Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is a 2006 American mockumentary black comedy horror film directed by Scott Glosserman. It stars Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals and Robert Englund. Although largely filmed in Oregon, the film takes place in a small town in Maryland, and follows a journalist and her film crew that is documenting an aspiring serial killer who models himself according to slasher film conventions.

The film is an homage to the slasher film genre and features cameos from several veteran horror actors, including Robert Englund, Zelda Rubinstein, and Kane Hodder. The film premiered at the 2006 South by Southwest film festival and was shown at several other festivals. It received a limited release in the United States on March 16, 2007.

Synopsis

The film is shot as a documentary set in a world where the killers depicted in famous slasher films are real. A female journalist named Taylor Gentry and her two cameramen, Doug and Todd, document the preparations of Leslie Vernon as he prepares to join the ranks of other slasher villains. Leslie takes his identity from an urban legend about a boy who killed his family and was cast into a river by angry townsfolk.

Actors