Indie Horror....Part One... Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

OK... This is the first of about a four part series. I shall enlighten you to the whys and wherefores. That, as many of my readers will know, will take up a fair share of this blog. HA... no back story, none for you. Move on...







OK I lied. Here is the back story. I saw the trailer for this amazing flick on one of my soon to be seen reviews. This flick intrigued me from the trailer. It is about a documentary crew that has decided to research a man who wishes to be the next serial killer. No...not Jeffrey Dahlmer or Ted Bundy serial killer but by name "the next Michael Myers, Fred Kruger, or Jason Voorhees". In fact, the film opens with the crew going to Camp Crystal Lake, Elm Street and Haddonfield Illinois. Hey look, I digressed within 5 sentences, right back on track. Regardless, I saw the trailer and it looked interesting and certainly different. I mean going through what makes the killer tick. How does he accomplish such things? Why? Well they promised to go into the details.

Now to the movie itself. It has a budget. Not a huge one but it is not your standard POS that one would find in an independent movie. The movie opens as stated with a view of some of the more famous places in horror. It then talks about the effect that the "evil" had had on those places. There is even a shot of a man coming out of THE house on Elm Street(cameo by Kane Hodder who played Jason Voorhees). They then meet Leslie. Yes the new killer is Leslie Vernon. He is a bit of a dweeb. A very excited dweeb but dweeb nonetheless. He has a plan and he has thought it through carefully.

The movie progresses as the film crew watch him bring his plans to fruition. He shows the girl who is going to be his "survivor girl". This is his term for the girl who makes it through the entire episode. She is the virginal and innocent woman who fights through and finally comes to a showdown with him. He shows the house. He goes through all of the cliches. He shows how he cuts the power remotely. He shows off the weapons that are defective so as to not kill him. He even goes so far as to explain his work out regimen to the crew. They even take part in a couple of his pranks on the survivor girl.

Soon there is a confrontation between killer and his "Ahab". This is the term Leslie uses for the guy who has dedicated his life to stopping him. You should think Doctor Loomis in Halloween. The part of this Ahab is played by Robert Englund(Freddy Kruger amongst other roles). All of this is filmed by the detached documentary crew. They all meet with his mentor, a man who actually married his survivor girl. They talk like a family and speak of how proud they are of Leslie. He had even come up with a mythos and legend about himself. Its all part of the game.

Well the places are set and then...finally... the action starts. The documentary crew sits waiting for Leslie to start tearing into his victims. The leader of the documentary crew has second thoughts and decides to ruin Leslie's plans. Chaos ensues. I will not spoil how things go but rest assured they go poorly for all involved.

So what is the verdict? What is the reason for my fawning over such a movie. It is one part spoof, one part mockumentary and one part slasher flick. So, the hell, what? Well fuck you. No no.. I don't mean it...please come back. This movie had many twists and turns. The writing was phenomenal and really captures the essence of the documentary. It shows the detached feelings of the crew...to a limit. The explanations of how a killer goes about his craft(its an art really) are both shocking and funny. The explanation by the killer as to the whys and wherefores is also well done.

The film is well acted. The part of Leslie is odd. He goes from dweeb to creepy in a flash. He is laughing and funny and then goes to dark and well...evil. The lead documentarian, Taylor, is detached, then weak, then truly powerful. The supporting cast runs the gamut of cliches but with purpose. It is though Leslie planned it all. You will recognize some of them. Others need to be looked up. Most of the older actors have been in some horror movies(if not all, like Englund).

I loved this movie. It was a gem of a flick and recommend it highly. In a sea of remake crap and Japanese redubs it is unique. I would say drop everything and rent this. Do NOT download it. Do not steal it. You must rent or purchase this movie. It will send a message to Hollywood that they need to do more of these things. LOTS more. And as luck would have it. I have seen three more independant films and will be reviewing them shortly.

I give this move a hundred million skulls. That's not the most...but it is a sizable amount.
Don't try to figure my math out. You may die.