Buy From Amazon.com
Reviewed by Peter
Film:	B
Video Quality:	C+
Audio Quality:	B
Special Features:	C+
DVD Review:	B

Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is a mockumentary about the world's newest serial killer and his plans to make himself into a legend a la Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees. Following him around is a film crew and a reporter who is interested in uncovering who Leslie really is and what motivates him. Soon Leslie's plan is in motion and the film crew is prepared to capture the next great legend in action, but everything is about to change because Leslie has plans of his own.

Behind The Mask is a clever horror film that shifts between being a mockumentary and an actual original film. Relying upon plot more than the gore found in most modern horror movies, the film takes a good look at what it means to be a horror legend and the nature of how monsters like Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees would have to be in order to exist in real life. To even call this a horror movie is somewhat misleading because it is not meant to scare you but rather take a satirical look at what it would take to become a horror icon in real life, in this case the creation of the horror icon Leslie Vernon.

Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon proves that a low budget movie does not necessarily mean a drop-off in the quality department. Rather it proves that a movie is only as good as the script and not as good as its budget. For a horror movie, the acting was for the most part good, at times a little forced or over-the-top, but many people could take that as a homage to many of the horror movies that featured similar characteristics. And for this horror fan it was also good to see two legendary horror film actors in Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger, A Nightmare On Elm Street) and Zelda Rubinstein (Tangina, Poltergeist).

Video Quality

Presented in widescreen (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs the picture quality is generally very good. While the picture quality is not as perfect as big budget releases it is a far cry from many low budget releases. It is important to note that the quality between the mockumentary scenes and actual film scenes varies as a result of the equipment used. This is especially true in dark scenes where the mockumentary footage has visible grain and the skin tones are not as good as the film footage. None of these minor issues interfered with the viewing of this movie however.

Audio Quality

Included on this DVD are two separate audio tracks, one a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound track and the other a 2.0 Dolby Surround, both of which prove to be exceptional. Both tracks have good voice levels and at no time do the background sounds and music seem to overpower the dialogue. The 5.1 track proves to be the better track with good audio separation and use of the surround speakers.

Special Features

Once you are done enjoying the movie you can have a look or listen to a few of the special features that are included on the DVD. The first is a feature length audio commentary with actors Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Britain Spellings and Ben Pace. The commentary provides some insight into the movie but I could not bring myself to listen to the entire thing because for the most part the movie is self-explanatory. The next special feature that deserves a mention is "The Making of Behind The Mask". This making of provides a good look at the selection of locations for the movie and a discussion about what the movie was trying to achieve. With a run-time of approximately 30 minutes it offers some insight into the making of this low budget film and features interviews with Director Scott Glosserman and horror icon Robert Englund. Rounding out the special features is "The Casting of Behind The Mask", a very limited look at the two main characters castings, deleted and extended scenes, a PDF Screenplay for the computer, trailers and previews for other DVDs currently available.

Summary

Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is definitely a movie that many horror aficionados will appreciate. It is nice to see an original script that does not rely on what has become the conventional horror movie but rather provides a commentary on them. It is certainly a horror movie that any horror fan should check out and is a welcome addition to a genre that has been in decline in recent years.