Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

Meta-horror may be the hardest genre in movies to nail. People usually say comedy, but there's ALWAYS someone who will find even the most basic, unoriginal comedy funny. Even Bucky Larson has a 25% on Rotten Tomatoes, so SOMEBODY out there laughed. But meta-horror requires a delicate balancing act. A movie have to show reverence for the tropes of the genre, while exposing them as tropes. A movie has to let the audience know they're in on the gag together, but in a way that's not an elbow in the ribs. Deconstruction is expected, but it can't cross the line into condescension and mansplaining (moviesplaining?). The characters can be smart, but they can't outsmart the movie. And the movie MUST have a consistent tone in regards to its meta nature; it can't pogo between wink-and-a-nudge cleverness and then act like one of the derivative 80's holiday-centric slashers. If you're clever, be clever throughout. Scream, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Cabin In The Woods ... they all manage this, blending the humor and horror and self-awareness from the first frame to the final credits. Behind The Mask ALMOST does this ... until the third act. That third act ... woof. If you know me, and you look at my viewing history, you know I love slashers. I have a few ranked as five-star movies, a rating I'm sure some people would throw up at. A movie that excels in its field gets recognition, genre be damned. But BtM's final acts KILLS this movie's momentum and uniqueness. I mean, flat-out destroys it, and it never recovers. The hard switch from a mockumentary to a cinematically-filmed, narrative-driven movie is jarring. It feels like the writers didn't know what else to do with the concept, threw up their hands and said "I guess let's just kill a bunch of people in quick succession like a regular slasher". The problems with this: 1) Even in the most basic of slashers, we still spend time with the victims to be. In BtM, we don't. Other than the "survivor girl" (stop trying to make "fetch" happen, movie), we see NOBODY until they're moments away from dying. 2) Leslie kills 10 people in 20 minutes, at least 3 of them off-screen. Even by slasher standards, that's quick and unsatisfying. 3) The twist -- that the Final Girl (I'm not using the term they used again) isn't the Final Girl after all -- is obvious the moment the movie switches narrative style. You can feel that the movie wants how the third act unfolds to be shocking, but it isn't, not one bit. 4) The humor and self-awareness is GONE with the shift in narrative style. It devolves into the most paint-by-numbers slasher movie ever, right down to the credits stinger and the he's-not-dead "surprise" that takes five fucking, agonizing minutes. And it's a damned shame that the movie ends with such a wet fart, because the first 60-70 minutes are WHIP-SMART. The idea that Jason, Michael, Freddy, Chucky and the rest of slasher movie-dom are real and in one universe is great enough. That there's this entire subculture of people dedicated to doing it, and seeing themselves as necessary entities for society so that good vs. evil is maintained, is thought-provoking. That they have a code of conduct and industry terminology ("Ahab" has ruined Dr. Loomis from Halloween for me, in a good way) is even more interesting. Leslie himself is fascinating, this almost charming, goofy, good-natured guy that really does seem harmless ... except for, you know, plotting a series of gruesome murders. He isn't bothered by his choice at all, but he's never overtly evil about it. He's just this guy, you know? And killing stupid teenagers is sorta his job? Somehow, the movie makes it work. They humanize the guy behind the mask (ha!). And, in its most clever twist, expose the tropes of slasher movie's from the slasher's point of view. Why do all the weapons break so easily? Why won't cars start? How do the lights ALWAYS go out? Why are the killings done in a certain pattern? It's all revealed as part of a grad student's video biography of Leslie, as they follow him talking with a retired slasher, stalking the supposed Final Girl, showing how he crafts the legend of his killer identity and builds up the suspense. Seeing the slasher from the slasher's point of view, and treating them as human beings and not mindless, singular forces of evil, is a novel approach to a slasher movie, and a great way to be meta without being overly clever. Just ... damn, man. That final act stops this movie's momentum. There's not even any good gore to be found for the carnage lovers. It really feels like an entirely different movie tacked on at the end, and it takes what could've been a bold, fresh take on slashers and throws it off a cliff. It's still worth a watch; even my non-horror-loving wife enjoyed it. But that last 20 minutes or so ... just know what you're in for.