After a series of strange murders, a group of friends in a small town trying to get through their lives without being targeted for their sexual preferences learns that the deaths are connected to a cursed mask worn by a friend of theirs and must try to stop the rampage before it's too late.
Overall, this was a pretty enjoyable if slightly flawed genre effort. One of the bigger factors to enjoy here is a solid and overall immersive atmosphere that makes for a generally engaging time. The lives of the group that we follow here, with their own personal hang-ups and quirks not only related to their sexual identity and orientation but also dealing with community outrage to their situation and living in a supposedly welcoming society, all come together with fervent anger at the establishment for failing to provide that. It's all immensely topical about the needs of the community coming under attack which is revealed in a fine way later on tying the killer's antics to black magic science and the unleashing of repressed feelings. That becomes a prominent point throughout here with the way it's handled and manages to be a highly endearing aspect of this one going forward. That allows the film to generate a solid sense of including the generally impressive slashing scenes throughout here. The background given here about the history of the creation and how it affects the killer going forward adds a sense of brutality just as effectively as the sequences themselves with the way they're carried out as the opening attack on the group absent-mindedly conducting the ritual that returns the iller to prominence or the later attack in the nightclub. With these scenes often taking place amongst a swirling of discordant color schemes and neon-lit surroundings, there's a rather extravagant attempt at stylizing these scenes against the more natural attacks later on including an ambush amongst a parked car or the final confrontation that still features some inventive sequences alongside the solid practical gore effects. These manage to generate a lot to like with this one even if there are some issues here that do hold this back. One of the biggest factors to be had with this one is the film's more focused sense of their queer lifestyle and the persecution they receive that tends to hold the slashing down at the wrong times. While it's handled well at the beginning with the first half bringing us into their community group quite nicely, the second half continues this to the point of dragging the pacing down considerably. Excessive sequences in their parents' house arguing with combative adults, going around in circles discussing how others aren't more receptive to their plight, or just getting dragged down with resolving personal squabbles which all come at the expense of the more engaging slashing antics at this stage of the film so it can feel repetitive in spots. There are also bits about the budget on display coming into question with it but it's not as damaging overall as the other drawback in here.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Extreme Language including numerous racial slurs, and drug use.
