Roughly two weeks ago, horror fans were given a long-overdue reason to celebrate. It was announced that, after a lengthy period of silence, we’re FINALLY getting a sequel to the beloved 2000s indie meta-horror slasher, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. The decades-later continuation, Behind the Mask II: The Return of Leslie Vernon, has already rocketed past its Kickstarter goal and is on its way to hitting multiple tantalizing stretch goals.
In the words of Alice Cooper (singing about Jason Voorhees, hilariously), “He’s back! (He’s the man behind the mask!).” Leslie Vernon will presumably have plenty to say about the new crop of slasher darlings who’ve taken over since the original film’s release, played once again by Nathan Baesel.
Also returning is the creative team that conceived Leslie Vernon. Director Scott Glosserman and writer David J. Stieve are in charge of creative once more, teaming with producers Aaron B. Koontz and Cameron Burns, and their company, Paper Street Pictures (in addition to executive producer Adam F. Goldberg of The Goldbergs, The Muppets Mayhem, and Shelby Oaks fame).
With so much excitement around the announcement, I was lucky enough to sit down with Mr. Glosserman, Mr. Stieve, and Mr. Koontz to pry any information about the upcoming sequel from their clutches. We all know Leslie likes to talk—hopefully, his creators would follow suit.
There’s No Better Time Than the Present for This Sequel
The first question was simple: Why now? It’s been twenty years since The Rise of Leslie Vernon premiered, and it has since amassed a cult following. The answer is even simpler. “Scott and I have had ideas for the sequel since we were on the set of the first one,” says Stieve.
“We’ve felt the pressure to deliver something for a long time,” he continues. “Seeing that twenty-year mile marker coming up, we were like, it’s now or never.”
It’s hard to argue with Stieve’s urgency. Nostalgia is an intoxicating aroma, from the 2000s remake boom and beyond, to studio appetites for franchise sequels over original concepts. But, with more horror releases seeking audiences than ever, it feels like any title’s window for relevance is shrinking by the day. Leslie Vernon’s fanbase has been ravenous for more since 2006, but could the character survive another decade without an on-screen appearance?
As Stieve acknowledges, “[Leslie Vernon’s popularity has] been lifted, grown, and carried by our fans. We wouldn’t be having this conversation right now without the groundswell of support that’s organically sprung up around the [sequel], and the character, Leslie Vernon.”
The iron is still hot, and by no means of luck. The Rise of Leslie Vernon is a rare Scream successor that nails the balance between genre roasting and malicious terror. But even top-grade cuts of meat can spoil. The twentieth is, as everyone acknowledges, the ideal anniversary to unleash Leslie Vernon’s competitive slasher satire once more.
Glosserman adds, “Aaron and Cameron have brought the belief … the momentum that Paper Street Pictures has created specifically imbued [us with] this sense that we can do it.” The partnership between Glosserman, Stieve, and Paper Street Pictures dates back to circa three years ago, as revealed. “They’ve come with such alacrity and excitement and passion,” Glosserman goes on, referencing the support Koontz and Burns’ company has shown since the wheels started officially turning. “We’ve gotten the band back together, plus there’s one new member, [Paper Street Pictures], but it feels like [they’ve] been part of the family the whole time.”
“I’m a horror junkie, yet I’m a fan first. I’m just lucky to get to make movies,” Koontz gushes. But the sequel wasn’t served to him on a silver platter. “David made a short, Wait for It … in the Leslie Vernon universe. However, I had heard from people that [Glosserman and Stieve] don’t want to do a sequel. So that was the rumor going around, that they were dead to [the idea of a feature-length sequel].”
Luckily, Koontz didn’t throw in the towel. As a producer, his resume includes indie horror darlings like Starry Eyes, Revealer, Blood Relatives, The Artifice Girl, Scare Package, and Shelby Oaks. Koontz is well-entrenched in the horror business and well-connected. Thanks to a mutual friend and a shared love of Leslie Vernon, one-half of the Paper Street Pictures duo reached out anyway to explore potential collaborations.
