Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon

If you haven't seen the cult classic "Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon," you're missing one of the best meta-horror movies since "Scream." Part mockumentary, part slasher film, "Behind the Mask" is about a career-hungry reporter named Taylor Gentry (the terrific Angela Goethals) who is doing an in-depth piece about a notorious serial killer called Leslie Vernon (Nathan Baesel) who is back in his hometown to reignite his career.

Vernon discusses his various stalking tactics, his cardio routine (to make sure it looks like he's only walking but still able to catch up to his running prey), how he chooses his victims, and how he plans the big night. We even meet one of his heroes, another killer (Scott Wilson) who is in his retirement and married to one of his final girls.

It's all very clever and frequently hilarious, even more so because the film swings back and forth between a documentary hand-held look and a full-on wide-screen theatrical horror film. What the film jokes about, though, soon becomes reality - and that's when the fun and games end.

Fans of the film know how good it is, and most can quote a lot of the one-liners. "It's like my Christmas," Vernon says on the night he plans to murder a gaggle of teenagers.

Special Features in this Scream Factory release are plentiful, although they can be a little bland.

Joys and Curses - This extra features interviews with actors Goethals and Ben Pace, and co-writer and co-producer David Stieve. While it offers a modicum of interesting factoids, it gets a bit dull watching talking heads for a half hour.

Before the Mask: The Comic Book - While the filmmakers never achieved enough money in their Kickstarter to finance a sequel, they opted for a comic-book followup, which has yet to be released. This interview with comic book artist Nathan Thomas Milliner is interesting at first, but the talking head aspect continues.

The Making of "Behind the Mask" and The Casting of "Behind the Mask" are older features that are occasionally stimulating, with cool behind-the-scenes footage of the cast and crew including Robert (Freddy Krueger) Englund and Zelda ("This house is clean") Rubenstein. We also get to see Baesel and Goethals acting out scenes during the audition process.

Deleted and Extended Scenes - Some are more intriguing than others, but for fans, it's always fun to see more stuff.

Informative Audio Commentary with co-writer/Director Scott Glosserman, moderated by Filmmakers Adam Green and Joe Lynch

The Cast Audio Commentary with Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Britain Spelling, and Ben Pace has moments of inspiration, but it's hard to hear what people are saying because they keep talking over each other and veering off-topic. That said, any time I can hear Angela talk about stuff is a plus. (Okay, she's a friend of mine, but she's so good!)