Tag Archives: poltergeist
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
It's been a long while since I've seen a witty and clever homage to horror films (last, I guess, being Scream), but this one takes a whole new angle from breaking down horror movies. Behind the Mask examines not only every slasher movie ever made, but attempts to recreate it down to a science. And, because it's a movie, of course it does. Combining the refreshing take of a mockumentary and not taking itself too
A stunningly shredding performance.
seriously with a bit of ironically dark humor, this movie proves that even horror movies can be original.
Taken from the angle that Jason Vorhees, Freddie Krueger, and Michael Meyers are real people, this movie accepts the idea that there really are slasher serial killers out there. And what they do, they do for a living. It's an art form. And, more than that, it's all planned out to be executed flawlessly. There's not escaping the killer, he does cardio.
She looks like Erin, right? It's not just me?
So we follow Leslie Vernon (Nathan Baesel), a relatively unknown actor to me, but one that will stand out forever after his entrancing performance in this film. After accepting the terms of a documentary crew following him around, he is joined by Taylor Gentry (Angela Goethals), an aspiring journalist. He shows off his farm and the legend behind his supposed "death", and lays it all on thick. Taylor & crew can't believe at first that this is all real, until they accompany Leslie on his stake-outs and preparation trips for his night of killing. And then it all becomes too horrifyingly real.
This movie leaves no idea unturned or examined. Everything is
Oh Robert Englund, you…
explained from a reasonable and logical standpoint to the extreme that someone could pull this off without much trouble (provided that humans can be predictable). The documentary style really added a level of eeriness that the movie-like scenes detracted from the film. You get that generic feel of Halloween or Friday the 13th, but I much rather liked following Leslie around on his preparation and first killings. It's all a matter of preference.
Amusing.
What impressed me most about the movie, that I kinda mentioned, was the meticulous detail to movie conventions and plot in this movie. Everything was answered for and accountable. There were homages all over the place to other films (Robert Englund as the therapist character from Halloween, Zelda Rubinstein from Poltergeist as the storyteller, it's all there) and great little tidbits you have to look for to appreciate. As a horror film enthusiast, this movie was right up my alley.
I don't really have many complaints (did Angela look like Erin from The Office at all? Anyone?) and enjoyed the film thoroughly. A friend of mine's boyfriend did a frighteningly good costume of this, and that made me appreciate it all the more. If you love to deconstruct movies and love the horror genre, this movie is a must have in your collection. It takes you in all the places you wanna go, and does it with a dark laugh hiding in the shadows. 8.4 out of 10.
These teens are in for destruction.
Leave a comment	| tags: Angela Goethals, art form, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, breaking down horror movies, collection, dark laughs, deconstruct movies, documentary crew, down to a science, eerie, entrancing, Erin from The Office, farm, Freddie Krueger, Friday the 13th, generic feel, good costume, Halloween, homage, horror film enthusiast, horror films, horror genre, ironic dark humor, Jason Vorhees, journalist, leaves nothing unexamined, legend, Leslie Vernon, meticulous detail, Michale Meyers, mockumentary, movie conventions, movie-like scenes, must have, Nathan Baesel, night of killing, planned out, poltergeist, preparation trips, real people, reasonable and logical, recreation, refreshing take, Robert Englund, Scream, serial killers, slasher films, stake-outs, standout performance, storyteller, Taylor Gentry, therapist character, to the extreme, unknown actor, whole new angle, witty and clever, Zelda Rubinstein	| posted in Movies
It's not every day you see Famke Janssen under house arrest for killing her husband. And it's not every day that you see a vindictive poltergeist wreaking havoc all over her life for killing him. In this version of what I would consider Jennifer Lopez's "Enough" gone wrong, Famke Janssen is haunted by her husband she killed in self defense. There are some frightening scenes and I really enjoyed the way that the jumpy scenes are strewn throughout without warning, not just built up until the end. With a minimal cast and quality acting, this was a horror movie that was unfortunate that I hadn't seen sooner.
Marnie Watson (Janssen) is a newly paroled felon who has just been released from prison and given house arrest in her house. This is the very house that she killed her husband in in self defense. A little twists is that her husband was a police officer, and the partner cop to the man who will stalkingly watch her for the rest of the film, Officer Shanks
Famke Janssen, terrorized all over again.
