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Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon Blu-ray offers solid video and audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
On the surface Leslie Vernon seems like your average, small-town, nice guy. He has goals,
ambition and aspirations to follow in the footsteps of his long-time heroes Freddy Krueger,
Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees and be the world's next great psycho-slasher A true self-
promoter, Leslie gives documentary filmmaker Taylor Gentry and her crew exclusive access to
his life as he plans and executes his next great reign of terror over the sleepy town of Glen
Echo, all the while deconstructing the conventions and archetypes of the horror genre for them.
For more about Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon and the Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon Blu-ray release, see Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon Blu-ray Review published by Martin Liebman on June 5, 2018 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.0 out of 5.
Shout! Factory, through its offshoot label Scream, has released the genre-bending, behind-the-scenes Horror-mentary film 'Behind the Mask: The
Rise of Leslie
Vernon' to Blu-ray, a disc which dwarfs the 2009 Starz/Anchor Bay release with not only new video and audio but also a large collection of new bonus
content. Fans of the film will find this a worthwhile upgrade for the supplements alone; the film's construct limitations mean that even new A/V
encodes don't exactly drastically alter the film's presentation. Read on for more.
Glen Echo, Maryland is much like any other small town, but it's about to join the likes of Crystal
Lake, Haddonfield, and Springwood's Elm Street as home to grisly terror at the hands of a
maniacal mass murderer. The man preparing to join the ranks of Jason, Michael, and Freddy is
Leslie Vernon (Nathan Baesel), a man with a dark past and a thirst for vengeance on the
townspeople that wronged him years ago. No matter that the teenagers he has in his sights
played no part in his traumatic past; Leslie is determined to get into the killing business by the
book and follow the examples of the great killers of his time, and with that foreknowledge
journalism graduate student Taylor Gentry (Angela Goethals) and her two-man film crew are
granted an all-access pass to bear witness to Leslie's preparation for becoming a psychotic
butcher. The affable Leslie takes them through the steps, choosing victims, training for the task,
seeking advice from retired slashers, and preparing the scene of the final massacre by predicting
the every move of the all-too-gullible and foolhardy cast of would-be teenage victims. All that
stands in his way, it seems, is his very own "Ahab" (Robert Englund, 'Jack Brooks: Monster
Slayer'), the mysterious man that's out to stop Leslie at all costs.
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon's previous Blu-ray release contained a VC-1 encoded 1080p transfer framed at 1.78:1. This new
Shout!/Scream
Factory release presents the film with an AVC encode at 1080p and at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. While the differences are not drastic because of the
film's (largely) inherent source
limitations, this release does look rather good in the aggregate, taking it at face value rather than sweating over substandard elements beyond the
Blu-ray format's control. The digital video shots lack the tight, high yield resolution of higher grade digital formats, but it suits the movie's documentary
style
well, even if various source artifacts are necessarily introduced along the way. Certainly, detailing is adequate at the DV level, particularly in good light,
where essential elements compete with swarming, snowy noise, but the 1080p resolution squeezes out enough textural necessities to please. That
said,
segments are of varying qualities, Look at the 44:40 mark. Jaggies abound, tons of noise is introduced, and the shots are very soft and decidedly not
at all crisp. Darker, nighttime shots suffer exponentially more from these issues, particularly the choppy, blocky noise, but it's again a limitation of the
source and budget and, really, a complimentary look for the movie's structure and style. The segments that were shot on film look terrific. Grain is tight
and even, textural qualities are sharp and firm, and colors are good, generally warmer in these moments (a library midway through, for example).
Black levels and skin tones are much more stable in the shot-on-film segments (look around the 1:06:00 mark, for example). Fans who own the
previous
release can expect a healthy boost, particularly in the film segments, as grain tightens and details appear more firm. The digitally captured scenes,
which comprise the bulk of the movie, don't see much upward movement, but contrast appears slightly more refined.
