History Film / BehindTheMaskTheRiseOfLeslieVernon

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Leslie has a habit of discussing murder in the same sentence as he might discuss his favorite food or his pets. One of his comments suggests that his favorite food and his pets may be [[EatTheDog one and the same.]]

DeconstructiveParody, LampshadeHanging and metahumor are the name of the game in ''Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon'', in which charming psycho killer Vernon brings a film crew along to document the series of murders that will cement his name in the slasher hall of fame along with [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees]], [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]] and [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael Myers]].

* BatmanGambit: Leslie is ''really'' good at predicting what people will do. Indeed, we see his meticulous preparation to make sure to cover every eventuality in the isolated location that is killing zone.

* FinalGirl: Referred to as a "survivor girl." Played with, in that the girl Leslie has been setting up as the FinalGirl [[spoiler:turns out not to be a virgin, and thus [[SexSignalsDeath not the designated survivor]]. It's ''Taylor'', the maker of the documentary, who was his intended FinalGirl all along.]] It's also implied that Jamie, Eugene's wife, had once been his survivor girl. It's also mentioned that a proper Slasher will select his Final Girl months in advance, which one of the documentary crew likens to [[OneIPreparedEarlier having an example pie ready to eat in the demo kitchen of a cooking show.]]

* InternalReveal: The mockumentary crew has this when they realize this is ''not'' a elaborate prank by Leslie Vernon and he's just murdered two people.

* MayDecemberRomance: There's at least twenty years between Eugene and Jamie, and probably more than thirty.

* {{Mockumentary}}: A bunch of graduate students follow around a slasher as he prepares for a supernatural killing spree.

* RealAfterAll: Double subverted. [[spoiler: Leslie Vernon is ''not'' Leslie Vernon the boy who killed his mother with scythe and was dumped into a lake. He is Leslie Mancuso from Reno, Nevada. He ''is'', however, a dangerous serial killer.]]

** ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'': Not only are Freddy Krueger's killings mentioned during the opening, the house featured in [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984 the original movie]] is shown with Creator/KaneHodder as a briefly-shown resident. Additionally, there's a shot of three little girls in white playing jumprope.

* TheScourgeOfGod: Booze, drugs, and sex are conventional means of getting killed in an slasher; this is no different.
* SexSignalsDeath: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]]. The reason Leslie kills the copulating young couple first is because they are both [[DistractedByTheSexy distracted]] and [[LetsSplitUpGang away from the central group.]]

* StatuesqueStunner: [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1567202/ Kate Lang Johnson]], the actress who plays Leslie's survivor girl Kelly, is both very attractive and ''very tall''. It's especially noticeable when she's standing next to Taylor, who is played by the [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0324462/ 5'4" Angela Goethals]]. Her height is never pointed out in the film. The closest the film comes to doing so is in the audio commentary, when some of the filmmakers seem to notice it for the first time.

* StonersAreFunny: Two of teenagers in Leslie's target group are [[FlatCharacter one-dimensional potheads]] appropriately credited as [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Stoned Guy]] and Slightly More Stoned Guy.

* TheVoiceless: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] for most of the movie; unlike most of the well-known slashers, Leslie is ''very'' chatty. This flip-flops during the final act, when Leslie gets into character and plays this trope (mostly) straight.

* YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb: The situation for which Leslie is preparing. He expects the group of friends who associate with survivor girl Kelly will dare each other to spend the night in the [[HauntedHouse creepy old farm house]] on the Vernon orchard.

* DeathBySex: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed well in advance]] and eventually [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by Leslie when he begins his killing spree. It's even [[JustifiedTrope justified]] since the reason Leslie kills the copulating young couple first is because they are both [[DistractedByTheSexy distracted]] and [[LetsSplitUpGang away from the central group.]]

* FinalGirl: Referred to as a "survivor girl." Played with, in that the girl Leslie has been setting up as the FinalGirl [[spoiler:turns out not to be a virgin, and thus [[DeathBySex not the designated survivor]]. It's ''Taylor'', the maker of the documentary, who was his intended FinalGirl all along.]] It's also implied that Jamie, Eugene's wife, had once been his survivor girl. It's also mentioned that a proper Slasher will select his Final Girl months in advance, which one of the documentary crew likens to [[OneIPreparedEarlier having an example pie ready to eat in the demo kitchen of a cooking show.]]

* YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb: The situation for which Leslie is preparing. He expects the group of friends who associate with survivor girl Kelly will dare each other to spend the night in the [[HauntedHouse creepy old farm house]] on the Vernon orchard. Naturally, they do, with the [[DeathBySex usual]] [[TheScourgeOfGod results.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are many clues dropped throughout that [[spoiler:Taylor, not Kelly, is Leslie's real intended "survivor girl". Taylor is dressed fairly plainly and doesn't wear makeup, she's seen turning down a beer when visiting Eugene's house, she's squicked out when Leslie describes a sex scene in detail, and she's clueless as to the phallic metaphors Leslie invokes -- all indicators that she's sexually inexperienced and otherwise "innocent". Kelly, meanwhile, is seemingly dressed like a modest final girl... except for her willingness to [[ShesGotLegs show off her long legs]] in a [[ZettaiRyouiki tiny miniskirt]], which Todd even comments on.]]

* HandWave: Practically used in-universe. In a deleted scene, Eugene recounts the ways in which he'd been "killed" in his "career," including ''decapitation,'' among others. When asked how he survived, he says something about "meditation techniques" and "homeopathic remedies." There's a ''homeopathic remedy'' for ''having your freaking head cut off?!?''

* ComedicSociopathy: Leslie, Eugene, and Eugine's wife, Jamie, all speak about serial killing as if it's a legitimate career they're deeply passionate about. They don't really see their victims as people so much as tools to balance their evil against, with the possible exception of the FinalGirl, and even then Leslie says he's more in love with the idea of a person overcoming despair than the person themselves.

* DeadpanSnarker: Todd, the camera man.

* ShesGotLegs: Todd remarks quite approvingly about Kelly's long legs. [[spoiler:The fact that [[ZettaiRyouiki she shows them off so much]] is one of the first clues that she's not the virgin Leslie is building her up to be -- and not his real survivor girl.]]
* SinisterScythe: Leslie's WeaponOfChoice, although it's actually a ''hand'' scythe.

* TooDumbToLive: Lampshaded.

* WeaponOfChoice: Though he uses some other tools here and there, most of Leslie's kills are performed with a handheld scythe.

* PantyShot: The camera watches one of the girls ascending a ladder. [[FanService Twice.]]

* TakeThat: Eugene is rather dismissive of the uninspired slashers who'd just carve their way through a sorority house or something, and frequently only had one half-assed killing spree in them. (A reference to the innumerable low-quality slasher ripoffs that succeeded, mostly, ''Friday the 13th''.

** Eugene is implied to be the killer in ''Film/BlackChristmas'', ''Film/TheToolboxMurders'', and possibly [[Film/{{Hellraiser}} Pinhead]] given the Puzzle Box is in the back of his truck. This is mentioned in his speech that he was involved in 'quantity' over quality.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: [[InUniverse Intentional]] on Leslie's part. He tells Taylor all the Freudian motifs within the journey of FinalGirl towards heroism, namely how the moment she grabs a weapon (a phallic object) to fight him she's, in his own words, "[[FreudWasRight empowering herself with cock]]". [[spoiler: In the climax this gets a reference when Taylor is being choked by Leslie, causing she to run down her hand through his chest trying to grasp his weapon in a way that evokes rather strongly sexual imagery]].

* AdaptationalMundanity: Slasher killers like Freddy and Jason seem to be real in this world, but everything seems to indicate that they are people who prepare a lot,, rather than real supernatural beings.

** It is one to ''Film/{{Scream}}'' due to Leslie's study and explanation of slasher conventions. Eugene and Jamie also give tips on how to survive a slasher film.

** It is one to ''Film/{{Scream}}'' due to Leslie's study and explanation of slasher conventions.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/{{Scream}}''.

* FinalGirl: Referred to as a "survivor girl." Played with, in that the girl Leslie has been setting up as the FinalGirl [[spoiler:turns out not to be a virgin, and thus [[DeathBySex not the designated survivor]]. It's ''Taylor'', the maker of the documentary, who was his intended FinalGirl all along.]] It's also implied that Jamie, Eugene's wife, had once been his survivor girl.

* OurSlashersAreDifferent: They're apparently BadassNormal CrazyPrepared individuals rather than actual supernatural killers. They just take advantage of ScoobyDooHoax local legends and myths (or outright invent them) in order to scare their prey.