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Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
USA 2006
produced by
Scott Glosserman, Andrew Lewis (executive), Al Corley (executive), Eugene Musso (executive), Bart Rosenblatt (executive) for Glen Echo Entertainment, Code Entertainment
directed by Scott Glosserman
starring Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Robert Englund, Scott Wilson, Zelda Rubinstein, Bridgett Newton, Kate Miner, Ben Pace, Britain Spellings, Hart Turner, Krissy Carlson, Travis Zariwny, Teo Gomez, Matt Bolt, Jenafer Brown, Kane Hodder, Mia Butler, Morgan Kitzmiller, Hannah Rader
written by David J. Stieve, Scott Glosserman, music by Gordy Haab
review by
Mike Haberfelner
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Taylor (Angela Goethals), a budding journalist, and her team - Doug
(Ben Pace) and Todd (Britain Spellings) have chosen a particularly juicy
topic for their documentary, Leslie Vernon (Nathan Baesel), the stuff of
an urban legend as it is, who has set out to avenge himself on the village
who has killed him by, as one would, killing off a bunch of partying
teenagers. Now upon getting to know Leslie, Taylor can't help but notice
he's a rather likeable guy, and if it wasn't for his sometimes dark humour
one could have taken him for a disappointingly ordinary guy. And Leslie is
nice enough to let Taylor and company in on the planning of his next
massacre, on how he has already chosen a virgin, Kelly (Kate Miner) as his
final girl, as he has already checked out the location of their next party
- incidently his old family home - and made his preparations, and how he
wants to kill an old librarian (Zelda Rubinstein) just to get her
attention. His planning is pretty meticulous, down to the use of
symbolism, and also his own personal nemesis, Doctor Halloran (Robert
Englund) is somehow built into his story. Now his meticulous planning has
its fascination on Taylor and team, so much so that they at first
willingly become his accomplices. But on the big night, after Leslie has
killed his first two teens - the obligatory couple having sex -, Taylor's
conscience gets the better of her and she breaks off the shoot and instead
wants to save the teens. Thing is, no matter what she does, Leslie seems
to have an answer for it, until she finds out that Kelly's actually
anything but a virgin, and the only virgin in the room is actually Taylor
herself - and it was actually her whom Leslie has chosen as his final girl
from square one ... In its whole outset, this film of course is
very reminiscent of the 1992 Belgian mockumentary Man Bites Dog,
even if Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is much less of
a biting satire and in terms of theme and insightful humour more in line
with 1996's Scream, while making
numerous nods to films of the original slasher cycle, especially with
Robert Englund's character being a direct reference to Donald Pleasence's
Dr. Loomis in the Halloween
series. But that all said, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
is a film that has definitely found its own voice, it has its often
delightfully dark humour as well as its tense scenes in all the right
moments, the directorial effort is genre savvy, and the cast solid, to
make this one just so much fun to watch.
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