Skull: The Mask (Skull – A Máscara de Anhangá) Review

Skull: The Mask is directed by Armando Fonseca and Kapel Furman

There are two things in the context of a horror film that you need to be aware of if you aren’t already. One, the Amazon forest, as per CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, is where people disappear and can hide many secrets and two, if you bring back a ritual mask from the region and don’t pay attention, you are going to make a lot more trouble that it is worth for yourself.

In the brand-new Brazilian Horror film SKULL: THE MASK (Skull – A Máscara de Anhangá), one such artifact is brought back which caused a bit of trouble back around the time of the Second World War which had a habit of causing much grief and now finds a new home in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo.

Claiming two women in a civil partnership and then a forensic worker assessing the aftermath of the murders which have stumped some local police detectives, coupled with a museum curator keen to have the relic on display, the now-possessed forensic worker goes on a bloody rampage throughout the city in a randomly-targeted series of deaths.

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On top of that, there is the ongoing investigation regarding some children who have disappeared in the city which is impacting on the police efforts, particularly one female officer, Beatriz (Natallia Rodrigues) who is affected indirectly by past sins as she tries to solve the case.

Directed by Armando Fonseca and Kapel Furman, SKULL: THE MASK is a very bloody rendition that reminds one of HELLRAISER at times, combined with a traditional masked horror killer in the vein of Jason Voorhees and Victor Crowley in Adam Green’s HATCHET series of films. The gore is well orchestrated with some great VFX by Konstantinos Koutsoliotas, who recently worked on Sam Mendes’ award winning 1917 as VFX Senior compositor.

That said, there are one or two silly moments (a HIGHLANDER fight in a church was one of them here, when a priest battles the bloody killer using a sword from a religious statue and does take it a little out of the gory moment into a suspension of disbelief), but as a horror yarn, it has all the elements that fans will love.

Don’t look for logic, merely let the film set it up for you and then enjoy the ride.

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