“I just wanted to do something [with Leslie Vernon]. I’ve made so many movies: some good, some bad. I reached this point where I just want to make movies with my friends—the movies I’m dying to make. I [knew] I could get [a Leslie Vernon sequel] made. Scott raised some money, I have access to some funds, and we can run a Kickstarter. The fans are there. So, after three years of [working on] stories and ideas and all this, we’re finally here. It’s the biggest honor of my career to be a part of this band … it’s one of my favorite bands, and [now] I get to, like, play the bass.”
Koontz’s determination aligns with the passion so many Leslie Vernon fans share. As the conversation continued, there was a running acknowledgment of the ride-or-dies who made not only this sequel possible, but also comic books and convention appearances. Glosserman and Stieve’s words burst with appreciation; they aren’t taking their sequel lightly. Nor should they, as they look to enshrine Leslie Vernon’s legacy.
Fans Will Drive This Sequel
Per Stieve, The Return of Leslie Vernon is designed to be fan-built, by and for the very backers who’ve made Leslie Vernon a household name:
“One of the functions and the intentions of the Kickstarter campaign, the way we’re structuring it, is that we want to give the fans who have gotten us here the opportunity to participate in this process in a much more organic way. Like, behind the scenes. Not special features that are added on after everything’s over. We want to thank the people who got us here, but it’s also important for us to encourage young filmmakers to try new things in this ever-changing landscape. There’s a concerted effort here to have this be a really inclusive fan experience throughout, not just after it’s over.”
No pressure, but a lot is riding on Stieve’s screenplay. That’s not unique to The Return of Leslie Vernon; every movie starts with words on a page. Yet Leslie Vernon himself—and the late Scott Wilson as his mentor, Eugene—has roasted slasher sequels. And now he’s starring in one.
Glosserman acknowledges how the genre has changed since their film debuted, and what challenges that shift brings.
“In the aughts, it was all about remakes: The Hills Have Eyes, Halloween. But also, say, Halloween H2O. [We had to decide], are we doing a prequel, a sequel, a remake? We got to opine on the conventions and archetypes of the sequel for the sake of doing the sequel itself. But [those movements] came and went, and then a meta, self-referential approach permeated every genre. It was Tropic Thunder, all the way to Wicked. So, we had to stay ahead. Dave’s on what, draft number seventeen of version number eleven? It’s taken a long time.”
As Stieve acknowledges, he wasn’t ready to tackle a Leslie Vernon sequel until now. That’s not a talent knock, but more about life experience. “On my end, I was trying a little too hard to find a way to get Leslie and Taylor back together. You know, what are we saying about the genre? I didn’t have the experience or the knowledge [prior], I hadn’t lived enough.”
There’s reverence in Stieve’s words, as he respects the weight of Leslie Vernon’s comeback. It’s encouraging to hear, knowing how other franchises have churned out sequels without these same considerations. “Finally, I got to a point a few years ago where I realized, if the first film was a metaphor for young artists struggling to make it in a business and crack in … well, what’s happened to me in my career?” Stieve isn’t shy about bringing his personal experiences into The Return of Leslie Vernon, paralleling his killer’s struggles in the hack-and-scare industry with his own professional trajectory.
“[The story idea] suddenly erupted. This [sequel] is what happens to an aging artist in the twilight of their career. It bookended the first [film] perfectly, and that’s why I say this [opportunity] is fortuitous. The metaphor finally made sense.”
Of the horror satire canon, great or not, it’s usually clear what films are skewered over a fire, charring to (hopeful) perfection. For films like Scream, Dude Bro Party Massacre III, or The Rise of Leslie Vernon, that winky-jokey focus is on the slasher subgenre, known for some ludicrous sequel swings. So, I asked, what—if any—legacy sequels would be on the tongue of Leslie Vernon’s ire?
“All of them,” Stieve quickly responds. Everything on the table, and Leslie Vernon’s got the carving knife.
However, Koontz provided a little more specificity. “Look at the current state of Slasherdome. These movies are referencing ’80s [slashers]. So now we’re referencing those movies that reference the ’80s movies we originally referenced in the first film.” It’s a bit of a snake-eating-its-own-tail situation; a strange circle of life that can become cyclical through homage. So, Koontz drops the singular question that helped the sequel avoid being the same-era regurgitation the subgenre falls into. “How does Leslie see this world?” That’s the most important aspect. It’s not about recreation, but more about what Leslie can bring to the conversation.
