Maskhead — Maskhead(Blu Ray)
From the late 2000s, Maskhead is a film that blends hulking monster-man horror, modelling/ casting satire, and gruelling extreme torture/gore. It mixes these elements in an often haphazard, tonally unbalancing, and at times confusing manner.Here from Unearthed Films- those seekers of all things cinematically extreme- is a recent Blu Ray release of the film, which is loaded with extras, both new & old.
Maskhead is from the year 2009-it was the sixth film by New Jersey-born Fred Vogel, who is best known for the infamous faux snuff August Underground trilogy, though he also helmed the likes of gory supernatural slasher The Red Skin Tower (2004), and most recently The Final Interview (2018) an intense & hard-hitting thriller set in a prison. The film was co-directed by Scott Swan, who has two other director credits to his name, comedy horror Big Junior (2010), and washed-up porn star thiller short Cofax & Lilly (2011). He also co-wrote John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns (2005)
The around hour-and-a-half film focuses on lesbian filmmakers, blond-haired/ at points punky looking Syl(Shelby Lyn Vogel) and red-haired Maddie(Danielle Inks). The pair make fetishistic, kinky, at times arty shorts. They are joined by scruffy handlebar-moustached jive-talking sociopath The Cowboy ( Daniel V. Klein), and the huge hulking/ head wrapped in bandages & metal Maskhead (Michael Witherel).
The film is very erratically cut/ edited, which seemingly darts around timelines. We move from a mocked-up/ parodying asking for models TV ad, onto casting interviews filmed in both SOV/ formal cameras, reeling off bizarre & kinky stories baroom chats, film-within-film footage, and last but hardly least torture/ death- much of which happens in what looks like a made into a chair shopping trolley.
The extreme stuff largely comes about when the models won’t do what they're asked- carrying these tortures/ homicides is Maskhead, who does certainly come off as both threatening & creepy. With his bare-chested, hulking & lumbering frame, you can certainly see nods towards Frankenstein's monster( Vogel is a big fan of the character)- though it’s much more disconcerting, with its pulled-back-with-metal-mouth, wild eyes, and discoloured skin. The torture/ gore moves from bodies bucking ‘n’ bloody after wired-up-to-car-battery attacks, ripping cut attacks, slowly sown off limbs, arms brutally broken and an extremely gruelling rape with a crude nail-studded strap on. There’s no doubt the Maskhead scenes are effectively set out/ choreographed for maximum terror, visceral intensity, and flinch-inducing shock.
As for our two female leads- Shelby Lyn Vogel & Danielle Inks- they give decidedly mixed performances. Moving from rewarding hamming up/ perversely flirting, to decidedly flat and amateurish. Witherel is perfect as the lumbering & silent deranged killer- though sadly we get little/ no back story to his character. Klein is probably the best/ most consistent actor here- he feels like he could have dropped out of either a Quentin Tarantino or Rob Zombie film, with dirty, amusing banter/tales aplenty, as well as later on some real perverse behaviour.
As a long-term fan of the August Underground films, it’s great to finally see Maskhead. Though I must say I’ve come away somewhat torn- the gruelling extreme moments do hit hard, the lead character is neatly threatening, and some of the banter/ casting set-up is entertaining. On the less positive side, the cutting is very erratic/ at points nonsensical, some of the lead acting is poor/ plain bad, and there are moments of slack/ bland pacing.
This region-free disc is truly stacked with extras, with most of it being all new/ never seen from the archive material. First off, we get two new commentary tracks- one from co-director Fred Vogel and writer/co-director Scott Swan, and one from co-director Fred Vogel, actor/producer Shelby Vogel, EFX Artist Jerami Cruise, and Ultra Violent Magazine’s Art Ettinger. I played the first of these two with Vogel & Scott, and it’s a nicely chatty/ informative track. They begin by talking about how they flipped a coin to see which two of them would get the top credit in the credits. They talk about how Klein was great as the cowboy, with a wonderful memory for the film’s monologues. They discuss the sexuality of the film's characters. They point out the film's locations, many of which were connected to Toe Tag Pictures. Vogel declares the film to be his oddest/ funniest film. They talk about how they both met and how Maskhead came about. Later on, they talk about a NYC fan of the film who recently got an impressive tattoo of Maskhead. They discuss the wrap party, talk about the design of Maskhead, and much more.
Otherwise, on the new side, we have: Introduction from Fred Vogel (4.53), Behind the Mask: An Interview with Maskhead(17.08), Below the Brim: An Interview with The Cowboy(10.03), Frankenstein’s Maskhead: An Interview with Co-Director Fred Vogel (9.24), The First Test Footage (4.33), Creating the Character (10.25), Food Girl Extended Death (7.08), On Set with the Food Girl (13.52), Fun with Special FX in the Toetag Studio (25.48), In the Recording Studio (27.34), I Will Break Your Fucking Arm (29.43), Violated by a 2x4 (36.01),The Room (5.07), Extended photo gallery, Pieces of Maskhead (10.00), and the Swan cut of the film ( 124.57).
On the archive side, there’s a commentary with Co-Director Fred Vogel and Writer/Co-Director Scott Swan, A Mask, Some Gauze and a 2x4 Dildo: The Creation of Maskhead with Commentary by EFX Artist Jerami Cruise, Blooper Reel, Cowboy's Whistling Clinic, and Trailers.
Maskhead truly is a cinematic oddity- with its highly distinctive blend of monster-man horror, modelling/ casting satire, and gruelling extreme torture/ gore. And this Unearthed Films release is well & truly stacked with extras