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	Behind the Mask - The Rise of Leslie Vernon Anchor Bay Entertainment - 2006 Written by: David J Stieve and Scott Glosserman Directed by: Scott Glosserman Starring: Nathan Baesel Angela Goethals Zelda Rubinstein Scott Wilson Robert Englund
Review by Michael Knight Behind the Mask begins as a mock documentary in the style of Quarantine. Journalist, Taylor Gentry (Angela Goethals) and her two-man video crew follow and interview a would-be slasher/serial killer named Leslie Vernon (played by Nathan Baesal). The fledgling killer shows the young reporter and crew how he sets in motion the devious act he will eventually commit. He discusses how he chooses the victim, sets the stage, creates tension and plants the seed of fear into the victim and the town itself. This is all done with a “nudge-nudge, wink-wink” touch of humor that will thrill fans of the genre. They follow Leslie as he fabricates the back-story, even exchanging microfilm at the local library in order for it to be discovered at a later time and push his victim into a further state of terror. All this planning is to lead up to the pinnacle night where he finally executes his well planned ritual. With everything in place, Leslie has only one last thing to do - to meet his mentor (also a killer) for encouragement and the review of last minute details. The movie is reminiscent of Scream where the killer discusses the whole horror movie genre but Behind the Mask offers so much more. All during the course of the movie it is as if you are in the mind of the screenwriter creating the perfect slasher screenplay. When the character Leslie brings the journalist, Taylor to meet his mentor (Scott Wilson), we get a few more key elements - real juicy tidbits of information on turning the plot into the perfect slasher storm. It is almost as if (with a wink of his eye) the writer is giving away secrets to great slasher and horror filmmaking. At the same time the movie is also dispatching all these old clichés, coming up with new and different reasoning behind the murderer’s psyche. The movie suddenly drops the discussion and interview feel and turns into a real entertaining slasher movie complete with surprise plot twists and character growth. Robert Englund plays Leslie’s psychiatrist and hunts him down through the whole movie without success. When Taylor and the film crew actually witness the first murder it is too much for them. Taylor now becomes Leslie’s main nemesis and tries to warn the group of kids spending the night in their friends’ house that it will become a killing field. To see the ingredients of the plot laid out in such simple and chronological terms, then to have it all gel together so perfectly for the climax and finale of the story is just amazing. It’s like a magician telling you how he will perform a trick before hand, then he does the trick and you’re still in awe of the way it turned out. Any aspiring screenwriter, director or filmmaker of any genre will not only enjoy this movie but may also learn a great deal from it. As far as horror and slasher movie fans, they will enjoy Behind the Mask completely. I give it two bloody, severed thumbs up!!! www.anchorbayent.com www.behindthemaskthemovie.com www.myspace.com/behindthemaskthemovie