Mask of Death
While attempting to flee from the FBI, the criminal Frank Dallio kills Detective McKenna's wife, Rachel. McKenna himself is shot in the face by the professional killer Lyle Mason, who dies in a car crash shortly thereafter. The FBI persuades McKenna to undergo facial surgery and take the place of Lyle Mason in order to find Dallio and a valuable microchip.
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- Cast:
- Lorenzo Lamas , Rae Dawn Chong , Billy Dee Williams , Tom Cavanagh , Conrad Dunn , Kevin McNulty , Jerry Wasserman
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Reviews
A lot of fun.
Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.
I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
There are two things about "Mask Of Death" that will probably throw off a lot of potential viewers. The first is that this is a Canadian film, and the second is that it's a Lorenzo Lamas film. With each of those kind of films, quality is hard to find at times, so a combination of the two may sound deadly.However, I found the film to be surprisingly watchable. The production values are definitely above average. While the movie never looks lavish, it is acceptably slick-looking and never looks seriously cheap. There is also some camera work that you usually don't get in a movie like this.The plot will seem familiar to a number of viewers, but it's handled in an acceptable fashion, never being executed in a way that will make viewers groan. The hero does face a number of complications, and they are handled believably. The plot is also handled in a tougher than average way - there is some effective brutal violence that gives this telling of the story a hard edge.As for Lamas... most of the movie has his character acting in a cold and detached way, so his unemotional way of acting actually fits a lot of the time. However, I will admit that when his character does have to show strong emotion (like rage), Lamas is very bad. But this was a minor quibble; I was never bored by the movie, and it passed the time well. It may not be a movie to seek out, but on a lazy weekend it will do its job.
This movie sets a bad example for society. In "Mask of Death" shallow, ruthless characters hurt other people just to succeed. It's another lame story about greed, money and power. There's an excessive amount of violence and the characters are underdeveloped. The bad acting and direction don't help the movie either. The whole movie is typical low budget trash and has nothing that makes it worth watching.
Lamas has dual roles as Det Dan McKenna and Russian Mafia liaison Lyle Mason. An FBI surveillance gone wrong gets McKenna's wife killed but not before she takes Mason with her. FBI agent( Billy Dee Williams) notices that Mason and McKenna look alike and with a little help from plastic surgery McKenna becomes Mason. Pain killers that seem to have the side effect of causing McKenna to become violent help to keep the charade going. The violence is never ending - the story line takes a back seat - and Lamas shows off all the right martial art moves.The ending looked like they were hoping for a sequel but it never happened.
With the luxury of writing this review in real-time while watching this film on television I should have the luxury of remembering any good parts. Unfortunately, there are none to be found here. The only remarkable thing about this film is that it uncategorizable -- it can't be considered a drama as everything is too predictable to be dramatic, it can't be called an action pic as the "action sequences" are hokey and unbelievable. It could be considered a crime picture as it's a crime that anyone wasted the resources to produce, market and broadcast this turkey. Lamas and Williams come off more smarmy than urbane, Rae Dawn Chong is not the hottie she used to be, the cop dialog is stilted and awkward and the production values are unremarkable and veritably scream Direct-To-Video. This film's only value is as a "How-To" guide for prospective B-movie directors. Run, Don't Walk to Avoid This Movie.