If there’s anything you could say about the new Brazilian horror movie “Skull The Mask” it’s certainly not that it’s boring.

Landing on Shudder after a long trip through post-covid movie release hell, this messy, goofy gore-fest pulls out all the stops in it’s quest to create a classic Slasher that thankfully hits more than it misses.

Directed by Armando Fonseca and Kapel Furman, this genre blending B-Movie stars Natallia Rodrigues as a detective investigating the ancient mask of Anhangá—a vassal of a pre-Columbian god—who, by some Nazi trickery, is re-incarnated as a bloodthirsty wrestler (really) and embarks on a sacrificial killing spree involving blood raves, intestinal strangulation, kidnapped kids, ex-mercenary exorcists, cosmic body melting and much, much more.

Right from the first scene, Skull The Mask exposes it’s directors as obsessive movie lovers. From film noir nods to Alien and Hellraiser homages, the film hops between cliches with such glorious abandon it brings to mind movies like Psycho Goreman in its imperviousness to analysis as anything more than glorious, gore-soaked grindhouse fair.

While occasionally taking itself too seriously, Skull The Mask rips through it’s 87 minute run time with an ever growing kill count and some seriously jaw dropping visuals in between some go-nowhere character development and a corrupt cop subplot that offers little payoff.

But we’re not here for character development, we’re here for the kills, and Skull The Mask offers up some great ones as Brazilian Wrestler Rubik Jr. dispatches the citizen of Sao Paolo with body slams, boomerang hatchets and flying drop kicks.

While the low budget is obvious, inventive camera work, hilarious fight scenes and a glorious abandon in it’s weirdness elevate Skull The Mask from bargain-bin slasher to a very watchable oddity. And while it’s not one of the best films on Shudder, for adventurous Horror fans it’s not a bad way to spend a Saturday night.