(Bobby Cannavale). I was semi-impressed with Cannavale's performance in this film, only because it wasn't a stretch for him to play a hardened Brooklyn cop. He's a character actor and it's all good.
So Famke's ass gets locked up with a house arrest anklet that only allows her to go within a 100 foot radius in her own house. If she leaves the confines of the house, the alarm will set off and she has only seconds to return to the barrier. This is a problem because parts of her huge and nicely furnished house are off limits to her, including the basement. Plot device, anyone? So Marnie returns to a semi-life of normalcy and goes about buying groceries, cleaning house, ad finding anything she can do to keep busy.
The face of a wife beater…
It's not any help that the entire neighborhood doesn't believe that she fought in self defense to save herself. Looked down upon by everyone, only one delivery boy, Joey (Ed Westwick) finds no problem with her. Attempting to be her friend, Marnie copes with a life of solitude. Until her husband starts attacking her from beyond the grave. In a series of scenes that bust up her and her house, Marnie starts reliving all the horrible beatings her husband gave her in life. And this time around, Marnie has had enough of this poltergeist B.S. She'll fight back at any cost necessary. Without being able to leave her house, this plot restricts her from running away. It's time to kill again.
I really liked the simplistic plot of this film. It was a creative idea, although I'm not sure they would lock her up in the same house she killed in, as poetically justified it may seem. There are some great haunting scenes in the movie involving a lot of things breaking (including some bones). Ed Westwick plays a reasonably real character in this film, although he's a straight tool for his work on Gossip Girl. I'd say this is one of his better works. Hauntings and devilish exorcisms and demons are more my style when it comes to horror, so this movie was right up my alley. There's a great kill scene in the movie, and, although the CG effects in this movie are a bit Syfy channel middle of the road, it doesn't detract from the whole overall
I know I've been stalking you for a while now, but did you know you look like that read headed wench from X-men?
experience of the movie. It's brutal, and it does the job of performing as a threatening and horrifying film (didn't scare me much, but all the same, the lights were on).
Most of the time, I'm a tool.
The one thing that will either disappoint you or make you laugh will be the end of the film. There's some strange confrontation and a ridiculous explosion of an ending that would give Michael Bay a boner. It ruins the whole otherworldly feel of the movie and gives rise to a really dumb explanation of why he's haunting her and how to stop him. Everything is resolved and, in a really sloppy style for a poltergeist, Shanks believes her and gives her the happy ending she wanted from the beginning. It just really comes down to the sub-par dialogue at the end and that explosion. I can't get over how that ruined the movie.
But, from beginning to middle, this movie was well executed. It has the right amount of horror and plot, jumpy scenes and furthering events. Famke Janssen did her job (not as Phoenix from X-men, obviously) and gave the woman in peril role new meaning. She fought back with a butch attitude I wasn't entirely expecting. She doesn't frighten away like most women do in films and really sticks it to her husband in the film. There's a real in your face attitude about this horror movie and that made it a breath of fresh air. It's only the ending that takes down the rating. I'll give this little horror film a 6.2 out of 10.
Janssen won't back down easily.
2 Comments	| tags: 100 Feet, 100 foot radius, basement scene, beyond the grave, Bobby Cannavale, breath of fresh air, Brooklyn cop, brutal, butch attitude, CG effects, character actor, creative idea for a film, delivery boy, demons, disappointing, dumb happy ending, Ed Westwick, end of the film, Enough, exorcisms, Famke Janssen, fight back, final face-off, frightening scenes, Gossip Girl, great kill scene, haunting, horrible spousal abuse, horror, house arrest, in your face, Jennifer Lopez, Joey, jumpy scenes, kills husband, llfe of solitude, Marnie Watson, Michael Bay, middle of the road, minimal cast, Officer Shanks, otherworldly, paroled felon, Phoenix, plot device, police officer, poltergeist, quality acting, ridiculous explosion, self defense, simplistic plot, Syfy channel, threatening, well executed, woman in peril, wreaking havoc, X-men	| posted in Movies