Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

Freddie Kruger has his Elm Street, Jason Vorhees has his lake, and in this, spry, fake-ass 'behind the scenes' feature we meet Leslie Vernon of Glenn Echo, Oregon—a soon to be infamous 'supernatural' serial killer who is shown prepping his legend, working out and explaining the hows and whys of his chosen profession to a student film crew who follow him around.

Destined to be as widely known as Leatherface, Vernon (Nathan Baesel) comes across as an eager, talkative nut; gleefully showing us the best way to create mystery, hunt victims and pop up when least expected. But.., for all it's well constructed quirks, movie in-jokes, energy and clever script, it's not much more than a souped up american xerox of Man Bites Dog (92).

That said, if you watch a lot of movies, you'll enjoy the gags, great turns by Angela Goethals, Robert Englund and Scott Willson, some choice one-liners and several smart twists that pay homage to (and take the piss out of) the entire slasher genre—while safely abiding by the 'rules' set in shite by Wes Craven's still influential Scream (96). Alongside Irish American Ninja: The Life Of George McGoogle (2005), this is a more than decent mockumentary and a buzzy/odd comedy that could do for stalk and slash what This Is Spinal Tap (83) did for Les Paul. Blink and you'll miss Kane Hodder.