Movie Reviews

The Man In The Facial Mask

Eighteenth century England; the Victorian time of mystery and romance. The ruling King of England - King Tom Dick Harry Peter IVVVI (played by the man of many faces, HK) was his citizens' subject of adoration. His charming looks and wit won him the heart of the Princess from Saudi Arabia (played by the beautiful JX), who migrated all the way from the Gobi desert to the Kingdom after they got married. All seem to be well: the country flourished, the people were happy and both King T.D.H.P IVVVI and his wife seemed to be in marital bliss... Or are they? What about the mysterious faint thumping noises and the sounds of chains escaping from the deep underground every night?

In twenty minutes of the film, "The Man In The Facial Mask" plunges the audiences into the real story behind what things seemed to be - and all is not well. Unknown to the everybody else, King T.D.H.P had a deep, dark secret which will ruin him and his reputation completely if exposed. Ten years ago, the then Prince T.D.H.P was not the one slated to be the next-in-line to the throne. Instead, the honor was to his younger brother and twin, Prince Ken Dan James Michael VVVIII (also played by HK). It was only tradition that the son with the most active oil glands - a symbol of prosperity - would succeed the throne. Being the oilier of the siblings, Prince K.D.J.M was the favoured son; the next King. Jealous and angered, Prince T.D.H.P decided to take fate into his own hands one faithful night. Sneaking into his brother's room while he was asleep, he slathered permanent T-Zone Facial Foam onto K.D.J.M's enviably oily face and locked him up in a secret dungeon he had built deep under the kingdom. Thinking that he had mysteriously disappeared, the kingdom mourned for the loss of K.D.J.M, and soon after the Old King died, Prince T.D.H.P rose to power, thinking his secret was buried forever.

Ten years after, in current times, King T.D.H.P had another evil plan in mind - this time to murder his wife, Princess Saudi Arabia, because of her unwillingness and stubborness to not remove her Arabic turban even after she was made Queen of England. Talking himself through his evil plan one night (as do all villains, coupled with incredible haunting soundtrack by the ChoirBoys who have finally emerged from their hiatus), the locked up Prince K.D.J.M overheard his brother's agenda, and was more determined than ever to break out of the dungeon to rescue his ill-fated sister-in-law.

Will the Man in the Facial Mask succeed and will justice be served? More importantly, will Princess Saudi Arabia manage to keep her head - turban and all - safely on her neck? "The Man In The Facial Mask" will answer all the questions, including a deliciously unexpected twist at the end of the film.

This is indeed one haunting film played to perfection by its set of stellar cast. The anguish face of Prince K.D.J.M behind the T-Zone facial mask will linger in your memory for a long time to come, and you are almost guranteed to not look at facial masks the same way again...