Behind The Mask is the movie that Scream 4 should have been: a hip, smart deconstruction of slasher movie conventions that never becomes twee or repetitive. Its a simple premise, and a damn cute one: psycho Leslie Vernon (Nathan Baesel) invites a documentary crew to follow him around as he chooses, stalks and kills his prey in the town of Glen Echo. Being little more than a killer shark, he of course has a Captain Ahab, in this case an embittered shrink named Doc Halloran (Robert Englund), whose resemblance to Donald Pleasences character in Halloween is purely intentional. There are bigger-budgeted (and therefore better) slasher movies out there, but they dont have an ounce of Behind The Masks wit and invention. Not only was the film released with zero fanfare, but it was quickly buried beneath the remakes of Halloween, Prom Night, April Fools Day, Friday The 13th and My Bloody Valentine. Now theres irony for you.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
