Sometimes I catch movies purely out of luck and end up enjoying them. This time I am referring to Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, a movie I only saw because it was part of an Anchor Bay ad campaign on the site and I was asked to review it in conjunction with serving the ads. I don’t mind doing this at all and trust me I have not liked some of the films they have sent and am not afraid to tell you about it (see Screwfly Solution). However, Behind the Mask I did enjoy and I think a sequel would be interesting and writer David J. Stieve already has the idea according to an interview with Icons of Fright.
The first film is a mock-umentary in that it centers on a group of college students who set out to follow Leslie Vernon who has invited them to document his story as he hopes to follow in the footsteps of such renown killers as Freddy Kruger, Jason Voorhees and Michael Meyers… Lessons and madness ensues and there is definitely room for a sequel with these kinds of movies, just look at the Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and Halloween franchises. However, the unique thing about Behind the Mask is that Leslie is fully aware of what he is and there is a sense of reality about it, while those other films mix fantasy into their stories.
Stieve told Icons of Fright, “I can tell you and your readers that there is a definite idea for what’s going to happen to Leslie Vernon next, that’s been the goal all along… certainly if there’s going to be another horror movie coming from me, my biggest impulse, of course, is to relate what happens to Leslie next.”
He goes on to say, “[It’s] how do you handle that ‘freshman phenom/rookie of the year’ type thing! That’s the symbolism at play; how does Leslie handle his success? And of course you have the whole genre-specific constructions and conventions of a horror sequel. There’s specific conventions involved with every killer that comes back. How the town reacts, who the people are that survive, and who fills what role coming around again…so there are all these very specific genre expectations for a sequel that are ripe for the picking but there’s obviously the metaphor of how does Leslie as the ‘artist’ handle his fame, does he handle it well, does he burn out too quick, keep himself in check, does he do it right? There’s a very rich soil to till from a storytelling standpoint. Depending on how the DVD does, etc. that’s the impetus.”
He has his head screwed on straight and realizes there are a lot of factor at play here, but if they could do a sequel properly it could really be interesting and would most certainly escalate Behind the Mask to most certain cult status.
For the rest of the interview with Stieve click here and for my complete review of the Behind the Mask DVD click here.
