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Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: March 27th, 2018.
Director: Scott Glosserman
Cast: Nathan Baesel, Scott Wilson, Robert Englund, Angela Goethals, Zelda Rubinstein, Bridgett Newton, Kate Miner
Year: 2006
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The Movie:
Taylor Gentry (Angela Goethals) is the host of a low budget documentary she and her two-man crew - Doug (Ben Pace) and Todd (Britain Spellings) - are making about a notorious serial killer named Leslie Vernon (Nathan Basel). Vernon agrees to meet up with them and, after talking to them about his exploits and rules, they are granted his permission to follow him around and film him as he does what serial killers do in the types of slasher movies that Behind The Mask is out to send up.
Soon enough, they've seen him pick out his 'final girl,' a blonde beauty named Kelly (Kate Miner) who Leslie believes to be a virgin. After he's visited with his mentor, an older killer named Eugene (Scott Wilson) and found his 'Ahab' in the form of his former psychiatrist Doc Halloran (Robert Englund), he sets the wheels in motion for the big night - wherein he'll sneak into the old abandoned house where Kelly and her friends are partying and kill them off one by one… with Taylor and her crew left wondering what, if anything, they should do about all of this.
A clever faux-documentary/found footage style mix of horror and comedy, Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon may wear its modest budget on its sleeve but it's very well done and quite entertaining. The script is smart and plays off of the tried and true genre conventions really well, and the pacing is solid, ensuring that we never go too far without a genuinely funny joke or even, towards the end of the picture, an eerie set piece.
The performances are pretty strong here. Scott Wilson, probably better known these days for playing Herschel on The Walking Dead, is pretty enjoyable as Leslie's mentor, while Angela Goethals makes for a fine leading lady. Robert Englund is great in his part, if a bit underused, but it's Nathan Baesel who really makes an impression here. As Leslie Vernon he's charming, charismatic and at times very funny. But when that switch flips, he's able to take the character into darker territory without making it seem like an impossible transition. He's great in the part and a lot of fun to watch here.
Slasher and horror movie fans will have a good time picking out all of the subtle and not so subtle references to the films that obviously inspired this one - look for appearances from Kane Hodder, Zelda Rubinstein (in her last role) and obviously Roger Englund but also tributes to Halloween, Evil Dead, Hellraiser, Friday The 13th, Child's Play, The Shining and probably a few others. Thankfully this never overpowers the movie or distracts from the story or from the characters - it's simply to confirm that this picture takes place in the same cinematic universe as these other films.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Shout! Factory brings Behind The Mask to Blu-ray in a 1.78.1 widescreen transfer in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition taken from a 'new HD Master From The 2K Intermediate.' This isn't the first movie you're going to go to in hopes of showing off your fancy new TV - it's pretty rough looking, particularly when the movie uses the 'documentary' footage which looks to have been shot using standard definition gear. That said, this is about as good as it can probably realistically look given the limitations of the original source material. The 'non-documentary' scenes, which were shot on film, look much better, however, and it's in these scenes that we get decent detail and color reproduction as well as a reasonably amount of depth. This is still shot very much 'fly on the wall' style and so we don't get the pop that we might out of a movie that was lit differently or shot differently, but it would seem that this Blu-ray release does a more than fine job of bringing some iffy source material to the format.
The English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track on the disc is also limited by the source material at times. There are spots where the mix is fairly active and engaging, but the documentary sequences are front heavy and sound like mono. Again, this is all in keeping with the intended tone that Scott Glosserman and company were clearly going for, so it isn't a fault of the film or the presentation here, so keep your expectations in check. Optional English subtitles are included.
Extras are plentiful and a mix of old and new. Let's start with the new, beginning with Joys And Curses which is a featurette made up of new interviews with actors Angela Goethals, Ben Pace and Co-writer/Co-producer David Stieve. There's about a half hour of material in here, and it covers the makig of the film, the story, and how it's been received and appreciated since debuting back in 2006. Also new to this release is Before The Mask: The Comic Book, which is an Interview with comic book artist Nathan Thomas Milliner who speaks about bringing a script for a prequel that was never made to life in comic book form.
Carried over from past editions is a commentary with Co-writer/Director Scott Glosserman that is moderated by filmmakers Adam Green and Joe Lynch. It's an interesting listen as it allows Glosserman to explain just what he was going for and why with this film. He gives plenty of credit to his collaborators on the film, both the cast and the actors, and he talks up the locations, the effects, the budget and more. A second commentary features Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Britain Spelling and Ben Pace. This second track is a bit busier but it lets the cast members all speak their piece about their work on the film, their thoughts on Glosserman's direction, feelings on the characters they played and more.
Also carried over from past editions is the Making Of Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon featurette that runs roughly half an hour. It's a good behind the scenes piece with some insight from the cast and crew, some footage shot on set and more. It provides an interesting look into what we involved in getting the film made. A second, six-minute piece entitled The Casting Of Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon spends time discussing how and why the different actors and actresses that appear in the film do so. We also get a few deleted and extended scenes, presented with optional commentary from Glosserman.
A theatrical trailer, menus and chapter selection round out the extras on the disc. This release also comes packaged with some reversible sleeve art and, for the first pressing at least, a slipcover.
The Final Word:
Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon is really well done, a horror comedy that works both as a genre picture and a humorous dissection of slasher movie stereotypes. Shout Factory's Blu-ray release looks and sounds about as good as the movie should and it includes a pretty nice selection of extra features as well. Recommended!
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
