Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

I think that the previous reviews I read on this site must've come from friends and relatives (or paid shills) of this horrifically bad movie. The producers of this dung heap probably had the great idea to load up the initial pages with fake positive reviews (no one who knows squat about film making could entertain giving this more than 1 star) therefore, all the negative reviews are towards the last few pages. Their hope was that people will just scan the first few pages of these suck up commentaries and proceed to pay their money and get ripped off. The movie was so poorly acted, that it was hard to take just from that fact alone. The girl who played the reporter was especially annoying. I've never seen such a petulant puss before. Following this serial killer guy around like a desperate puppy. BTW, the serial killer has the physique of Pee Wee Herman. But, the funniest aspect of this movie was the fact that these actors seemed to take their roles so seriously and spewed some really awful dialog. The entire movie had an "Intro. to Movie Making" feel to it, as if this film was made as a class project. Shot digitally, with a hand held camera to give the viewer a feeling of "real time," this technique failed miserably (unlike a well done movie such as Cloverfield.) With soap opera production values, this expose of a serial killer just tanks and will leave you with that "I just wasted my money" feeling.

source: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

The movie would have been okay if it followed the original premise of a film crew following a soon-to-be serial killer. However, that premise was abandoned halfway through and the remainder of the movie followed very generic slasher story. The premise would have worked if the movie was kept straight like Blair Witch but the director didn't know any better. All the references to other slasher films have already been done (relatively intelligently) in Screams franchise. Not the worst horror movie I have ever seen but it's pretty close. I'd be more forgiving if this was made on a shoestring budget (it sure looks it) but the "making of" documentary showed a sizable crew and even mentioned catering. I can see why this movie sat on a shelf for two years before it was released.

I hope people get to see both sides of the reviews for this movie as I thought it was the most over-hyped letdown of the year.whoever came up with the idea to say this is the next big slasher movie should be fired or never make a movie again as it didn't apply to this. I didn't laugh at any of the jokes and was even more disappointed at the lack of kills (not to mention this has as much gore as a bad Mick Garris TV movie- Ughh). Then there's the actors. This could be the biggest misfire of the film. The killer is about as big as Nicole Ritchie and the female lead just comes off completely flat and unbelievable. They should both stick to other genres of film than horror but I guess this isn't really a horror movie so whatever. I guess I should have listened to my friend who was actually bamboozled into seeing this at a film festival and walked out of the screening extremely disappointed. Bummer....

Behind the mask:the rise of Leslie Vernon had the potential to be great.The idea was right up there with the best of horror movie concepts (Elm Street,Friday The 13th,Scream,Etc.).A reporter and her camera crew follow a slasher around as he prepares and sets into motion his master plan so to speak.They are with him as he picks out his victims and prepares his traps.Along the way he explains the do's and don't's and the why's and what-for's of being a psycho killer. Sounds great right? But alas the execution of these ideas falls short.While the actors and actresses do a fine job portraying their characters, the story becomes rather predictable and a bit silly. especially near the end.All in all this is an unique film with some good ideas that just were not thought through enough.So much more could've been done with this.Maybe a remake with a bigger budget and some better writers could turn this into one of the all-time greats.

Thanks, now i know how to kill somebody and be a good serial killer. I strongly recommend this film to idiots who want to be a killer and don't know how already. Everything covered in this movie is mind blowingly stupid or things we have heard already. It basically ruins the fun of horror movies to begin with. First of all saying that Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers were ordinary guys who made a reputation for themselves. NOT a good idea if they were planning to make this movie successful. All 3 characters had intricate back stories.. they shouldn't ruin that. Secondly i didn't think the use of a hand-held camera was a particularly good idea. Even though the characters were filming a documentary i think they should have used it for the whole film it would have given a better perspective on things. Other movies have made better use of this for instance "Diary of the Dead" and "Cloverfield" which i recommend. Anyway why would these people volunteer for filming this in the first place they must be screwed up. What were they doing in the first place anyhow? Giving a step by step killing guide. Okay it may look fun..you think it'll hold up in court? I did like the twist near the end when they discover who the real virgin survivor girl is all along. You could blatantly see it was coming but made the movie that little bit more entertaining. Overall An Awful movie, with the bad acting adding to the disappointments. Worse than Friday 13th Part 7! Yes, that bad.

