Fiery Pen

(The gist: I love this movie. I need to own this movie. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is a mockumentary following Leslie as he plots to become a serial killer. With its quips and comments on the horror movie genre and references for horror junkies, it is a shamelessly fun flick.)

I love when horror makes fun of itself. I was introduced to horror movies (and rated R movies in general) by Scream, which does a wonderful job of mocking the genre to which it also belongs. This first love affair created a special place in my little horror loving heart for horror movies that could have humor about themselves.

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon begins as a mockumentary. I know, I rolled my eyes at yet another one too. Taylor and her crew follow Leslie, an aspiring serial killer, on the premise that all the horror movie greats (Freddy, Jason, Michael) were in fact ordinary, non-supernatural people like him. They document as he researches with a serial killer friend, selects his victims, and plans his big night.

Leslie’s journey is fraught with clever, humorous commentary on the horror genre and its archetypes. Pure hilarious genius. My personal favorite was that the survival virgin’s retrieval of a weapon is a phallic reference. The film was also chock full of cameos and details any horror lover would appreciate.

The mockumentary portion of the movie was more than enough to please me. Then the twist came. I cannot get into any more delicious details without spoilers, and I do not want to ruin a movie I enjoyed so thoroughly. I will only say it was good. So good.

Top to bottom, the movie is fun, entertaining, all things a horror comedy should be. The acting is well executed. The premise is brilliant; the plot is properly timed. The twist was just awesome.

Watch it now. It is still on my DVR; it might just watch it again. And again.