Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon Blu-ray Movie Review

With all these new extras, this release takes viewers deep behind 'Behind the Mask.'

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.

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

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.
• Trailer (1080i, 2:17).

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.