“What have [Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers] become in their career? What has Leslie become in his career?” Koontz continues. “How does Leslie view [Art the Clown] in Terrifier? How does Leslie view the Scream sequels with, you know, five different killers?” Glosserman adds, “Who sold out, and what techniques did they use?” Stieve is not far behind, contributing, “What would Eugene say about the state of things?“
“There’s that moment in the first film where Taylor is sitting there, and she’s like, oh my god, this was genius,” Koontz redirects. “As a fan, I think the way that [The Rise of Leslie Vernon] subverted everything was brilliant. I did the schlocky version in Scare Package. They did the really, really smart version. So, now it’s like, what is that next-level commentary that isn’t just Cabin in the Woods, that isn’t Scream 2.” Koontz would go on to compare their developing story to a Russian nesting doll of weighty slasher examinations, starting from obvious entry points and taking fifty steps back until they have an exciting original concept. “It’s clever, it’s cool. Not to shoot our shot, but you’re going to be like … no fucking way.”
Jokingly, I question whether it’d be harder to make overt references this time around, like saying “Crystal Lake” or “Haddonfield,” showing the A Nightmare on Elm Street house, or even referencing Chucky as canon in the film’s universe. “Well, since we successfully sued GEICO for $600 million when they used Leslie Vernon, we now can do anything,” laughs a cheeky Glosserman, referencing how the automotive insurance company produced a commercial that absolutely borrows (cough steals cough) Leslie Vernon’s likeness.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, as they say (until lawyers actually get involved).
Money is, frustratingly, an important asset for filmmakers. That’s why the Kickstarter for The Return of Leslie Vernon is paramount, while not essential (everything earned is gravy on top). The team’s original goal was to raise $20,000 in extra dough. With 24 days to go, they’ve already received $179,000, unlocking the first stretch goal: more characters and stunts. At $200,000, they’ll go bigger with kills. At $300,000, a new horror icon cameo is promised. But who?
Glosserman won’t name names, but answers diplomatically: “The person you want to bring in is the person we want to bring in.” Koontz’s business brain goes a step further. “I’m big on setting expectations at a particular level. Over-deliver and under-promise. So I don’t want to say the name, but you’re smart, and there are a couple of names, actually.”
Behind the Mask‘s Horror Cameos Past and Future
I mean, we’ve already seen Kane Hodder and Robert Englund in The Rise of Leslie Vernon (the latter expected to return), plus a bonus Zelda Rubinstein. My pitch for the sequel? Do what the Scream franchise didn’t (or, still doesn’t) have the guts to do: bring back Matthew Lillard as Stu Macher, ALIVE, because #StuLives.
Funnily enough, this actually leads to an anecdotal problem for anything Leslie Vernon. As Stieve notes: “This has tripped us up for twenty years. We can’t technically reference Scream.” He elaborates, “In Scream, those characters are talking about Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street as films. So we can’t technically have Scream characters in Leslie’s universe. Otherwise, I mean, Lillard would be my dream, are you kidding me?”
“[These parts are] more than a cameo, though. It’s not like Kane Hodder just looking at the camera one time,” Koontz interjects. “There are roles written for certain [actors] that we might have to modify if we didn’t get those people,” confirms Glosserman. Which, in the end, is more rewarding than a drive-by from your favorite under-the-mask performer or final girl. Fingers crossed, The Return of Leslie Vernon will be chock full of familiar faces. Who wouldn’t want to see David Howard Thorton honking Art’s horn in Leslie’s face like a pesky rival?
Speaking of Art the Clown in reference to contemporary slasher figureheads, and how Leslie Vernon might match today’s crop of popular psycho killers, we have to talk about the gore factor. In my head, The Rise of Leslie Vernon is a nastier movie than it actually is. That’s not a diss, but it’s no Terrifier 2, or Heart Eyes, or Silent Night (2012) on the splatter scale. “It was trying to be a 1980-1981 movie, where the door opens, and the body falls,” reminds Glosserman. Not to mention, The Rise of Leslie Vernon was shot for $260,000 in 2004. That’s the textbook definition of budgetary restraints.
