Nathan Baesel has spent years hearing the same question from horror fans. Is Leslie Vernon ever coming back?
Now he can finally say yes. Speaking with iHorror at HorrorHound Weekend, Baesel talked about returning to Behind the Mask after nearly two decades and what has changed since the first film became a cult favorite.
His last appearance at the convention was around 18 years ago when the movie was still being promoted on DVD. Since then, Baesel has watched the audience for the film keep growing.
“Being back here and being able to answer people’s questions about the sequel in the affirmative is pretty wild and a privilege,” he said.
It Took a Long Time to Get Here
The sequel has almost happened before. Baesel said there were several moments over the years when the project came close enough to feel real before falling apart again.
That history made him careful this time. He did not fully believe the sequel was happening until Robert Englund signed on.
“I was holding my heart very preciously,” Baesel said. “When he signed on, I was like, ‘Okay, here we go. It’s really happening.’”
David Howard Thornton has also joined the project. For Baesel, getting everyone back together after 20 years feels bigger than simply making another sequel.
“There aren’t too many productions that can say, 20 years later, that they’re getting the band back together,” he said.
Leslie Vernon Is Still Living in a Meta-Horror World
The original Behind the Mask had a strange relationship with horror movies. Freddy, Jason and Michael were not fictional characters inside Leslie Vernon’s world. They were real people who had become legends.
Baesel said that idea is still at the center of the sequel.
“There are no film characters in our world,” he said. “In our world, these are real people doing real things.”
That is where Behind the Mask splits from something like Scream. Both films understand horror movies and both know exactly what their audiences expect. The difference is that Leslie Vernon does not live in a world where people are talking about movie killers. He lives in a world where those killers actually existed.
Baesel believes that changes how the audience connects to the story.
“It breaks the barrier between what is safe and knowable,” he said.
For fans worried that a sequel might move away from what made the original work, Baesel was clear.
“I love that we did meta the first time around, and meta is the only way to go the second time.”
After 20 years of waiting, Leslie Vernon is coming back. More importantly, it sounds like he is still playing by the same strange rules.
