Zachary FenellBehind the Mask: the Rise of Leslie Vernon
January 12th 2009 16:57
Behind the Mask: the Rise of Leslie Vernon, 2006
I am not a traditional "horror" or "slasher" film fan. I don't like having to suspend my sense of logic unless there's a really good reason for it. I generally do like scary movies, but they really have to work on more than the shock-art level. Behind the Mask: the Rise of Leslie Vernon dives into those waters with complete abandon and turns up brilliant pearls.
It's so rare and therefore so wonderful when we really see an indie movie make good. In this case, Behind the Mask succeeds where a lot more mainstream movies have failed miserably. Thanks to the great writing of Scott Glosserman, the compelling acting of Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals and Robert Englund (among others), the premise of this slasher flick is classic yet totally rebooted.
I got the same feeling of "being there" documentary-style as I did from 84C MoPic (another haunting low-budget indie piece of awesome, if you can find it), so the cinematography was perfect. However, what's really fascinating about Behind the Mask was how it handled the topic not just of how horror is made but why.
As someone who grew up in the opposite of a "sheltered environment", I knew what fear was and exactly why I shouldn't go over to the other side of the tracks. There were no boogeymen - just real and present danger that was not predictable. For people who are not so familiar with that danger, these tales of "what if" are more cautionary - if you play with boys, you won't be able to hear the axe murderer sneaking up on you. What this film really illustrates, though, is that these stories are more than this: they are soul-deep and part of the cosmic unconsciousness, resonating not just in the pit of our fear and terror but in our ability to transform and grow and change, to transmute through trauma and crisis into something stronger and more in tune with the universe.
It wasn't until I sat through this movie that I really understood the genre of slasher flicks. I never "got" films like Scream or Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but now I can see the archetype. Just as Star Wars had its Hero quest for that whiny punk Luke to go on, Behind the Mask illustrates that the slasher genre is the Empowerment of Innocence quest.
I give this a strong 4.5. In my heart, I want to give it a 5, but I'd also like to see what could happen if this team got together with a real budget.
4.5 Stars
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