film review: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
2006
Directed by Scott Glosserman

Fig. 1 Movie Poster

This 2006 mockumentary about the documentation of the day to day activities of a known serial killer by a group of college students. The mockumentary manages to portray this otherwise ridiculous story to us in a way that allows us to believe to be plausible and real by depicting the main character and name sake of the film as not being of too great intelligence. The film features many aspects that could lead one to believe that it was a depiction of real life events, from the opening monologue to the way that the camera moved and shook in an unprofessional home film manner, helping lend to the authenticity of this fictional piece. Another thing that adds to the immersion of the overall film piece is that the camera men are seldom seen in the film until the end of the movie in a way helping to make us the viewer feel like we are there with them gaining a knowledge and understanding of the main character. though out the film as we follow Leslie he is not what one would have imagined as the typical slasher, for most of the film we see him doing fairly ordinary things uninspiring things that would lead us to believe that he wasn't capable of these action, things such as; talking about his slasher heroes, talking to his Mom and Dad about it and even telling us that his parents met while his after was trying to kill his mother as to them 'Slashing' is the family career. Through this and a little spark of romance between Leslie and the female lead the film gets you to believe that he possible isn't truly what he claims to be but rather a fan of such people and helps build a positive relationship between us the viewer and the character of Leslie. The film does not really break from this mood and feel until the later part of the film where it is shot in a more cinematic manner and the camera people are revealed it is at this point in the film where it truly abandons its documentary roots and actually turns into a classic 1980's slasher horror type of movie. It is this ending that I feel feel had the weakest delivery in an otherwise strong documentary-esque film and really took away from what the building points of the film were trying to do. 

Illustration list

Fig.1 Movie Poster (2006) [Poster] at: http://www.gstatic.com/tv/thumb/movieposters/166436/p166436_p_v7_ab.jpg (accessed on: 11.12.15)