The All Seeing EyeBEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON
July 20th 2008 05:46
BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON (2006).
Starring: Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Robert Englund, Zelda Rubinstein, Scott Wilson.
Written by: David J. Stieve and Scott Glosserman.
Directed by: Scott Glosserman.
Here’s a little gem that managed to slip completely under the radar, in New Zealand at least. I would not have expected to find, among the dreck of countless third-rate, straight-to-DVD, horror flicks with garish covers and even more garish plots, a smart, savage and savvy skewering of slasher-flick folklore that possesses more brains and heart than a dozen Scream movies.
Meet Leslie Vernon: he’s intelligent, charming, amiable and good-looking. A master at self-promotion he’s enlisted a film crew to follow him through the build-up to his big night: the night that will forever burn his legend into the collective memory of the citizens of Glen Echo.
There is an old story in Glen Echo that tells of a boy who was victimised by his parents and forced to toil in their apple orchard with only a hand-scythe. Driven mad by the abuse, this child brutally slaughtered both of his parents. A mob of townspeople learned of this brutal crime and, believing that the Devil was in the boy, cast him over a waterfall to his death. The house he lived in stands empty now, but every year, on the anniversary of his death, a group of hormonally-rampant teens spend a night within its creaking wooden walls while the wind rattles low and bitter through the now-ruinous orchard. The boy was named Leslie Vernon. This year he’s coming back and reaping his bloody vengeance upon the town that turned against him.
He is an aspiring slasher-killer. Whether there’s any truth in the tale is irrelevant as this is Leslie’s chance to do something that matters, to live up to the high benchmark set by his heroes: Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and Fred Krueger. The film crew, led by Taylor Genry, shoot Vernon as he visits his mentor Eugene (a slasher-killer now retired and happily married to his long-time “survivor girl”), runs through his training routines (you have to be extremely fit to keep up with a fleeing victim while appearing to walk) and sets up the ‘foreshadowing’ for his night of bloody terror. One hilarious set-piece involves the identification of his target cluster (the jocks, the stoners and most importantly: the virginal “survivor girl” - the one who just might live through this ordeal and in so doing discover hidden strengths within herself). However, when the big night arrives it becomes clear that Gentry cannot passively stand by while Vernon sets his horrific plan in motion.
The plot recalls cult French film Man Bites Dog (a flick I don’t much care for) but is much wittier and ultimately more rewarding as a cinematic experience.
While for the most part Behind the Mask is a near-brilliant satire of the tropes of slasher movies, it also offers many surprising insights into the themes of the genre: it reveals the films to be a sort of romance between the killer and their “survivor girl”…the final goal of the massacre being her development into a fierce and independent woman. It even boasts moments of genuine wisdom and poignancy.
The performances are pitch-perfect. Nathan Baesel (Leslie Vernon) is charming while conveying enough intensity and underlying ‘wrongness’ that you are always a little uneasy in his company. Angela Goethals (Taylor Gentry) emerges as a brash and outspoken protagonist who is consistently engaging.
Robert Englund pops in as Vernon’s “Ahab” Doc. Holloway, a role apparently inspired by a character from The Shining (though to me he seems more the Dr Loomis to Vernon’s Michael Myers - he even sports a little beard for the role). Zelda Rubinstein is memorable as a creepy librarian (the Vernon myth sounds so much spookier when related by a wizened munchkin). Neither is fully utilised by the script but hey, it’s nice just to see them.
The film shifts from black comedy to intense drama to out-and-out horror, sometimes within a single scene. Some viewers may consider it uneven, but for me it suits the subject matter perfectly. Despite being with the killer from the very beginning (and on his side for much of the flick) Vernon still manages to be a genuinely frightening adversary come the film’s third act (the weird mask and hand-scythe help). There are a few twists along the way but if you’ve been paying attention you’ll probably see them coming. That said they make the film a far richer and more satisfying experience. Visually the film combines hand-held “documentary-style” camera with cinematic “eye-of-God” sequences. It’s a technique that works well within the narrative.
Behind the Mask is intelligent, insightful, frightening and frequently laugh-out-loud funny. It’s a film that knows its subject matter inside and out and is able to convey its satire with enough pathos and drama that it will linger with you long after the credits have rolled (to the strains of Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” no less). It’s damn cool, okay.