So, with Paper Street Pictures involved, would The Return of Leslie Vernon up the gore game? “You’ve got today’s artists pushing the envelope [of violence], like In A Violent Nature. How’s Leslie going to view that? Is he going to one-up them, or maintain his own version—which will play? Then you have the conventions and archetypes of sequels and remakes, which are always more of a spectacle.” Seems to be as though Leslie Vernon is going to be messier and bloodier this time around. It won’t just be a torn-out beating heart and off-screen deaths this time around.
“You know how much practical effects mean to my company,” Koontz chimes in. “There might be a bit of an ‘Am I too old for this shit’ kind of thing [with Leslie]. How can he keep up?” Not to mention, creative kills themselves are a sequel trope. Take Freddy Krueger, for example, and his dreamland massacre sprees. What started as knife-hand swipes and stabs turns into comic-book superhero deaths and video-game demises. “There’s already some fun stuff in the script, but we have to do things the way Leslie would want to. Can [our sequel] deaths comment on how slasher kills have been changing over the years?”
If there’s one sequelitis symptom the team wants to avoid, it’s the at-times soulless nature of second, fourth, or tenth franchise entries. “We don’t want to be a mile wide, an inch deep,” says Glosserman. “[The Return of Leslie Vernon] is all about enriching the sequel with an incredible amount of substance and depth, while also making fun of sequel examples [that gratuitously chase dollars over quality].” There’s a balance to follow-ups that Stieve references, honoring canon familiarity while still pushing ideological boundaries. “I’ve done what I can [in the script], but it’s up to [Glosserman] now to figure out how much you deliver on the expectations of people who’ve seen the first film.”
A Ferris Wheel to Fix a Behind the Mask Mistake?
Most curious of all, while scouring Kickstarter, I spotted the $750,000 stretch goal labeled “FERRIS WHEEL.” There’s no amusement park in The Rise of Leslie Vernon, so I had to ask. Why a Ferris wheel?
“Oh my god, I cannot believe the mythology this is already taking,” grins Glosserman. “There’s something that happened in the credits sequence of the first film that has haunted Scott his entire life,” adds Stieve. “Should this be the time we say it?” Glosserman and Stieve briefly debate whether to reveal their hand on the Ferris wheel, but Koontz doesn’t want to spoil the attraction’s involvement and gives a vaguer, producer-friendly answer. “There’s a thing that they want to make good on from the first film, and there’s a set piece that we want to create to do so. And that set piece? It’s gonna be epic.“
Glosserman adds guiltily, “I made a mistake, and I didn’t realize this mistake for, like, at least a decade, so I want to make up for said mistake in the biggest way possible. So I need a Ferris wheel.” I don’t know what’s going on, frankly, but what I do know is that not only do Glosserman and The Return of Leslie Vernon deserve a Ferris wheel, but WE deserve it, too. Only $570,622 more dollars to go! Let’s push that Kickstarter!
If The Return of Leslie Vernon is successful, are there plans for future releases? Perhaps hitting sooner than another twenty years? Glosserman reflects on the past as he formulates his response and the ideas that’ve been kicked around so far. Which, through his words, sounds like they have plenty of ideas not just about continuing the feature film franchise, but Leslie Vernon as a whole, and how he can spread his brand of sarcastic fearmongering throughout pop culture.
“There are so many different ways that the last twenty years could have gone. We harbored ideas about a school for survivor girls, or about different horror icons emerging from this canon. We can continue to do movies, if we’re so lucky, that stay within this conceit, or [explore Leslie as an] intellectual property. There’s a whole world, but [expansion is only] possible until or unless the sequel meets a broader audience.”
So, we’ll see. Behind the Mask II: The Return of Leslie Vernon is slated for a 2027 release; patience is a virtue. Everyone behind this sequel sounds like they understand the assignment. This isn’t just another run-of-the-mill slasher. Leslie Vernon’s return morphs from a lofty dream into a life-changing reality for some fans, and it’s those devotees, the Vernon Army, whom Glosserman, Stieve, and Koontz care most about.
Well, maybe second most, right under that damn ominous Ferris wheel.
#GetLeslieVernonHisFerrisWheel