Skull: The Mask
2020 slasher film
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Skull: The Mask (Portuguese: Skull: A Máscara de Anhangá) is a 2020 Brazilian slasher film written and directed by Armando Fonseca and Kapel Furman. It stars Natallia Rodrigues as a detective investigating the ancient mask of Anhangá—a vassal of a Pre-Columbian era god—who is incarnated and embarks on a sacrificial killing spree. The film is an international co-production of Brazil and the United States.[2]
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- Armando Fonseca
- Kapel Furman
- Armando Fonseca
- Kapel Furman
- Natallia Rodrigues
- Wilton Andrade
- Ricardo Gelli
- Guta Ruiz
- Greta Antoine
- Tristan Aronovich
- Ivo Müller
| Skull: The Mask | |
|---|---|
Promotional release poster | |
| Directed by |
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| Written by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Andre Sigwalt |
| Music by | Fernando Arruda |
Production companies | Infravermelho Filmes Fantaspoa Produções Boccato Productions |
| Distributed by | Raven Banner Entertainment |
Release dates | |
Running time | 90 minutes[1] |
| Country | Brazil |
| Language | Portuguese |
Skull: The Mask premiered digitally as part of the Chattanooga Film Festival on 22 May 2020.[3] The film is available for streaming on Shudder as of 27 May 2021.[4][5][6]
Plot
Cast
- Natallia Rodrigues as Beatriz Obdias[3]
- Wilton Andrade as Manco Ramirez[7][8]
- Ricardo Gelli as Padre Vasco Magno
- Guta Ruiz as Galvani Volta
- Greta Antoine as Lilah
- Tristan Aronovich as Nobuto
- Ivo Müller as Tack Waelder[7]
- Eduardo Semerjian as Herr Schädel
- Che Moais as Pajé Iratinga
- Rurik Jr. as Skull
Release
In 2018, Cinestate acquired the rights to distribute Skull: The Mask in the United States through the Fangoria label.[9][10]
Skull: The Mask premiered digitally on 22 May 2020 as part of the 7th annual Chattanooga Film Festival.[1][3][11][12] The festival took place online as a virtual event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]
The film was made available for streaming on Shudder on 27 May 2021.[4][5][6]
Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 67% based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10.[14]
Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting called the film "a gloriously carnage-fueled horror movie nestled deep within a messy web of entangled plot threads. A lot of it doesn't work, but it's hard to be too upset about a film that brings an insane amount of gore and intriguing new monster mythology to the table."[3] Screen Anarchy's Andrew Mack praised the film's gore as "fantastic" and "top notch", though he noted: "It feels like two separate films were made then there was an attempt to edit them together and make a cohesive whole."[15] Jacob Oller of Paste complimented the film's prop design but criticized its choreography and staging, writing that "Skull: The Mask just isn't shot in a way to fully appreciate the nastiness its creators so clearly enjoy."[8] Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com gave the film a score of one-and-a-half out of four stars, finding faults with its characters, editing, and sound mixing.[16]
Gizmodo's Cheryl Eddy praised the film's special effects, and wrote that the perceived complexity of the film's plot "doesn't detract much from the movie's enjoyability."[7] Drew Tinnin of Dread Central gave the film four-and-a-half out of five stars, calling it "an indie action slasher masterpiece."[17] Both Eddy and Tinnin compared the film's antagonist to Jason Voorhees of the Friday of the 13th franchise,[7][17] with Tinnin writing that "Brazil may have found their version of Kane Hodder in pro-wrestler Rurik Jr."[17] The Guardian's Phil Hoad gave the film three out of five stars, calling it a "silly, uneven but strangely appealing slasher film that leaves no heart unripped from human thorax."[6] Martin Unsworth of Starburst rated Skull: The Mask four out of four, commending its action scenes, pacing, performances, and special effects.[18] Hope Madden of UK Film Review called it a "throwback exploitation" and said the "film’s opening is its strongest segment, a grainy video portrayal of a 1944 political bloodbath with the goal of enacting an ancient pre-Columbian ritual."[19]