MASK OF MURDER is a very obscure Swedish-Canadian mystery thriller, made in 1985 and starring Rod Taylor, Christopher Lee, and Valerie Perrine. The entire movie is available as an extra on the MURDER STORY Blu-ray disc included in Severin's THE EUROCRYPT OF CHRISTOPHER LEE 2 box set.
Despite the fact that MASK OF MURDER was filmed in Sweden, its story is set in a small town in Canada. In this town a serial killer has been tracked down, and he is eventually killed by Police Supt. Bob McLaine (Rod Taylor). Almost immediately more murders start to happen, all fitting the same pattern of the deceased killer. McLaine starts to wonder if the killer has somehow been reincarnated, while also dealing with personal problems at home--his wife (Valerie Perrine) is having an affair with one of his fellow police officers.
MASK OF MURDER tries to be a gripping psychological suspense tale, but it's dull and depressing, with glum, uninteresting characters. Director Arne Mattson doesn't give the story much flash or flair--even the murder sequences are very generic. The story takes place in the middle of winter, and due to this there's a grey, desultory atmosphere hanging over everything. Perhaps that was the director's intention, but it doesn't make a viewer all that enthusiastic to follow the talky, slow-moving plot.
Rod Taylor gives a rather sullen performance as the put-upon Supt. McLaine. I'm sure what was going on in the story influenced Taylor's attitude, but one wonders if the actor regretted even being in this production. Christopher Lee plays Taylor's boss, Chief Supt. Jonathan Rich. It's another of Lee's many "He's not in it enough, and why did he even bother to take part in this" roles. Lee brings some much needed spirit when he is onscreen, but you get the feeling that his character is way overqualified to be a police chief in such a small boring town.
There's an attempt here to try and inject a supernatural element, by suggesting that a dead serial killer may be able to influence others from beyond the grave, but it isn't developed enough. The ending is rather awkward, and it leaves more questions than answers. What really hurts the film is that nearly every character has been dubbed--even Rod Taylor is dubbed over a couple times. This doesn't help the already clunky dialogue.
On the back of Severin's Blu-ray disc case of MURDER STORY, it is stated that their presentation of MASK OF MURDER is sourced from the best existing master. The movie is not in HD, it is in full frame, and it looks as if it comes from a VHS tape. The colors are pale and drab, and the visual quality just makes the film feel even more cheap and seedy.
Christopher Lee was involved in several obscure films in his lengthy acting career, but MASK OF MURDER is particularly rare. It doesn't seem to have gotten any sort of major theatrical release, and most sources say that while it was made in 1985, it didn't get released on home video until 1988. Some might give Severin some respect for including something unknown as this in a deluxe Blu-ray box set, while others may opine that a more effective production could have taken up the slot.
At one point in MASK OF MURDER, Christopher Lee's character complains, "Blah, blah, blah..." That's about the best way to describe the film overall.
When the Eurocrypt 2 set arrived months ago, I started to watch this movie. I made it through the first two grisly razor murders and decided that was enough. After reading your review, I decided to give the movie another shot. I agree with everything you said, especially about the depressing atmosphere. The story went off in some weird directions, and the ending almost seemed like an anti-climax. It's another one of those endings that makes me wonder if they couldn't figure out how to end it, so the director just decided: "OK...let's stop here. Besides, we're out of money." Lee and Perrine both look terrific, but Rod Taylor did not age particularly well.
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