An ancient demonic skull mask wreaks havoc on São Paulo in a plot almost as messy as the omnipresent, scene-stealing gore
Anyone who wanted more of the human-sacrifice scene in Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto will be overjoyed by this silly, uneven but strangely appealing slasher film that leaves no heart unripped from human thorax. A mystifying prologue sees Nazis unearth a grotesque pre-Colombian skull mask, which looks like Darth Maul’s Sunday best. The artefact resurfaces in modern-day São Paulo where, after chewing up the archaeologist who found it, it attaches itself to one of the crime-scene cleaners. He is transformed into a host for Anhangá, an indigenous demon who loves an old-school blood sacrifice.
Here’s hoping the actor in the mask (Brazilian wrestler Rurik Jr) didn’t make any earnest thespian inquiries about Anhangá’s motivation, because this is a tough one to answer. It’s hinted he’s on a lumbering journey towards a church where a rival god’s femur is kept; Manco (Wilton Andrade) – a fruit-seller who is also part of some ancient order – is determined to intervene. Also following the entrails is detective Beatriz (Natallia Rodrigues), who is blackmailed into cooperating with a gaunt corporate CEO (Ivo Müller) planning to use the mask in a ritual involving abducted Bolivian children.
Continue reading...source https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/may/27/skull-the-mask-review-kapel-furman
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