It all started getting good at the end of the movie. the whole movie is shot in a camera, like "the Blair Witch Project." A good slasher Movie.
Posted By: Fridaythe13th at 12:23am, January 19, 2009
Brilliant! haha. This movie was amazing! A great movie for any horror buff to watch. It is funny, accurate, and then it turns into a nice little slasher flick. Appearances by Robert Englund and a short one by Kane Hodder really lets you know it is a homage to all the old slasher films. Instead of the obvious hints at Jason, Michael, and Freddy in the beginning; there are also tiny things thrown about too (the communion girls jumping rope for example). Just a fun movie and incredibly creative. Definitely not trying to be something it isn't. If you enjoyed Hatchet, I would recommend this.
First and foremost, this was a blast. If you are a fan of horror films, serial killers, etc, this nudge and wink is a great homage/satire. Minus a few gaps, this is a smart postmodern stab at the slasher genre. The first half of the film is hilarious and smart, while the second is a standard, but well done, tense thriller.
Film : Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
Original Language : English
Subtitles : Not needed
Country of Origin : USA
Duration : 1 hour 32 mins
Year : 2007 (DVD in 2008)
Style : Two hand-held, documentary style (everyone's aware of the cameras) then cuts cheesy dramatic steady/hand cams
Cast : No-one I recognise; besides a few appearances from Robert Englund (Doc Halloran), and Scott Wilson (Catherine's dad from CSI).
Director : Scott Glosserman
Mindset : Reality, a documentary-turned-film
IMDB : 7.10 with 5,122 votes http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437857/
Plot : Leslie Vernon's life ambition is to be the next horror icon, modelling himself on the unstoppable horror icons such as Jason or Mike Myers etc. An amateur reporter is invited to pick up the scoop.
Characters : Leslie Vernon, the whole reason for the movie, is a horror movie buff (to the extreme!), who practically exposes how a man can become icon, manically educating the reporter, Taylor. Taylor is a journalism student who wants to cover this for a local TV show. She obviously don't know, care or respect horror films. During the show, we meet Leslie's only mates, a couple, whom he loves, and the 2-man camera crew...and of course, the victims.
Plot Progression : The film is mostly shot documentary-style, of how Leslie scouts his prey, and meticulously sets up how he wants it all to go down - setting his backstory, scouting victims etc. It moves along at a good pace to keep you interested.
Originality: In a genre that is so difficult to be original, this film achieves it by a mixture of ideas from other areas, and combining them into something I haven't seen before.This is a down-to-earth, low-budget documentary of a man who wants to become a real-life Horror Icon. Not kayfabe, he wants to kill a good few people and cement his place in actual history. Great stuff.
Age rating : There's some really fake looking blood and about 5 seconds of sex (no nudity) so the reason this isn't PG is that 5 seconds (showing people what sex is). Otherwise it's perfectly watchable for everyone who wants to.
Mindset : Our two polar-opposite protagonists, Leslie and Taylor give us a good idea of a horror buff talking to a reluctant uninterested adult. Jesus! It's great to see how excited Leslie is, but he is also quite obnoxious and overbearing. We go along the story with the dumbass, insincere reporter, into the world and psyche of Leslie. So this film is mostly hand-cam amateur documentary about the preparation that goes into Leslie's big night (on Halloween, when else!) then cuts to a B-Movie looking scene of the preparation unfolding. A good idea, but it's very cheap and tongue-in-cheek so it kind of takes away...not that you could get into these parts, since you saw the "backstage part", i.e. how it all came together in the first place.
Plot devices : Leslie goes in some length to tell us about horror cliches, and the logistics of killing a group of teenagers, so he's kindof smashing kayfabe. But it's a horror documentary, so great! There's a lot of them (rigging the fuse box, faulty weapons, killing the teens having sex, "survivor girl" etc etc) that are mentioned and executed, but that's the point of the film.
Budget : Cheap as chips. Holy God. I think this film would've taken more time to write than to film. The special effects are so cheap. It's mostly someone with the contents of a ketchup packet on their cheek. My God! The documentary is a bit shaky hand cam, and when it cuts to the "movie" portion, it's so B-Movie looking!
Special Effects : Very little. I'm sure everything was done in-house. No prosthetics or actual gore seen.
Quote: Taylor asks the couple for any quick tips on how to survive a horror film.