Normally I would try to write a review a little more intelligent, but I can't help but feel that a movie like this deserves reviews that are as poorly executed as the film itself. In short, Behind the Mask is easily one of dumbest, most poorly produced films I have ever had the displeasure of watching. For your own sake, avoid it like the plague. The acting is terrible, the setup utterly stupid, the concept behind the film ludicrous, the horror completely tame. The film is riddled with poor dialogue, terribly developed characters, loose ends and is practically vomit inducing in its treatment in every single aspect of traditional film. The big plot development towards the end is utterly pathetic, the inability of the characters to think rationally will astound anyone, and the supposed horror of the entire thing will likely inspire laughter. Please, please do not watch this film.

This movie has a lot of problems starting with the lead actor. How is the audience supposed to believe that a scrawny kid who looks like he's straight out of WB's Seventh Heaven is the deranged killer? His acting is terrible as well and doesn't fit this type of film. Then there's the misfire attempts at comedy which led me to believe this movie was trying to make up for its shortcomings in scares (or anything close to tension or horror) with jokes which didn't seem to work either. Another bigtime complaint is there's no gore or decent kill effects. Its like the director thought that the failed attempts at making a joke out of horror clichés was going to make up for the lack of kills (I think the first kill doesn't take place until like 45 minutes into the movie) and gore. Pitiful. I watched this movie with high expectations as it seemed to have garnered a few decent reviews but damn was I disappointed. For a film that is trying to say its giving you a killer in the vein of the great slashers (IE: JASON, FREDDY, MICHAEL MYERS) its misses its mark completely. I ended up turning it off when the predictable ending kicked into place and I was like gimme a break. I would best compare this to The Village in that I was mislead into believing I was going to see a horror film and was fooled into watching some ineffective boring crap that couldn't lift a scare, laugh, or emotion other than thinking," This Sucks!!! People got to stop giving Anchor Bay props for releasing movies like this and advertising them as horror films when they're not scary horrific or funny.

Leslie Vernon, a highly-enthusiastic wannabe "supernatural" serial killer, along the lines of Halloween's Michael Meyers or Friday the 13th's Jason, invites a film crew along to document his initial spree this original horror comedy that allows you to see a killing spree from the point of view of the killer. The film crew soon finds itself rooting for the likable Leslie, well-played by Nathan Baesel, who has planned his spree to the last detail. The crew slowly moves from documenting the events to aiding and abetting them, but it has second thoughts as the reality of the events overwhelm them. They discover too late that Leslie isn't exactly who he claims to be, and he has worked out everything, including their last minute hesitations, into his meticulous plan. The documentary approach gives the filmmakers enough distance from the events to successfully spoof the conventions of slasher genre. However, the filmmakers managed to restore genuine tension by limiting that distance by making the witnesses, the filmmakers, into participants. That's why this film succeeded where other spoofs and "found footage" failed. It delivers both narrative perspective and intimacy. Well done.

Over the past 10 years Montreal's Fantasia film festival has grown to become North America's premier genre fest. Specializing in horror, sci-fi and fantasy films, it's a place where budding and established filmmakers rub shoulders and test their creations before keen but critical-eyed crowds as they attempt to secure distribution deals; a place where cineastes can not only be among the first to see new films, but frequently pose questions to the directors themselves. At first glance, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, appeared to be a prime example of the filler material that can be found at this, and other film festivals throughout the world. Low budget, competently directed, but totally derivative and otherwise unspectacular. That was – until the lights went down the film started rolling. A prime example of a movie turning one's preconceptions on their collective head, Director Scott Glosserman's Behind the Mask is a witty, superbly crafted and acted movie chronicling the exploits of the eponymous Vernon (played by Nathan Baesel) as he consents to be the subject of a documentary about serial killers produced by a group of journalism grad students. Classifying this movie as a "mockumentary" or a parody of the slasher film genre simply isn't doing it justice. The film begins as a supremely witty comedy as the student filmmakers follow Vernon through his "training regimen" en route to honing his craft as a serial killer, but turns progressively dark as the film enters its second and third act. Peppered with absolutely brilliant dialog, Glosserman manages to deliver a movie that belies its limited budget by deploying a keen eye for cinematography, acting talent, and crackerjack scriptwriting. I started this movie laughing heartily, and concluded it squirming in my seat as the joke was off and things got serious. In an interview given after the screening, Glosserman, who is currently in negotiations to find a global distributor, cautioned that due to potential copyright and classification hassles with the MPAA the film might end up being released under a different or modified title. Either way, keep your eyes open for this gem, even if it only manages to make it to DVD. It'll rip your guts out laughing.