Sleepaway Camp star Jonathan Tiersten is back with two new movies!

Two decades after Jonathan Tiersten seemingly vanished into thin air, the man behind one of the most popular characters in slasher film history is roaring back onto the screen in two highly-anticipated independent films later this year.

Co-directed by Kris Hulbert and Randy Kent and starring John Philbin, Andrea Wahl, Felissa Rose, and Chris Raab, as well as Tiersten, The Perfect House is a three-part horror anthology about the previous occupants of a young couple’s dream home—with each nightmarish story ending with the brutal escape of a single character. In it, Tiersten plays an unstoppable maniacal killer with a sly sense of humor who enjoys terrorizing his victims. “John Doesy is an insane sociopath who sees himself as a performance artist. My wife saw a clip of The Perfect House and said, ‘You are absolutely terrifying in that role,’” says Tiersten with a laugh.

In the psychological thriller, Redemption, Tiersten plays a predator who pimps underage girls he recruits through social media. “My role concludes with an amazing choreographed chase and fight scene that took two nights to shoot. I was bruised and battered, but I would love to continue to do my own stunts,” he says. Rumored to debut at the next Tribeca Film Festival, Redemption was directed by Tim Martin Crouse, who teaches acting at The Strasberg School and Tisch School of The Arts. The film stars George Loros (Raymond “Buffalo Ray” Curto in HBO’s The Sopranos), Meredith Ostrum and Barry Primus.

And then there’s his critically-acclaimed new EP, We’ll See (Edward Records), which has been called “an earthy blend of roots rock, folk-rock and adult alternative pop-rock that is at once contemporary and timeless.” The CD was added to ALL ACCESS Music Group’s “AAA “Cool New Music’s” list by former Billboard executive John Schoenberger and named Goldmine Magazine’s Pick Of The Week. Among other praise, AOL City’s Best says Tiersten is “the kind of artist who can seamlessly move from grungy rock to folksy reflection, and does so appealingly.” Shakefire.com rated the EP “simply amazing….If you’re into artists like Van Morrison, Cat Stevens, or in some ways Jeff Buckley, chances are you’ll enjoy this album. Definitely worth checking out if you’ve had enough with the cookie cutter music that you hear on the radio day in and day out. Grade: A.” Mike Abrams of Sirius XM noted: “Nothing beats JT’s work… It is so good to hear QUALITY music from an artist. … Nothing scary about it.” The Rocky Mountain News wrote: “If you haven’t heard Jonathan Tiersten sing, you’re only cheating yourself.” Dan Herman at Radio Crystal Blue recently awarded it “Debut of the week.” The single Vertigo has been getting regular airplay on both NPR and AAA stations nationally. And the first song on the album, In The Air, is also the theme song for The Perfect House.

So why the long hiatus from acting? Following the success of Sleepaway Camp, Tiersten was accepted into NYU’s elite acting program and spent the next four years training under some of the world’s living legends in the field. (The program was so intense, however, that out of 125 students in his freshman class, Tiersten was one of only 20 who graduated.) At the same time, he supported himself through commercials and a co-starring role in the Emmy-winning ABC After-School Special, “Seasonal Differences,” starring Uta Hagen, Melba Moore, Gabrielle Carteris and Frank Whaley. He also appeared in several episodes of “Another World.”

They came four years of chasing roles to try to make a living. “I lived in squalor in Elizabeth, New Jersey, because I could take a train right into the city. I spent weeks, literally, just walking from midtown all the way downtown, stopping in restaurants—asking if they needed help. Because that’s what actors do. And that is a really humiliating experience, because you think to yourself, ‘Well, how am I going to get an acting job when I can’t even get a restaurant job?”

Meanwhile, Tiersten made his presence felt on the Greenwich Village folk-rock/roots rock circuit as one-half of the acoustic duo The Magic Box. Then came the opportunity to play a gig in Ft. Collins, Colorado. “ I fell in love with the place. It was just totally different. I had always lived in cities.” Over the years, he opened a beer bar/live music venue called The Mountain Tap Tavern, which attracted its share of well known artists (including Dishwalla, David Gray and Victor Wooten), but ended up selling it to devote more time to his own music. His contributions to the Colorado music scene have included everything from solo performances to AC/DC and Black Sabbath cover bands to the alternative rock outfit Bambi’s Apartment (which he co-led with guitarist/singer Micah Stone). Tiersten (whose first solo album, Heaven, was released in 1998) also has been a member of the alternative funk-rock band Gaphiltaphunk, and currently leads the band TEN TIERS, whose debut album, Don’s Club Tavern, Part 1, was released in 2006.

“When I got back into acting,” he says, “I realized how much that was an itch that needed to be scratched. I’m very passionate about my acting, but I don’t want to be perceived as an actor who became a musician. Music is always on my mind. Music is not what I do. It’s who I am.”