The Laughing Mask Movie Review

I've wrote a few pieces about this feature, mostly because I largely support independent features and I've been following the movie's progress since 2012 when the first short was released on Youtube.

I had the chance to see the film last year when I was sent a screener by the Director Michael Aguiar,and I enjoyed it for what it was. A low budget independent film with a very different take on the horror genre.

So I was surprised when after nearly a year, I received an invitation to go to the Wolf's Museum of Mysteries in St Augustine to review the film.

I arrived for the 6pm showing and was already impressed by the amount of people there, the courtyard was full and I had to sit on the side as there were no seats available. After awhile the movie didnt start as they were waiting for it to get darker so the projector could be used, so I left my seat and went on to look around the museum.
Upstairs they have a ton of the props and even a torture machine I didnt recognize from the first movie screning, so I assumed reshoots had been done.

This will have spoilers about the some of the parts so if you dont want to know, just stop reading here.

The movie finally started at 7:30 or so, just the very beginning of the film was already completely different, there was a scene involving cartoons that was a little jarring but very cool to look at, then we went into another new scene at a police station and we get some more information about the plot involving Kate and Cordova, then all was about the same except for the fight scene, and what a DIFFERENCE that made, I honestly hated the actor they had playing the pimp in the original, he was bad as they get, huge it didnt make for a good scene, but the new scene was very well done and improved in every way. That was what I noticed about the film the most, it seemed like everything was just bumped up a notch, the blood, effects and production value. It was as if I was watching an entirely different movie and I loved it.

The Laughing Mask character was given more depth and screen time, we now have a place he lives in, a "lair" if you will where The Laughing Mask keeps his most prized possessions, the guilty ones who didn't deserve a quick kill, but are kept as pets for his amusement. You couldn't help to feel sad for the Pig Man or nauseated at the mermaid made with pieces of human skin and force fed a fish. We also had a very interesting scene involving a made up puppet machine and I have to say that new sequence was my favorite in the film.

That's where the spoilers will end because come the end of the film you need to really see it. The beginning with its odd sequence ties up completely to the end showing a mental breakdown in a way I haven't seen in a horror movie, also kudos for the homage to the original "The Iron Claw" silent film that had (we were told during the Q&A) a mysterious character also called The Laughing Mask and he makes a cameo appearance in the film.

The acting was solid in most parts, the day players were weak and Kate's ex made me want to groan. Instead of feeling bad for him you actually feel for Kate, who is probably going for worst mother of the year award by doing exactly the opposite of everything to keep herself safe.

Im definitely interested to see how this movie does and if there is a sequel. A good part of the cast was there signing autographs and taking pictures, there was also a small impromptu Q&A session where they discussed the making of the film and how much has been added to it, also in a very smart move close to Halloween, we had The Laughing Mask "masks" on sale, I bought one myself, couldn't resist..

For the people who enjoy gore and mindless horror films, this is not for you. I cant even classify The Laughing Mask correctly as its very gory at parts but a police thriller at heart.

I took some pictures from the showing out of the Wolf's Musum of Mystery Facebook account and as well as the Laughing Mask FB.