We’ve been hearing about a sequel to the 2006 indie horror Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon since 2009, but the project has struggled to find a path to our eyes. Earlier this year the sequel—or “spreemake” as they’re calling it, described as “a mash-up of a sequel, prequel, and remake, that will deconstruct and comment on the archetypes of prequels, sequels and remakes” by director Scott Glosserman—which is titled Before the Mask: The Return of Leslie Vernon was once again teased, but some things need to go right before it can happen.

The first step is telling the story of the spreemake in an eight-issue comic, which is an adaptation of the movie’s script. An Indiegogo campaign has been launched for the project, and it serves two purposes: proving that fans actually want more Leslie Vernon, and providing a visual representation of the story they want to tell in the follow-up movie without actually making the movie.

You can read more about the crowdfunding campaign below.

A sequel to the excellent 2006 indie horror flick Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon has been in the works for quite a long time now. The movie is a twist on the slasher sub-genre, following an ambitious up-and-coming slasher who is inspired by legends like Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, and Freddy Krueger, and the film crew he has following him to document what he does.

Unfortunately things simply haven’t worked out in getting it made so far. An attempted Kickstarter campaign back in 2012 only secured a little over $183,000 of the $450,000 goal, which bums me out because I would have totally thrown in whatever I could afford to but never even heard about the crowdfunding campaign until, well…right now.

But now a shiny new year has arrived, and it might just be a good year to make a sequel. The official Facebook page for the sequel, which is currently titled Before the Mask: The Return of Leslie Vernon, has dropped the first post since 2015 teasing another attempt at the movie this year. More below.

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
Shudder Streaming
Directed by Scott Glosserman
Written by Scott Glosserman & David J. Stieve
Starring Nathan Baesel, Andrea Goethals, Kate Miner, Scott Wilson, Robert Englund, Zelda Rubinstein, Bridgett Newton, Ben Pace, Britain Spellings
Glen Echo Entertainment
Rated R | 92 Minutes
Original Release Date: October 13th, 2006

Did you ever wonder how in a slasher movie, you run and you run, and the killer always manages to end up in front? Have you ever considered that horror’s most notorious killers actually craft out lengthy plans, before showing up and wreaking havoc? Ever contemplate that Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers have a lot more working upstairs than just raging bloodlust? If you answered yes to any of these questions, and hell, even if you didn’t, then Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon from 2006 is for you.

This is one of the most original, self referential, and unique horror films of the past decade. And the best place to find this hugely underrated and underseen horror gem is on the newest horror movie streaming service, Shudder.