Mask of the Devil

This movie is a total disaster.

It's amazing what people film and put in the horror genre.

British films of the last decades are a mixture of comedy and horror and everything in between.

To make matters worse, the budgets are obviously very tight, so the film's class is 0th production.

I would not recommend anyone who is a sincere admirer of film as an art that speaks in pictures to watch this film because it would be a waste of time.

Not horror, not comedy, not scary, not funny, not good for anything.

The bottom of the bottom.

The worst thing is that there is no group of film critics who would discredit such films in a timely and impartial manner so that we don't get annoyed for nothing.

Just caught MASK OF THE DEVIL during Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival on Sunday, August 21st, during Block 11. Clearly proves that Richard Rowntree -and his team- knows how to deliver WTF horror throwback fans want! Funny moments galore, mixed with plenty of slasher insanity, and considering most of the chaos is centered on a porn film set, it's amazing that without tons of explicit nudity, we all got the points. While the plot is pretty straightforward, the effects, atmosphere, and visuals shine.

Among the characters I have to say soundman Mike, played by Martin W. Payne, stole the show with his sleazy snark. Our audience really enjoyed all the nods to other films and horror checkpoints. Would poor Mary become a capable fluffer? Would a Small Table lead to bigger Tables? When would Mike get his? Could anyone escape from the bloodshed? Is this what the world of film making is like? While we probably know those answers all along, overall getting there is a bloody good time.

This ... movie? ... starts out with what looks like a "Coming Attraction" trailer for another "movie," presented as if it were ripped straight off a forty year old VHS tape with tracking problems. The "stars" in this fake film have equally fake names like "Voohees," "Krueger," ... yeah.

Once that's over, the "Feature Presentation" ain't no better. Poor acting, poor lighting, poor quality, poor sound.... In case you can't tell, everything about this is poor. Add boring into the mix and ....

Good Lord. You can only say so many things about a movie that isn't even worth 15 minutes watch time. Oh good... Minimum Character Limit Met.

DO NOT EVEN BOTHER.

Some of the cinematography is excellent, getting good value out of limited locations. The visual effects, while clearly low budget, were very well executed,

The script and acting, however, are awful.

There are one or two moments when I thought it was meant to be deliberately bad in order to parody some stereotypical situations, but then I realised it was just going to be like that all the way through.

The pacing of the film is also slow and dull, making it hard to stay engaged in what story there was. The plot itself is quite weak, you get no character development or interesting twists and turns. It's exactly what you'd expect from reading the summary.

Overall, this film was a disappointment. The limited locations were the only redeeming factor, but even they were not enough to save the film from its poor script, acting, pacing, and plot.

Unless you are studying low budget filmmaking techniques, avoid this one.

To me this cheeky comedy is a night of horror fun, is a worthy of your time. If you go in expecting a film worthy of Oscars and Imax, then you'll be disappointed. If you're looking for indie small-time passionate filmmakers with some laughs and gore then this is pretty good and you'll have a good evening. I can't help but wonder what happens after the film and I would have liked a little more build up in the XXX studio but I appreciate the time and money constraints. It could benefit with a Bawdy Man too. When you take this into account then I feel any rating below 5 to be overly harsh. Kudos to the community effort in this production.