"Can you tell me what's going to happen to me?"

The Movie: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, directed by Scott Glosserman
Recommendation: The internet.
Reason: I read some reviews mentioning this as a very smart horror movie.

The reason I love slasher movies so much is Scream. Wes Craven's trilogy of tongue-in-cheek slasher satire made me fall in love with the genre. Horror movies are so interesting to deconstruct. Their imagery is powerful, and if it's done properly, it resonates. Horror movies allow us to consider the nature of our fear, as well as how and why we soothe it. Behind the Mask subverts the genre while giving a dissertation on the horror movie, specifically the slasher maniac, as we know it. It is akin to Man Bites Dog, but Leslie Vernon, the killer in Behind the Mask, is a different kind of murderer. Benoit is a serial killer, an all too real evil in today's world. Leslie Vernon is a slasher, a figure of myth, with extraordinary capabilities and a deranged mind that is off the charts.

The film takes place in two parts, essentially. The first half is a camera crew's chronicle of Leslie Vernon's training and technique. This section is a like a dissertation on horror movie theory, and it's incredibly clever. The sanctity of the closet is discussed, as well as the use of body armor, flame retardant creams, theatrical makeup, the slow chase, the amazing disappearing-reappearing maniac and best of all, The Final Girl. It is nothing short of inspired. Vernon's mentor Eugene is a retired slasher, and I think his tale provided the most interesting twist in the movie. Eugene married one of his Final Girls, which I found to be a great climax to the morality play that horror movies are. The psycho, the slasher is seeking to create a truly formidable woman-Leslie even addresses this in his wonderful homage to the grooming and triumph of the Final Girl. Why wouldn't he want to 'capture' her in a marriage, once the blood has pooled and the police have arrived way too late?

The second part of the film is where the movie gets really subversive. The 'reality' cameras go away and the slashing really begins. There are still some excellent moments once the blood starts to flow, in particular the plea for benediction from the Final Girl, as though she is the Virgin Mary. There are parts here that are predictable, but they should be. This movie rises head and shoulders above most others, and I'm starting to hope that 'reexamining the genre' films start to come out in other areas. Action movies seem the most likely next candidates (and Hot Fuzz was a good start.) Fingers crossed, I suppose.

-166/365 down, 199/365 to go