Jamie: I'll tell you: never hang out with a virgin. You got a virgin in your crew, either get somebody in her pants or get the hell away from her. (referencing the "Survivor Girl" edict)
Eugene: Aside from that, the simple answer is: run like a motherfucker and don't stop till the sun comes up.
Overall :
This is a fantastic idea for a horror film. Little bit of Scream in there (something mentioning all the plot devices/cliches of horror film) along with a documentary and spliced horror film. It's so original, I love it. Unfortunately, it's not executed very well. The script isn't great, the actors are mostly of an awful B-movie standard, and there's no budget. No rewatch value. I'd gladly pay to see a Hollywood version of this film.
So, it's got tons of potential, but the execution doesn't do itself enough justice. I found it enjoyable, but I couldn't say I'd recommend it. I'd pitch the idea, along with the faults, and see if someone wants to watch it.
Jay's Verdict : Enjoyable but wouldn't recommend
Posted By: mikethademon at 9:48am, January 10, 2009
Pretty cool movie for a reality film style. Original and funny.
If you're a fan of the horror/slasher genre this is a must see. It's a black comedy/mockumentary/horror movie. First half concentrates on the documentary and then all hell breaks loose in the second act when it turns into an old school slasher. Admittedly the gore factor is very low. But that doesnt seem to matter as the cast play it brilliantly. Look out for cameos from Robert Englund, Scott Wilson and Kane Hodder.
i kinda found that movie completely boring and i fell asleep during it. by me from me i should not give it a rating but i will anyway cause i'am too nice :)
Finally! I get to see this movie and it does not disappoint. It's clever, funny, and sometimes frightening. This movie kind of reminded me of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Black Christmas, and Halloween how blood was not used as much as it is nowadays, so they used "shock treatment" instead. Although I liked Hatchet a little more, I liked this film a lot and was a very well-made slasher film, which is something you don't see a lot of in these days.
I enjoyed this movie a lot. Although I don't usually enjoy horror-comedies, I did find this film absolutely brilliant. The actor who played Leslie Vernon was fantastic.
Posted By: rterrell24 at 9:04am, December 20, 2008
I have not the words to explain how much I love this movie.
Fantastic film. Trully original, comical, and gruesome. The plot is unique, and keeps you gripped. The low budget is overshadowed by the POV elements that are the basis of the film. I can't wait to see what else Scott Glosserman can come up with, and find it shameful that I could not see this movie in theaters.
I have never been a fan of Scream, but I'm going to give credit to it for being a semi-original idea in it's time. Now over ten years later, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon does the exact same thing that Scream did and everyone thinks it's oh-so-original because it copies the same formula. That's about the equivalent of saying: "If you were nonconforming too, you'd be just like me." The premise of interviewing a slasher villain is nothing different from Man Bites Dog, then the movie just uses the exact same jokes and plot points as Scream. EXACT. This has to be in one of the top 250 unoriginal movies of all time because there is not a single thing that Scott Glosserman thought of himself.
If unoriginality is the first major flaw of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, the second major flaw is just as annoying. The predictability. About 15 minutes in I already figured out the remainder of the plot, including what some people will loosely call the plot twist in the middle. It's just paradoxical that while this movie tried to make clichés laughable, it falls into every one of them at least once without noticing. Now that is something to laugh at, not the lame jokes.
The acting is iffy. Leslie himself, as some have mentioned, it a total pansy and doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the villains he compares himself to. Some of his jokes are smile-worthy, but that doesn't take the edge off the utterly boring moments where the camera sits and stares at a wall with nothing happening. Or the boring conversation scenes.
Another thing that really bothered me was the lack of any gore whatsoever. Every scene when something even mildly violent happens, the camera is looking at the floor or the wall or someone's face. I've seen countless PG-13 movies with more blood. This is supposed to be a parody of the slasher genre, yet it shows no slashing. Am I really the only one who has a problem with that?
Overall, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon added nothing new or original to the better parodies out there. It can't stand on it's own two feet, so to speak, and it has the entertainment value and thrill of watching a dead tree rot. What a sad waste of movie rights.
What a wimpy serial killer, Leslie (even the name is wimpy) couldn't break his way out of a paper sack. Some skinny dude puts on a cheap mask and starts killing people, this was pathetic.