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon's Shout!/Scream Factory release contains a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack,
whereas the previous Starz/Anchor Bay release offered only a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. This is a good track, again considering, and working within,
the
parameters of the source's constraints. For a lower budget film clearly without the sort of whiz-bang sound engineering usually reserved for bigger
movies, there's still a very positive stage dispersal of music, particularly up front, with good distinction of various instrumental details and, overall, very
strong fidelity. Surrounds carry lingering thunder and minor atmospheric effects such as buzzing insects and light location din as any given scene
allows. Action scenes offer an agreeable combination of music and up-front effects. Still, dialogue dominates most of the film as the behind-the-scenes
elements untangle the life of a movie slasher, and again within the confines of the sound design, there's no real reason to fret over spoken word
delivery.
Though there are new video and audio encodes, the biggest draw of this release is a plethora of new content, including a pair of audio commentary
tracks (accessible under "audio" and not "bonus" in the main menu). The previous Starz/Anchor Bay release had no menu, let alone extras, so for fans
of the movie, this
is a massive treat.
Audio Commentary: Director Scott Glosserman and Filmmakers Adam Green (Frozen) and Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 2) deliver a well-versed track that expands well
beyond this movie's scope, covering a wider field of the entertainment landscape. Of course core movie insights -- cast and performances, production
details, anecdotes, story details, narrative allusions, and more -- are covered. The participants clearly share a friendship as well as an appreciation for
this film.
Audio Commentary: Cast members Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Ben Pace, and Britain Spellings deliver a lighter track than the
previous
(which is itself not exactly the most cut-and-dry). It's a fun group listen that blends moderate technical insight with a nice helping of agreeable,
complimentary anecdotes and superfluous banter. This is a very enjoyable listen with good stage separation amongst the voices across the front portion
of the stage that allows for a more focused parade of voices, even as they often talk over one another.
Behind the Mask -- Joys and Curses (1080p, 28:50): An engaging discussion with members of the creative team who cover
story origins, the film's tone and presentation, the Horror genre "rules" which are central to the film, Robert Englund's involvement in the film, cast and
performances, Horror's history beyond film, the picture's reception and growing legacy, the graphic novel that followed the movie, and more.
Before the Mask -- The Comic Book (1080p, 6:19): Creating the comic books that followed the movie.
Making of Behind the Mask (1080i upscaled, ~4x3, 32:08): A director's diary that follows the film's production, featuring
behind-the-scenes footage intercut with head-on clips of Director Scott Glosserman sharing the stories of the film's production. It looks at the first
shot, film composition, location scouting, production design, cast and characters, Glosserman's direction, storyboards and table reads, and much
more. The piece features additional interview clips with the legendary Robert Englund.
Casting Behind the Mask (1080i upscaled, ~4x3, 6:00): A short piece that looks at Nathan Baesel rehearsing with several
actors auditioning for the film.
Deleted and Extended Scenes (1080i upscaled, 29:44 total runtime): A collection of about 10 scenes with optional and very insightful
filmmaker commentary that really breaks down each scene with fantastic depth and purpose, both why the scenes were shot and why they were cut
from the film.
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon remains a quality bit of moviemaking and storytelling that really nails its novel approach to the
Horror genre. Shout!/Scream's Blu-ray release boasts new but, by the film's technical limits, not insanely improved A/V quality. The release shines with
its plethora of new bonus content. Highly recommended.
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon: Other Editions
Use the thumbs up and thumbs down icons to agree or disagree that the title is similar to Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. You can also suggest completely new similar titles to Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon in the search box below.
U.S. label Scream Factory has detailed its upcoming Collector's Edition of Scott Glosserman's thriller Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006), starring Nathan Baesel, Robert Englund, Krissy Carlson, Angela Goethals, and Scott Wilson. The release will ...
U.S. label Scream Factory has provided updates for two upcoming Bu-ray releases: Scott Glosserman's Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon and Nico Mastorakis' Nightmare at Noon. Both will be available for purchase in March.
Scream Factory confirmed today that it is preparing a Collector's Edition of director Scott Glosserman's film Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006), starring : Nathan Baesel, Robert Englund, Krissy Carlson, Angela Goethals, and Scott Wilson. The release ...
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