It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is one of the most disturbing serial killer flicks of all time, but seemed to me to be an unlikely candidate for the sequel treatment: despite receiving praise from serious horror fans, the original film's grim subject matter and unflinching approach to cold-blooded murder was hardly blockbuster material, meaning no-one was ever going to get rich or famous by making a follow up.But what surprises me even more than the fact that a sequel was actually made, is that this film, a virtual rehash of the original bereft of both the first film's star, Michael Rooker, and its director, John McNaughton, actually turns out to be much better than I had expected: it is suitably repugnant, sleazy, violent and shocking, and even though it never quite matches the power of McNaughton's classic, it's an effective little serial killer flick that refuses to pull its punches and certainly doesn't deserve to be ignored.In Mask of Sanity, Neil Giuntoli replaces Rooker in the central role of Henry, a seemingly mild but psychotic drifter who leaves a trail of death wherever he goes. Penniless and homeless, Henry finds himself a job servicing porta-loos, where he makes friends with workmate Kai (Rich Komenich) who invites Henry to stay with his family, sexy wife Cricket (Kate Walsh) and geeky niece Louisa (Carri Levinson), until he can find more permanent lodgings.When Henry discovers that Kai has been setting fire to warehouses for a little extra cash, his newfound pal cuts him in on the deal; in return, Henry shows Kai how he keeps busy in his spare time: by murdering people!Writer/director Chuck Parello does a pretty good job at emulating McNaughton's style, taking time to build his characters and develop their relationships whilst also presenting scenes of extreme violence in a cold, matter of fact style. At first Neil Giuntoli is hard to accept as Henry, being less physically imposing than Rooker (thanks to his rather short stature), but once he has done away with a few innocent people in brutal and bloody fashion, there is no doubt that he was a good choice for the part. If you're not even a little bit frightened of Giuntoli's Henry after he casually hacks off one poor victim's head with a knife, you're made of tougher stuff than me!Admittedly, Mask of Sanity rarely strays from the formula set by the first film, even going so far as to start with a montage of Henry's earlier victims and end with a nihilistic finalé that sees the killer lay waste to virtually everyone he knows before once again moving on; but even though the format is familiar, this unlikely sequel is definitely more hit than miss.

Okay, this movie was pretty bad. The acting was simply terrible in my opinion...but maybe I just didn't like the characters. I have not watched the first one but I am pretty sure it'll be 100x more better then this one. (I hope..) Don't waste your money on watching this movie, trust me.

When this came out I scoffed (yes, scoffed) and saved myself the headache of watching a lame sequel to one of my favorite grim horror flicks. But a few year later I found myself enjoying the Ed Gein biopic by the same director, so I decided to give his "Henry 2: Mask of Sanity" a spin. It's a decidedly mediocre effort, not as terrible as I expected but no where near as good as it should've been.There's a different actor playing Henry, apparently because Michael Rooker was busy making "Mallrats 3: Beyond Thunderdome". Baby-faced Neil Giuntoli is acceptable, but not nearly as menacing, and I laughed out loud when he yelled "DO YOU WANNA DIE?" at his erstwhile partner, Kai (Rich Komenich). Henry meets Kai at the port-a-john center where they work. I was thrilled to see Henry enter the exciting world of port-a-john maintenance, what with it's inherent glitziness and intrigue, but the movie soon abandons that avenue to concentrate on Henry & Kai's exploits as hired pyromaniacs and their adventures in white trash sub-suburbia. The fire scenes are all pretty dull, and the eventual murders are also uninvolving, though there's lots of fake fighting, if that's your thing . There are no scenes near the chilling level of the video-taped rape in the first "Henry". One murder features a too-goofy decapitation that's more on the level of a Frank Hennenlotter flick. Plus, I don't buy Kai immediately buying into Henry's murder spree. Otis from "Henry 1" was a much better sidekick. There are other lame scenes, like the one where Henry's boss drugs Henry's beer. Instead of showing what a psycho killer might see while on acid, the movie just has Henry get all red faced and leave the room. The best scenes concern the relationship between Henry and Kai's mentally unbalanced niece (Carri Levinson). I thought she was just going to be the standard stock horror movie "mousey girl" character, but she's actually a pretty well-drawn love interest for Henry, and contributes to the surprising ending. I also liked the scene where she showed Henry her artwork and gets him to draw a picture.I didn't totally hate this movie, I just wish it was 77% better. It doesn't have the sense of urgency the first one here, and the script leaves much to be desired. Maybe this can just be a brief stop-over on Henry's quest to becoming a great, franchised film villain. He learned a lot of useful skills in this flick, so hopefully he can apply them in a third, more serious and dark movie. I mean, if anyone wants to give me the money, I'll make it. I'm right here if you need me. It's okay, I'll wait.

This is nothing more than a series of badly staged violent scenes base around the perpertrators situation with his unfortunate house friends and the wider community.Apart from reasonable photography at times this picture has no merit which was annoying as the local T.V. guide gave it 5 stars!