It could have been great. It starts with the distorted reality of a painter, described in slow (sometimes too slow) detail, and it evokes that "old school" feel of knowing the characters and getting into their world with them. And then the movie goes sideways, loses control, hits a tree and dies.I tell you, rather than release this film they should have thrown away the last quarter and remake it into something that made sense. It is difficult for me to explain what is wrong with the film without giving away the ending, so you have two choices: watch it and be lenient or don't bother.

I thought that the hideous red face on the main character's canvas looked familiar so I looked it up and, yes, it's almost line for line the famous sketch "Head studies" by Leonardo da Vinci at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. Of course, it could be just a coincidence, but I think it's a subliminal message, something like, "Go to the museum, go to the museum, don't waste your money, don't waste your money..." Anyway, it starts out interesting, with good acting on the part of a group of interesting practically unknowns. Then it ever so slowly gets spookier and cornier in a grossly subtle and confusing fashion. They use lots of contrived false leads to nowhere in particular until the end, when it slaps you in the face and blatantly says to you, "You should have gone to the museum, you wasted your money..." I just wish I could spoil the ending for you, but for the most part, it was so boring that it's a blur.

This is an indie film doing what an indie film should do: shocks, breaks the rules, and entertains. I hadn't heard too much prior to watching other than a recommendation from a buddy, but I was impressed with the film. The production value and the talent of the actors were both great. Very interesting artistic shots and great use of wide-angle lens. The actors also were a treat: fresh talented faces. The story was well written, predictable at some points, but never uninteresting. It had a really nice pace to it building the suspense into a crisp three-act structure. I loved the art work. The art played such a substantial role throughout the film. The hallmark piece was stunning. It played along with the story really well. I was also impressed with the editing sequence during the party scenes. It was very cool. A bit out of the ordinary, but very effective. The style was quick jump cuts reminiscent of Breathless or more recently Brick. MOST IMPORTANTLY: The last 15 minutes made the movie! It went from a suspense thriller to all-out horror--Beautiful representation of complex human emotions and behaviors. It is absolutely worth checking out.

Wow, this is probably the best horror movie I've seen in a long time. The director is apparently a newcomer, but it doesn't often show. This movie may be one of those low-budget type things, but it's honestly one of the coolest and most original films I've seen in ages. It may move a bit slow, but it's more of a 'comfortable' slow pace than a sluggish one. It's only about 90 minutes, but it takes it's time to let things happen and let the plot unfold.As for the plot, I wasn't originally impressed, since it did not seem that exciting from the tiny blurb I saw here. It starts off a bit slow, and you're not sure exactly how good it'll be. Moving at a rather deviously slow pace, you're kept in suspense until the ending just explodes on you, surprising you with a force that big-name movies rarely muster anymore. I'm wholly impressed by this. Nothing is done to excess, there are no plot holes, nothing. This is just the best low-budget horror movie of 2007, hands down, and it beats even most of the big-name blockbuster ones at their own game.Highly recommended. Plus, this is a movie about a masquerade. How classy can you get?