The film is shot as a documentary set in a world where the killers depicted in famous slasher films are real. A female journalist named Taylor Gentry and her two cameramen, Doug and Todd, document the preparations of Leslie Vernon as he prepares to join the ranks of other slasher villains. Leslie claims to be a boy from a local urban legend who killed his family, before being killed by the townsfolk, but having in fact survived the attack. He walks Taylor and her crew through his plans but refuses to truly explain his motives.