Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2007)

Synopsis
Meet Leslie Vernon (Nathan Baesal). He’s just like you and me, striving to make his life’s dream come true, but with one slight difference. Leslie’s dream is to become your worst nightmare. Jason, Freddy, Michael… we all need someone to look up to. Leslie is the self proclaimed “next great psycho killer” and he has given Taylor Gentry (Angela Goethals) and her local documentary crew exclusive access to his life as he plans his reign of terror over the sleepy town of Glen Echo. He takes the crew through his training process (cardio, cardio, cardio!), bloodbath strategy planning (know your exits before your victims do) and the little details that give an up and coming slasher that certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ (when selecting your mask do you go for sleek and sexy or rough but spooky?) Leslie introduces the crew to Eugene (Scott Wilson) a retired killer/ sausage enthusiast who sees a little of himself in the young man studying at his feet. All the while he deconstructs the conventions and archetypes of the horror genre (like how Taylor is a perfect “final girl” in the making) for the group with emphasis on how he’s going to change things for his generation. But practice DOES make perfect and, as Leslie coordinates a dry run with a group of unsuspecting teenagers lured to his cabin in the woods, Taylor and the crew become split on whether or not they should intervene on their horrific story. But, in this twisted tale of “man-knifes-dog”, intervention may just land them on the receiving end of the camera…and a knife. Also stars genre legends Robert England (A Nightmare On Elm Street) and Zelda Rubenstein (Poltergeist).