The Scream franchise has divided horror fans for the past 30 years. I think it’s mainly because horror movies exist on the fringes of entertainment, a step up from porno flicks and raunchy sex comedies. They’re really never supposed to be big-budget high concept movies. But if done right, it can still be a critical and commercial success.
The first Scream movie was released during the Christmas holiday season in 1996 and became an instant success overshadowing Beavis and Butt-head Do America which was expected to bring in the young demographic. I think it’s because horror appeals more to people than we like to admit. They don’t tell romantic comedy stories around the campfires or sleepovers.
More and more people have embraced the Halloween season than they did when this movie was released. Also, with the Internet and social media, more and more people are discovering they’re not alone in their love of horror. I think Best Worst Movie showed how Troll 2 went from being an obscure horror flick sitting on the shelf at Blockbuster Video to having its own fanbase and movie theater showings.
This is why a movie like Scream 4 was inevitable. After the reaction of the less than stellar Scream 3, Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson had to collaborate again to wrap things up. It works somewhat as a do-over for the previous movie which Williamson had very little involvement in as he was working on other projects. Williamson had wanted the third movie to return to the fictional town of Woodsboro, Calif.
However, following the Columbine High School massacre in Littleton, Colo., there were massive re-writes by many people including the late Carrie Fisher, who appeared in a cameo as a movie studio employee who looks like Fisher. The violence was also toned down and the comedic elements were increased. Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith appear as Jay and Silent Bob in a cameo. And Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has less screen time as Campbell was only available for three weeks to shoot.
Despite the weakest reception from critics and fans so far, it still was a massive success at the box office. But it seemed that the franchise had run its course. However, as the old saying goes, “What’s old is new again.”
Remakes of Japanese horror flicks as well as the unexpected success of the first Saw movie was almost testament that horror fans weren’t going to let parental groups and film critics to tell them what they could and couldn’t like. And both Craven and Williamson needed something to work on following the troubled production of Cursed.
Released in the spring of 2011, Scream 4 focuses on Sidney, Dewey Riley (David Arquette) now Woodsboro Police Chief, and Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), dealing with a string of killings as the 15th anniversary of the 1996 Woodsboro murders draws near. Sidney has decided to deal with her past trauma and is no longer living as a recluse as she’s published a book on her life. Yet, at the same time, Gale who’s married to Dewey, has taken some time off from being a tabloid news reporter to focus on a book herself. But she has writer’s block.
The movie incorporates a new batch of teenagers as well as potential suspects who could also become eventual victims. One element that was scrapped in the third movie was to have Emily Mortimer’s aspiring actress Angelina Tyler be a Woodsboro graduate who was also one of the Ghostface killers. This leads to some goofs and plotholes in the movie.
This time we have Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton), a police deputy, who graduated with Sidney and is seen by Gale as getting too close to Dewey. I’m finding it hard to believe the actress that gave a lot of boys (and girls) their first celebrity crush as Wendy Peffercorn in The Sandlot wasn’t too popular in high school. But then again, 15 years have passed.
The teenage circle of friends include Sidney’s cousin, Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts) and her friends, Kirby Reed (Hayden Paniterrie) and Olivia Morris (Marielle Jaffe), who find themselves being targeted by Ghostface. At the same time, Woodsboro students Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin) and Robbie Mercer (Erik Knudsen) are in charge of the annual Stab-a-thon, which is held at random places around Woodsboro as teens and young people gather to watch the Stab movies. The Stab movies were inspired by the events of the first Scream movies but have since gone off the rail with their plotlines.
It’s a very detailed story this time around. Robbie also operates a 24/7 blog he calls “Hall Pass.” And many people have considered it an early precursor of people who are constantly live streaming as well as the lengths people will go for fame. The movie makes references to Facebook and Twitter and what characters in the Stab movies would be stalked online compared to the year the movies were released. Now, Robbie would probably be doing a podcast.
Along with toning down the violence in Scream 3, Miramax and the Dimension labels were owned by Disney, who demanded no teens be harmed in that movie. But in 2005, Miramax and Dimension were sold to Paramount. This time, Craven and Williamson up the violence as they did in the first and second movies and no one is safe. Of course, in this movie like the previous, there’s a lot of red herrings who could possibly be the killer or killers.
At the time of the movie’s release, Hollywood was remaking horror movies ad nauseam. Even Craven saw two of his classics (Last House on the Left and A Nightmare on Elm Street) remade with mixed results. So, since Scream always has had a meta vibe to it, Charlie theorizes that the killer(s) are trying to remake the events of the 1996 killing spree now that Sidney has returned to Woodsboro.
To be honest, I feel this was kind of made because both Craven and Williamson were unhappy with Scream 3 and now they didn’t have to deal with Bob and Harvey Weinstein’s involvement. Even though the Weinsteins are listed as executive producers, I feel it’s mostly an honorary credit as they had little control over Miramax and Dimension at this time.
I feel the first two movies are some of the best in the franchise. And I like the third movie a lot better than other people. This I feel was the way to bookend it all if there was never another flick. Sadly, this is the last movie that Craven made as he would die in 2015. And the movie underperformed at the box office. I also think the Slenderman Stabbing Case may have axed any possibility of a fifth movie for a while. Instead, it was turned into an anthology series which I never watched but had mixed results.
Maybe it was just the wrong time. I did like Panetierre’s performance as Kirby. But she’s one of the few younger characters who seem fleshed out, so to speak. Nico Totorella literally just keeps popping up every 15-20 minutes as Jill’s ex-boyfriend, Trevor Sheldon, as we wonder if he’s the killer.
Also the inept cops, Anthony Perkins (Anthony Anderson) and Ross Hoss (Adam Brody), seem to be an ode to the goofy cops from Craven’s Last House on the Left. But I think Williamson was trying to bring in too many new characters while bringing back the old ones that it’s just too hard to follow who’s who.
Now, reviews for Scream 7 are the worst in the franchise, even worse than Scream 3, yet I’ve not seen it. There’s also controversy as Melissa Barrera was fired and Jenna Ortega refused to come back because of her firing. They were both fan favorites of the fifth and sixth movies. But depending on the box office return, they’re might be more movies.
With confirmed reports that Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley are in the seventh movie somehow and Kirby was brought back for the sixth movie, you’re definitely not a true fan of horror movies if you know people are never really dead and gone for too long.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 