David Howard Thornton Joins ‘Behind the Mask II: The Return of Leslie Vernon’
One of the absolute best and criminally underseen modern horror classics of recent decades is easily Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, and now 20 years after the original, it was recently officially announced last night that Behind the Mask II: The Return of Leslie Vernon is finally happening, reuniting the director, writer, and cast, coming in 2027, and today brings news that Terrifier‘s Art the Clown himself, David Howard Thornton, has joined the cast in a “key role.”
The star of all three Terrifier films, Thornton will not just have a cameo, but will play a “key role” in The Return of Leslie Vernon, as first reported by Variety.
We also have a new official synopsis: “The sequel picks up in a horror landscape that has changed dramatically since Leslie first emerged, as the old rules of the genre collide with a new wave of modern slashers, viral killers, legacy sequels and blood-soaked icons built for the internet age.”
Director Scott Glosserman said in a statement, “David is one of the defining faces of the modern slasher era. If Behind the Mask was about deconstructing the classic rules, then a sequel 20 years later has to reckon with what the genre has become. Bringing David into Leslie’s world lets us put the old guard and the new blood in direct conversation, which is exactly where this movie should live.”
The announcement of the sequel came at a 20th anniversary screening of the first film, where an announcement teaser was unveiled, which you can watch below.
Director Scott Glosserman and writer David J. Stieve are returning for the sequel, as well as original stars Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, and Robert Englund, reprising their roles as Leslie Vernon, Taylor Gentry, and Doc Halloran, respectively.
Paper Street Pictures, led by Aaron B. Koontz and Cameron Burns, is producing the sequel, and Adam F. Goldberg (The Goldbergs, Shelby Oaks) is an executive producer.
In the original 2006 meta slasher, “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.”
Fans of The Rise of Leslie Vernon have wanted a sequel ever since the final frame of Rise‘s closing credits, and you can definitely count us among them.
Check out the announcement teaser below, and stay tuned for more updates on Behind the Mask: The Return of Leslie Vernon coming soon.
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