On DVD: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

Directed By Scott Glosseman

Starring Nathan Baesel, Robert Englund, Zelda Rubinstein

OK, being a documentary fan and filmmaker myself, I often don't appreciate the mockumentary.  The problem with many mockumentaries I've seen is that the creators constantly try to trick the viewer into believing the film we are watching is real until there's some sort of twist at the end.  I'll never forget the first one I saw was at a film festival and it was screened as part of the documentary category.  This infuriated the real doc filmmakers that were also competing in that category.  The festival programming director said they made the decision to screen that film in that category in order to not blow the twist at the end.  Well enough of that I could write many more words on this subject.

On the upside I've seen some very cleverly done mockmuntaries that take advantage of limited budgets and equipment to still tell interesting dramatic stories.  One of my favorites is a film called Series 7.  That film is set in an alternate reality where a television game show series exists that contestants actually kill each other.  I know this was done in the Arnie film The Running Man based on a Stephen King.  The difference is that Series 7 is shot from the perspective of the crew that shoots the television series, so everything is shot on video and it feels appropriate, more so now with the proliferation of reality television.  The film is presented like a two hour special finale episode.  There's been a few other good ones such as The Last Broadcast and The Blair Witch Project.  There hasn't been a film that properly takes advantage of a low budget and shooting on video in the way these films did, that's actually a good movie, in quite some time, until now.

The Movie

Leslie Vernon has been approached by a documentary film crew that wants to film his story and follow his rise to greatness.  In this alternative reality Jason, Freddy, Michael, and other slasher film icons are real people, real killers, and all the clichés and stereotypes that go along with those killers are also real.  Vernon has a back-story fitting an iconic serial killer and the crew shows up just in time to follow Vernon's preparations to become just such a killer.

Vernon informs the crew of all the requirements of being a slasher killer and in one of the greatest scenes in the film Vernon takes the crew to meet his now retired mentor and his excessively proud wife.  The documentary crew follows Vernon on the prowl stalking his prey and even practicing all the typical scare tactics that lead up to the actual kill.  All of the standard formulaic elements are including the fact that victims that have sex are the first to die and there's a female heroine at the end of the film.

The majority of the film is shot in a standard documentary style until the end of the last act of the film where the crew finds themselves involved in Vernon's actual mass murdering plan where the perspective of the film changes from documentary to cinematic and even the lighting and post production of this act of the film takes on a more cinematic presentation.

There's tons of tongue in cheek humor in this film and nods at fans of 80's slasher movie fans.  The filmmakers were even able to get Robert Englund to play Vernon's nemesis and Zelda Rubinstein to play a creepy librarian that imparts the story of Leslie Vernon to one of Vernon's victims.  With all of the humor in the film and the nudge nudge wink wink at horror fans the film, and especially the last act, can spur some conversation about reality television and documentary filmmaking and the difference between exploitation and simple storytelling, and when documentarians become partially responsible for the acts their subjects commit if the documentarians are filming the whole time. 

The film also manages to surprise with some great plot twists toward the end of the film.  Vernon as the maniacal killer is not only smarter than everyone in the film, he's smarter than us as viewers.  The film is extremely cleverly written, both an homage and a mockumentary and the director and crew make the film exist within the limitations of budget and equipment and it all feels right.  There's a bunch of jokes in the film and a few of them flop, but for every flop there's several really funny bits.  The actors do a fantastic job of bringing these characters to life and sucking us into this documentary experience.

It's hilarious, creepy, and thought provoking all at once Behind the Mask is a must see film for not only horror fans but for indie film fans and filmmakers.

9/10

The Video

The widescreen presentation here suffers from everything you'd expect from a film shot on video including washed out colors, murky black levels, and grain.  Now none of this is bad because it plays into the story being told with this film.  Granted, if the filmmakers had a million dollar budget they probably would have been happy to use nicer cameras and lights and so forth but I feel like the limits of the budget actually made this film more immersive and believable.  So the look isn't fantastic but it is completely appropriate. 

6.5/10

The Audio

The Dolby audio presentation here is as basic as the video other than some nice musical cues in the more filmic scenes at the end of the film and a few at the beginning.  Dialogue is fairly clean and the overall balance is solid.  It's not a demo disc for your home theater but again the audio presentation feels documentary appropriate. 

7/10

Packaging and Bonus Features

Anchor Bay really surprised me with the packaging for this single disc DVD.  The disc comes in a standard amaray case that is itself inside a silvery, glossy slip cover with a flap on the front.  All together there are three variants on the artwork, one with the flap closed, with the flap open, and then on the actual amaray case.  The slipcover isn't only glossy but it's also textured making it appear very plush.  Nice job Anchor Bay, especially for such a low budget film.

The extras on this DVD are shockingly extensive thanks to the filmmakers doing featurette work as the film was getting made.  There's an extensive making of featurette that shares some real behind the scenes information.  Segments of the featurette are stitched together with video blog style comments from the director, then there's making of footage, cast interviews, rehearsals, location scouting, and a bit of partying.  I found this fairly length featurette to be extremely informative and entertaining at the same time, which isn't that common for behind the scenes featurettes.

Next up is a featurette that is basically a montage of casting auditions.  While not as interesting as the behind the scenes featurette it still shows some early readings for the film and should be checked out at least once.

There are even some deleted and extended scenes with optional commentary from the director.  I think the cuts the filmmakers made were good ones but it's still interesting to see these unused bits.  There are trailers and the full screenplay for the film is available on DVD-Rom.

Finally there's a feature length audio commentary with he director and many of the cast members.  The commentary offers some interesting behind the scenes information and it shows just how well the cast and crew got along during the making of the film. 

I was surprised at the volume and quality of the bonus features.  The extras go a long way to further enhancing the overall viewing experience of watching Behind the Mask.

8/10

Great movie, great presentation, a must have for horror fans and even indie filmmakers and indie film fans.  Stay through the closing credits!

Overall (Not an Average) 8.5/10

The Movie 9/10

The Video 6.5/10

The Audio 7/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 8/10

Overall (Not an Average) 8.5/10

-Stephen Lackey