Starring: Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Robert Englund, Zelda Rubinstein, Scott Wilson.
Written by: David J. Stieve and Scott Glosserman.
Directed by: Scott Glosserman.
Here’s a little gem that managed to slip completely under the radar, in New Zealand at least. I would not have expected to find, among the dreck of countless third-rate, straight-to-DVD, horror flicks with garish covers and even more garish plots, a smart, savage and savvy skewering of slasher-flick folklore that possesses more brains and heart than a dozen Scream movies.
Meet Leslie Vernon: he’s intelligent, charming, amiable and good-looking. A master at self-promotion he’s enlisted a film crew to follow him through the build-up to his big night: the night that will forever burn his legend into the collective memory of the citizens of Glen Echo.
There is an old story in Glen Echo that tells of a boy who was victimised by his parents and forced to toil in their apple orchard with only a hand-scythe. Driven mad by the abuse, this child brutally slaughtered both of his parents. A mob of townspeople learned of this brutal crime and, believing that the Devil was in the boy, cast him over a waterfall to his death. The house he lived in stands empty now, but every year, on the anniversary of his death, a group of hormonally-rampant teens spend a night within its creaking wooden walls while the wind rattles low and bitter through the now-ruinous orchard. The boy was named Leslie Vernon. This year he’s coming back and reaping his bloody vengeance upon the town that turned against him.
He is an aspiring slasher-killer. Whether there’s any truth in the tale is irrelevant as this is Leslie’s chance to do something that matters, to live up to the high benchmark set by his heroes: Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and Fred Krueger. The film crew, led by Taylor Genry, shoot Vernon as he visits his mentor Eugene (a slasher-killer now retired and happily married to his long-time “survivor girl”), runs through his training routines (you have to be extremely fit to keep up with a fleeing victim while appearing to walk) and sets up the ‘foreshadowing’ for his night of bloody terror. One hilarious set-piece involves the identification of his target cluster (the jocks, the stoners and most importantly: the virginal “survivor girl” - the one who just might live through this ordeal and in so doing discover hidden strengths within herself). However, when the big night arrives it becomes clear that Gentry cannot passively stand by while Vernon sets his horrific plan in motion.
The plot recalls cult French film Man Bites Dog (a flick I don’t much care for) but is much wittier and ultimately more rewarding as a cinematic experience.
While for the most part Behind the Mask is a near-brilliant satire of the tropes of slasher movies, it also offers many surprising insights into the themes of the genre: it reveals the films to be a sort of romance between the killer and their “survivor girl”…the final goal of the massacre being her development into a fierce and independent woman. It even boasts moments of genuine wisdom and poignancy.
The performances are pitch-perfect. Nathan Baesel (Leslie Vernon) is charming while conveying enough intensity and underlying ‘wrongness’ that you are always a little uneasy in his company. Angela Goethals (Taylor Gentry) emerges as a brash and outspoken protagonist who is consistently engaging.
Robert Englund pops in as Vernon’s “Ahab” Doc. Holloway, a role apparently inspired by a character from The Shining (though to me he seems more the Dr Loomis to Vernon’s Michael Myers - he even sports a little beard for the role). Zelda Rubinstein is memorable as a creepy librarian (the Vernon myth sounds so much spookier when related by a wizened munchkin). Neither is fully utilised by the script but hey, it’s nice just to see them.
The film shifts from black comedy to intense drama to out-and-out horror, sometimes within a single scene. Some viewers may consider it uneven, but for me it suits the subject matter perfectly. Despite being with the killer from the very beginning (and on his side for much of the flick) Vernon still manages to be a genuinely frightening adversary come the film’s third act (the weird mask and hand-scythe help). There are a few twists along the way but if you’ve been paying attention you’ll probably see them coming. That said they make the film a far richer and more satisfying experience. Visually the film combines hand-held “documentary-style” camera with cinematic “eye-of-God” sequences. It’s a technique that works well within the narrative.
Behind the Mask is intelligent, insightful, frightening and frequently laugh-out-loud funny. It’s a film that knows its subject matter inside and out and is able to convey its satire with enough pathos and drama that it will linger with you long after the credits have rolled (to the strains of Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” no less). It’s damn cool, okay.
| 78 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
