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



The Cabin in the Woods was deconstruction of a number of well-worn horror tropes while Scream started an entire trend of self-referential slasher films.  In between those two came a plucky horror comedy called Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon.  Somehow this slipped by me.  Horror from the 2000s - in fact, up to about the early 2010s - is some of the worst ever produced.  It was a time filled with bloodless PG-13 fright films and a handful that tried to carry on the legacy of Scream and just ended up being annoying.

Behind the Mask is a bit different.

Leslie Vernon (Nathan Baesel) is a budding supernatural killer.  The legend in the town of Glenn Echo is that Vernon was thought possessed by evil and, after killing his parents, was tossed from a cliff into a waterfall.  Since the body was never found it made the story ripe for urban legend.  The difference with Vernon, however, is that he has agreed to let a group of grad students led by Taylor Gentry (Angela Goethals) follow him around and learn how everything is done from the ground up.

Vernon introduces them to an old pro in the business named Eugene (Scott Wilson) and his wife Jamie (Bridgett Newton) who gleefully offer advice on how to be the best serial killer while Vernon himself explains how everything is done, from picking out the right survivor girl (Kate Miner) to the meticulous planning that goes in to setting up every single murder.  However, the budding journalists forget that the best slasher films are the ones that are not so predictable. 

This was quite the surprise.  Well-written, well-acted and well-filmed, a welcome contrast to many movies that came out around the same time.  There are many laugh-out-loud moments throughout, as well as some familiar faces popping up.  Wilson would become known in The Walking Dead, but had in the past been recognized for his work in thrillers such as In Cold Blood.  Robert Englund shows up as Doc Halloran, the shrink hot on Leslie's trail.  Zelda Rubinstein, best known as the psychic in Poltergeist, shows up for her last role.  

This is, however, Nathan Baesel's movie.  The soul patch is annoying, and one of the things I'm glad to see has disappeared over the last two decades, but he plays Vernon in a joyful, bur psychologically abusive, manner.  Angel Goethals brings out the moral vacancy of Taylor who, although she knows all the talk is about slaughtering people as if it were another day going to work, gets a vicarious thrill out of the whole thing while also trying to pretend she has a moral high ground.

Things do get a bit predictable toward the end, and this is nowhere near as bloody as one would hope, but it's a lot of fun.  It's one of those cult movies in search of an actual cult and, as of writing this, hopefully enough of one will form to get the sequel out.  I have no idea what everyone will be up to 20 years later, but it will be interesting to see.

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
Time: 92 minutes
Starring: Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Scott Wilson, Kate Miner, Robert Englund
Director: Scott Glosserman
 

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