2017 is already crammed full of fantastic horror films on the horizon, including the return of beloved horror icons like Chucky, Leatherface, and possibly even Jason Voorhees. But it seems as though fans may be in for the return of yet one more icon: Leslie Vernon. After a long stretch of silence, lasting over a year, a certain social media account sprang to life again last night with a mysterious message:

2017 seems like a good year indeed. Especially if it brings marked progress on the long awaited sequel of 2006’s sleeper hit Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, which this small but significant post seems to indicate.  It’s also quite vague, so what could this actually mean?

The road to a sequel has been very long and arduous, but the biggest hint of progress came in an interview with Morbid Much. Back in September, actor Nathan Baesel, who plays Leslie Vernon, said of the film’s status:

The script is good. Really good. It plays on conventions of prequels/sequels as you’d expect but the vehicle of the story is really clever, even more so than BTM. B4TM is closer now than it’s ever been. I hope to have more word on that soon so keep hanging in there. It’ll be worth it

B4TM as in Before the Mask: The Return of Leslie Vernon.  So we know that, as with the original, this sequel will blur the lines between a prequel, sequel, and likely everything between.  Of course, with the same brilliant minds behind the film, we could already expect the script to be good.  What the important take away here seems to be is that the script is complete.  Meaning that this sequel is ripe for production to begin, if it hasn’t already in secret. Between this interview and the social media’s return to activity, all signs point to a sequel/prequel set in motion.

Here’s the important thing, fellow fans: we need to support this sequel. It’s been over a decade coming, and the lack of sequel has not been for lack of effort on behalf of writer/director Scott Glosserman and the entire Leslie Vernon team. They want to see this sequel made as much as we do. Actually, scratch that. More than we do. After Anchor Bay refused to fund a sequel (dumb move, guys), they took to Kickstarter in 2012 to get a sequel funded.  We failed them. It didn’t get funded, and Glosserman had to regroup to find another way.

It seems as though we’re nearing the home stretch of finally getting that long desired sequel, and it’s up to the fans to see it through. Follow Before the Mask: The Return of Leslie Vernon on Facebook, or Scott Glosserman on Twitter.  If they need help via crowdfunding, then we need to not sit on our hands this time. When the sequel does get a release, we need to support the crap out of it.  Go ahead and pop in your DVDs and rewatch the original, while we await further news.

Because it looks like Leslie Vernon is finally returning.

Original Plot Synopsis
The next great psycho horror slasher has given a documentary crew exclusive access to his life as he plans his reign of terror over the sleepy town of Glen Echo.