Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
The next great psycho horror slasher has given a documentary crew exclusive access to his life as he plans his reign of terror over the sleepy town of Glen Echo, all the while deconstructing the conventions and archetypes of the horror genre for them.
Behind the Mask is a genuinely clever meta-horror mockumentary that earns a strong Novelty score for its witty, self-aware deconstruction of slasher conventions — Leslie Vernon walks the documentary crew through the meticulous craft behind horror tropes, a conceit executed with real originality and affection for the genre. The plot is entertaining and structurally smart, though it runs out of steam slightly as it transitions from mockumentary to straight slasher in the third act. Acting is solid across the board, with Nathan Baesel's charismatic lead performance carrying the film, though the supporting cast is more uneven. Cinematography cleverly shifts between handheld documentary footage and polished slasher-film grammar in the finale, a functional but not stunning visual device. The ending commits to its genre shift but loses some of the film's distinctive wit in doing so, making it a competent but slightly deflating conclusion to an otherwise inventive premise.