13 Days of Halloween: Behind the Mask (The Rise of Leslie Vernon) (2006)

Alright, so I may be cheating a bit here as this is not entirely a found footage movie but it has enough and has the added benefit of being a great and still underrated modern horror classic. 'Behind the Mask' tells the story of a documentary crew who is hired by a young man named Leslie. Once they arrive, they see that the man is hoping that they will film his rise as a serial killer among the likes of Freddy and Jason. The crew at first continue simply to humor Leslie and follow him as he lays out a blueprint he has set up in the hopes of taking out a group of young teens near his home. He hopes to set traps and provide jump scares as if he's living a real life horror flick and soon the crew find that Leslie is deadly serious about executing his plan and won't let anyone stand in his way.

The film starts out much like a horror parody film, playing up a lot of the cliches and common situations associated with the genre and it's done with wit and very wicked humor. Those who are fans of 'Halloween' or 'Friday the 13th' will especially love the tributes given in 'Behind the Mask' such as Leslie having a paranoid psychiatrist chasing him down (and played by 'Freddy' himself Robert Englund) and even going so far to explain why the teens cannot escape by phone or car. Leslie has everything prepared from the very start and while he generally has a kind smile and attitude about him during these opening moments, when he starts to execute his plans the precision and detail in which he executes his spree makes him truly terrifying.

Though the biggest setback for 'Behind the Mask' is that last act unfortunately as it tends to become the rule rather than the exception on some of these horror cliches. It also loses its unique filming style, resorting to a typical fog and sickly green cinematography which was common during the 00's. Don't get me wrong, the final act is still fun with some great gore effects and genuine thrills, but it does seem to deflate the film as a whole rather quickly. If you've never seen or even heard of 'Behind the Mask', I urge you to track down the DVD as its quite cheap and relatively easy to obtain. It sadly didn't receive a wide release during its initial run and other than the hardcore fanbase it's sadly gone unnoticed.

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