As Good As It Gets

Absolutely brilliant

The acting in this movie is really good.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Well now, you gotta give the filmmakers at least some credit here: Casting Linnea Quigley in a leading roll and immediately showing her in the first scene totally naked in a shower, spraying water all over her... well, where it needs to be sprayed. Alright, baby, I think with this movie I finally got what all the fuss has been about for all those years amongst horror fans when it comes to this cult actress! And damn, even in a 1998 movie she's still looking mighty yummie . But when I tell you she really was the best actress of the whole cast, then you might guess what that means, no? Yes, very bad acting everywhere on screen (if I still needed to spell it out). But there's still some amusing stuff going on here. We've got these settings: a freak-carnival, a swamp, a whore-house in some isolated town, tents & trailers. The story: a disfigured, traumatized, mild-tempered man/artist turns into a maniac out for revenge when he sells his soul to a voodoo-woman in return for the accomplishment of his masterpiece, being... a self-carved Mask of Death. Very, very low-budget fair kinda deal with more than one couple of boobies at display and some mildly entertaining killings. Certainly not worth more than my generous rating, but hell, I had fun with it .

A clichéd plot and slight time padding mar this otherwise sincere and likable little cheapie from the Florida-based director of JACK-O and DARK UNIVERSE. Wilbur Johnson (James Best, star of THE KILLER SHREWS and Rosco P. Coltrane from The Dukes of Hazard!) is the facially scarred laughing stock of a traveling carnival. Flashbacks show how his sadistic clown father shoved his face on a red-hot burner. He wears heavy make-up on his face to cover his scars but everyone makes fun of him except carnival dancer Angel (Linnea Quigley), the only one to see the true beauty in Wilbur. Desperate to help, Angel foolishly takes him to a backwoods witch who casts a spell to make Wilbur an expert mask maker. It works, but soon Wilbur discovers that whoever looks into the mask and does not see the beauty in him dies a gruesome death. As the mask is used more and more, Wilbur becomes possessed and starts using it to kill off his enemies.Death is caused by impalement, carnival ride decapitation and snake bite to the face, there's lots of T&A and some brief morphing FX are used to bring the mask to life. Although limited in budget, this is a sweet-natured film with its heart in the right place. The leads and costars are all pretty good, especially Best and Quigley, who both shine in their respective roles. If you enjoy low-budget horror, this one is worth your time.

If you're like me, you grew up in the fetid decade known as "The Eighties", and every Friday night of your adolescence was spent watching the hit action adventure show "The Dukes of Hazzard". Being the young goofball that I was, I became infatuated with the wacky comic relief Sheriff, Roscoe P. Coltraine. Wimpy, easily manipulated, and funny as heck (hey, I was six), James Best's performance has stayed with me all these years.So you can imagine my excitement when I discovered a video at the video store written by AND starring my hero! I eagerly snatched it off the shelf, also noting that Linnea Quigley, the gal I had admired so after watching "Return of the Living Dead", also had her name above the title.I had no idea what I was in for. Mr. Best was apparently heavily influenced by the work of Ray Dennis Steckler (the killer wears a hooded sweatshirt; there's documentary footage of carnival rides). He also must hate himself very, very much. He wrote himself the plum part of a hideously scarred loser who can only get a job as the geek in a local carnival. He also sells his blood, eking out enough money to seek pleasure at the local house of ill repute (but even the prostitutes turn him down!). He tries to defend his mask-making as art, but we the audience never see any of his work except for the homicidal mask of the title.Did I mention that people get killed in this movie? They do.This flick was amazing- poorly edited, and with bad sound, but with a certain regional charm (It was made in Florida). For some reason, all the killing in the movie are seen in a montage before the opening credits. What were the film makers thinking?So anyway: This film is a fascinating look into what one beloved TV star considers his "great role". It's amazing! So I recommend this as a curiosity. As a good movie.... no. Curiosity, yes.