I never bothered writing a long piece about this, instead referencing it when talking about Hatchet, and I just don't know if I have the energy for another Halloween-like tangent, which is what deconstructing this misguided deconstruction of slasher films requires.
Let me make a few salient points which I hope will give you some idea of why having a movie that pretends people like Freddy Kruger and Michael Meyers are real but also wants to explain how the defining characteristic of the genre work fails miserably:
- There's a fundamental lack of research here. I'm fine with throwing in alterations like "survivor girl" instead of "final girl" as long as you have a reason for the change, but I get the impression the makers of this film haven't ever read serious deconstruction of this genre by people like Julia Kristeva or Robin Wood. As a result, they keep teasing the "why" of Leslie Vernon but never get around to addressing it.
- I cannot understand why they included Chucky in the list of "real" killers. Do you really expect me to believe that in a film where you explain away the "supernatural" aspects of slashers that Charles Earl Ray actually fooled people into thinking he was a killer doll? Really?
- The Ahab. It's not just that there's only really one "Ahab" in any of these series (evident by the fact that Robert Englund is doing the worst Loomis impersonation I've ever seen) but how much time Behind the Mask devotes to this and other clearly understandable archetypes. They set up a number of things that anyone versed in slasher films should instantly recognize (and let's be honest here, that who Behind the Mask is marketed towards) but then repeatedly feels the need to have our surrogate documentary filmmaker ask "can you define _____?" How many of you couldn't figure out what I meant when I said Ahab, even if you hadn't read Moby Dick?
- Leslie Vernon is the most obnoxious character in the film and I find it amazing we're supposed to be captivated by him or the "danger" he poses. I shouldn't even have to explain why all of the other slashers Vernon keeps mentioning are frightening, and why his step by step explanation of what he was going to do somehow doesn't register with the filmmakers at the end...
- Oh, and the Nightmare on Elm Street reference at the high school. Way to distract people while
Seriously, I cannot fathom how people are "wowed" by this movie. Am I missing something here?
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