Ahead For Behind The Mask

Bloody Good Horror has an interview up with David J. Stieve, who wrote the delightful Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, and he gives us some more info on where his head's at with regards to there ever being a sequel (which is something he's spoken on before):

BGH: Nathan mentioned that you might be working on a script for the sequel, maybe showing Leslie getting what he always wanted, his fame so to speak. Can you expound on your ideas for a sequel? Is that something that's inevitable?

David J. Stieve: I wish I could say that a sequel is inevitable, but I can't. Hollywood just doesn't have much room for absolutes. Had it done gangbusters business at the box office and gone "Blair Witch" or "Cabin Fever" or something, then yes, of course it would be different. And that's not to say a sequel isn't a possibility. But the jury's still out on the business end of it. Buy lots of DVD's, please! Great stocking stuffer gift, it's never too early to start shopping! But even then, the logistics become tricky. I've likened it to trying to land an airliner on a postage stamp. When you have actors like Scott Wilson and Robert Englund involved, it's a challenge to get them all back. Scotty (Glosserman) has other projects on his slate, as do I, and it's not like Nathan and Angela are sitting around with nothing to do, either. To get everyone together again, as much as I'd love it, would be a steep mountain to climb.

Having said all that, for me personally as a writer, I would relish the opportunity to tell the next chapter, and I do have a framework in mind. It does involve what Leslie would do next. He's only just begun to execute (pun intended) his master plan on Glen Echo. This was his opening salvo in what he aspires to be a lifelong passion project. He's succeeded in the first phases, setting up his legend and pulling off The Boy's return. Now he'd want to cash in on that in the following years, to create a larger mythology. This was only the beginning, and he would only get better, bigger, more terrifying as he learned and pushed himself. I think there's a ton of material left to explore in that, and self-referential aspects of the genre left to showcase. Just on some of the stuff that got cut from THIS film, we'd probably be halfway or a third of the way to a finished script!

On top of that, there's the entire untapped potential of the devices and cliches of slasher horror sequels to look at. And last, as I mentioned, one of the areas that appeals to me the most is what happens to Taylor. Survivor girls are subject to their own cliches, and not very many have come back with any great success. Typically, a survivor girl from one flick is the first to go in the next, or she sacrifices herself for the new survivor girl. Halloween's "Laurie Strode" being the obvious antithesis, she's really the only survivor girl who matters in my opinion. Taylor Gentry would be a lot more like Laurie Strode in my vision. And let's face facts, if Leslie aspires to be the next great slasher icon, he's not going to get there without Taylor, the next great Survivor Girl.

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