‘Behind the Mask’ Star Robert Englund on New Movie: “It Was a True Sequel”

Dread Central was excited to learn yesterday that a sequel to the cult favorite meta-slasher Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is officially announced. The follow-up has been in the works for a long time, but Behind the Mask II: The Return of Leslie Vernon is now really happening. While there’s no firm sense of what to expect plot wise, we may have some guesses, if previous iterations of the long-gestating project give any clues.

We’ve reported that the next film is set to reunite writer/director Scott Glosserman and co-writer David J. Stieve with original stars Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, and Robert Englund, as Leslie Vernon, Taylor Gentry, and Doc Halloran, respectively.

This past October, I had the opportunity to interview Englund about the A Nightmare on Elm Street 4K Blu-ray box set. When the conversation turns to other beloved franchises in his filmography that deserve a second life, of course, I had to ask about Leslie.

“You mentioned Urban Legend and Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon,” he said, then adding, “and that last one, I’ll tell you, there is a great script out there for a sequel.”

“It wasn’t a remake … it was a true sequel,” he explained. “The idea was that they’re making a movie about Leslie Vernon, and HBO is producing a documentary about the making of that movie, like . In the story, there’s an actor playing Leslie … a method actor who never takes off the mask. The female lead and I are brought in as technical advisors. Then people on the crew start dying … the gaffer gets electrocuted, the seamstress is literally stitched to death … and it turns out Leslie’s really back.”