SCREAM Franchise

On MTV this week they launched SCREAM the series, what better time to look back on the franchise and talk about the new movie.

In 1996 Wes Craven gave us one of the most memorable films to breath new life into the Slasher Genre. The Genre had died in the late 80s and early 90s. SCREAM, directed by Wes himself and a script by Kevin Williamson, was a film that poked fun at the slasher film genre in many different ways. It was self aware of its own humor at the same time giving us a mystery of who dun it. They kill off the who think to be the main character played by Drew Barrymore right in the begining.. We get a huge cast of people who in the 80s may never starred in a horror movie. Faces from Friends like Courtney Cox and from Party of 5 Neeve Campbell. Along with David Arquette and Jamie Kennedy and Rose McGowen Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard (Scooby-Doo). We even get Henry Winkler (best known as the Fonz from Happy Days) to play the Uncool uptight Principal of the local high school. You can compare this film to the Nightmare on Elm street with the high school setting and the kids getting along together. Certain shots are right there from those two movies and really show that Craven knows how to make a good movie with REAL people. not just people phoneing in their lines. One particular thing to note that is prominent the entire franchise is Marco Beltrami – Sidney’s Lament, a eerie score played in the movie that always sends chills down my spine. Scream 2 the cast goes to collage and we get two new killers. The opening kill is Jada Picket Smith. Scream 3 its Live Shreiber who is involved in this tiny plot line from Scream carried over into Scream 2, and he becomes a bigger character and no one really cares. Scream 4 its a bunch of new characters  people one of early kills is Anna Paquiun and its really confusing cuz they keep switching back and forth from the movie to the fake movie. They show us a few people getting killed at the begining of Scream 4.  With in the Scream films there is a series of movies based on the killings from the previous movie called STAB, and by Scream 3 we are already at STAB 3 by Scream 4 we have STAB 5

Now this film SCREAM 1,2,3 and 4 and the recently began TV show are in no way scary. You know who the killers are in Scream one its very obvious, S2 you don’t know who the hell they are as they are rarely on screen enough for you to really care and ask when were they in the movie. In 3 its a killer that is lame and makes no sense. They are trying to be the Godfather part 3. In S4 its too many plot holes and the killer is a really lame copy cat of the first movie with weird motives, SHE is also related to a character in the film.

Now that being said I do love the franchise I grew up with it and it came out when i was in highschool. and I grew with the characters. Horror franchises that came before it were out when I was in elementary school so i did not gravitate toward those films like I did SCREAM.

Now the TV series plot is, After a cyber-bullying incident committed by local high-school student, Nina Patterson, ( a video tape of two females making out) results in her brutal murder in the small town of Lakewood, the shocking violence stirs up memories of a killing spree from twenty years earlier that has haunted some, intrigued others and maybe just inspired a new killer.As he/she terrorises a group of teenagers, killing them off one by one. This is filled with a virtual unknown cast for me. Bex Taylor Claus is the only one I recognize from the tv series ARROW. The The series has its Randy Characters who is the brother of the two aformentioned lesbians. He spouts the rules of Scream and how you should follow them watching and living Horror movies. Mike Vaugh is the voice of the killer a voice over actor who has been on various shows. The Original Killer’s voice was done by Roger Jackson also known as the voice of MOJO JOJO from the Power Puff Girls.

Its a decent series more for laughs than horror, the tv series has only aired one episode so I can’t say much about it yet. I felt it was way more 90210 when I was trying to explain what the plot of the first episode was. It has the new Mask which is ok but its not the iconic mask I am used too and love so much.
All the films are on blu ray and dvd. The box set which contains 1-3 also has Still Screaming a retrospective documentary about the franchise, from the same people who did Never Sleeps again and Crystal Lake Chronicles.