Laughing Mask, The (2015)
Matt Boiselle
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Starring John Hardy, Jeff Jenkins, Sheyenne Rivers
Directed by Michael Aguiar
As we’re preparing to put the final wraps on what has been an interesting 2015 as far as horror is concerned, I still feel myself looking for that one hook, that one grabber that throttles be by my thick neck and says “hey, Mr. Negative Nellie! Here’s one you should be showing a little love to!” While my initial skepticism is usually enough to convince me to run into traffic before torturing my eyes on just another slasher flick, I can honestly say that Michael Aguiar’s The Laughing Mask was a fun watch, and while there are some drawbacks, overall I’m looking at a film that should make some of the more fastidious hack-n-slash aficionados sit back and take notice.
Our killer in this particular production hangs it all out to dry, and his choice of disguise is one that is simple, yet VERY effective – a tightly fastened leather hood, complete with darkened eye-holes and a gigantic, gaping Joker-like smile (when you look quickly, the illusion of a dirtied up baseball cut open fits the bill). Jake Johnson (Hardy) is a man on a mission of revenge: his wife was brutally murdered by the killer simply known as “The Laughing Mask,” and now his daughter has been kidnapped, and to say this guy’s life has been on end ever since is a brutal distortion. He longs for the day he can catch this lunatic and make him pay for his actions, and with a seemingly hopeless string of dead-ends that the police are finding out to be fruitless, it appears that he could potentially never hope to reel in this sadistic madman. Aided by a hardnosed detective (Rivers), the two will stop at nothing to bring the masked killer to justice.
With a fantastic-looking presentation and even better instances of gratuitous violence, the movie treads back to the fun days of cut-em-up flicks, and Aguiar looks as if he paid some serious attention to detail with the crafting on this one. Creepy music is played by the killer when he stalks his prey, and with more than enough scenes bathed in darkness, the element of pure evil and a twisted mind is glorified to excessive amounts. If there were a negative to harp on (cause you know I’ll find it), it would be the slowdown in pacing during the middle of the film, and there could have been a lump of time lopped off of the final play, but nonetheless this will NOT detract from what was a nicely put-together movie, and I truly think that this will find an audience once it’s released upon the masses. Sure to be a hit amongst the gorehounds in 2016, this one comes recommended for sure – it might not make you laugh, but it’ll definitely make you crack a smile!
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