Posted By: BK's Finest at 10:09am, November 3, 2008
I had a really good time watching Behind the Mask. The quasi documentary style that the movie was shot in doesn't always work and I would have liked to seen more done with the cameos that they got (Robert Englund, Zelda Rubinstein, and especially Kane Hodder) but the movie more than makes up for it with a rather original story/concept and a solid cast of newcomers, especially Nathan Baesel (Leslie Vernon) and Angela Goethals (Taylor Gentry the reporter/interviewer, best known for playing one of Macaulay Culkin's sisters in Home Alone). It's worth checking out.
Excellent idea for a horror movie. I thought the end, where Victor actually began the killings got a bit silly and wasn't at all scary. "Okay, so he set up this trap -- OH NO, HE IS GONNA COME FROM BEHIND YOU!" Didn't like that stuff. But overall, good.
I wish I would've thought of this concept myself!! Sure, there isn't a smooth transition between docu-style fun and chase by chase carnage; but I still felt refreshed and gratified by the end (the Talking Heads always help). There are a lot of fabulous lines that are worth the watching just to repeat with your blood-zealous friends.
Posted By: MrHorrorfest at 7:21pm, October 7, 2008
This movie was so original and it was awesome. I loved how it was a documentary style at first and then it went right into the horror movie. Great movie. Anchor Bay is doing a great job with hits like this, Hatchet, Jack Brooks, cant wait till their next one.
HORRIBLE. Do yourself a favor and do not rent this movie or believe any reiviews over 2 stars...waste of time and a big dissappointment, and I didn't think it was going to be great.
It managed to be deconstruction, parody, and homage all at once. The basic premise is that this guy is going to become a slasher and invites this film crew along with him to show them how its done.
It could have been too clever for its own good, but isn't. The dialogue is sharp and funny, the characters were likeable, and in the end it became a compelling slasher movie in its own right. My only complaint would be that it missed some really obvious opportunities to buck some tropes and then didn't, but there were so many other ways that it did that I can't find too much fault in the movie for it.
I hadn't heard anything about this movie. I think it was a low budget indie that flew under the radar. Anyhow, check it out. I think if you're a fan of slasher movies you'll really like it, and even if you're at all aware of the genre you'd probably like it too.
Posted By: Protecious at 2:16pm, September 30, 2008
Original take on the genre, mixing humor and using reference to other horror films and how they are done is pretty interesting stuff, but the film strays from the way it began, and basically turns into something average when it easily could have exceeded into something great.
Posted By: bigmo_402 at 10:23pm, September 8, 2008
This movie wasn't that great, it started out way to wierd for me. Was it trying to be a comedy or a horrow movie. I didn't like certain parts of the beginning. Oh well I guess that's why we all have different opinions. Worth watching to figure yours out.
Posted By: PromNight2008 at 10:43am, August 31, 2008
This is definitely one of the most underrated movies to come out in the last ten years. It pays homage to all our favorite slasher movies while, at the same time, being a comic gem. This is the Spinal Tap of horror movies. A must see!
Ok not everyone is going to agree with me on this one but BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON is the most orininal horror film I have ever seen! Nathan Bassel is MIND BLOWINGLY AMAZING in the titel role, his portrail of Vernon is funny, stylesh, sexy, scary and just plain bad ass!!! The script is awesome the acting is off the wall good. I only have GREAT things to say about this movie. I'd go as far as to say that BEHIND THE MASK is my favorite horror movie of all time!!! Please if you haven't seen this one go and get it ASAP you will not be disapointed. I give BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON 10 surviver girls out of 100 surviver girls!!
"We've got an Ahab" lol
Fantastic horror movie made only for horror movie fans. This movie was full of jokes and great dialogue. I enjoyed this movie all the way. The documentary style that exists in the land of horror movies is great. I would recommend this to any fan of friday the 13th or nightmare on elm street, and especially halloween.
Oh my god this film was great! Perfect for any slasher movie fan. It was absolutly hilarious, but I dont know if I liked the turn it took towards the end. Oh well, this movie is the perfect tribute to the good old fashioned slasher films we all know and love regardless.
This movie is good but a little too much on the comedy side for me. Good plot and good twist but all in all not the best horror film in 2007 but I would say in the top 10.
Funny, funny take on the slasher film genre. Great supporting cast and a likeable yet hated main character. And of course, kudos to Robert England for playing the "good guy".
I recommend "The Ungodly" if you enjoyed this.
