Scream: A Franchise for the Horror Fan, by the Horror Fan.
The “Under the Mask” Blog is an online outlet for the “Dont Go Out There” podcast hosts to further add creative content into the horror community.
by: Mike Settle
Scream: A Franchise for the Horror Fan, by the Horror Fan.
I get asked all the time what my favorite horror film is, which is coupled with what is your favorite franchise? I answer the same every time. Halloween (1978) will forever be my favorite movie within the horror genre. I don’t think anything will ever come along and knock it off, it's entrenched in my top 10 favorite films ever made.
My favorite franchise goes a different direction. You see, the Halloween franchise has some stinkers— unfortunately. Seriously, one of my most -loathed movies of all time is within the Michael Myers universe— piss off Halloween 5. If you’ve clicked on this, you know where we're headed. Let's go back to Woodsboro.
The Scream franchise takes the absolute top spot as my favorite collection of horror films. What else can be said about Wes Craven’s 1996 classic that hasn't already been said? The opening scene is one of the best in cinematic history and the ultimate reveal of who the killers are is enough to make it great.
Underneath all of it, is a movie that is slap full of Easter eggs (hidden gems for you normies) from other horror classics and even some that are downright terrible. The film takes the self-aware approach and throws it up all over the screen. Meta-horror existed before Scream (Wes Craven tried 3 years prior with A New Nightmare) but it was perfected here. The stars aligned with a great script from writer Kevin Williamson and one of the best directors ever, Wes Craven.
It was a movie made by horror fans, for the horror fans. The character of Randy—- we are Randy. We, the nerdy encyclopedic horror viewer get to play along and live vicariously through Randy. We know all the rules, lines, tropes, and every twist and turn you can think about. Someone is killing people just like they would in the movies. Scream calls attention to that.
It takes the trope of the virgin, final girl, and gives it the big middle finger it deserves. While your heart breaks for the main character, Sydney, you end up falling for her—- badass-ness for lack of a better term. We, the horror crazy people may be like Randy but it’s Sydney we all pull for. That continues throughout the entire franchise.
Scream 2 comments on sequels within the genre, how most are terrible and yet find a way to be a damn good one. Yet again, the franchise calls out the standard practices of a horror sequel and gives it the big middle finger. This is my least favorite in the franchise but still a solid film. This movie also gives us the Stab franchise.
The Stab movies are one of my favorite things within the Scream franchise. Nothing screams (pun intended) meta more than a movie within a movie about stuff that took place in the previous movie. Are you following along yet? Scream 2 also calls us horror fans out for being a little over the top with our appreciation, as seen in the opening scene where an entire theater is wearing Ghost Face masks. In another move that was ahead of its time, it called out fans of the true-crime genre—- again guilty as charged.
Scream 3 is divisive, to be kind. It spent many years on the bottom of my Scream franchise rankings. However, upon rewatches, over time, it keeps moving on up. Why? Well, it’s a whole lot of fun. It calls out trilogies for what they are, a cash grab. The movie takes place as another Stab sequel is being shot. The script for Stab is in the process of being written as the events of Scream unfold. Art imitated life here because there are scenes in Scream 3 that weren't finished until it was time to shoot them.
What makes Scream 3 is a fun film, with its Scooby-Doo style hunt for the Ghost Face killer. Which again, is making fun of third installments for getting ridiculous and over the top. It also does a masterful job calling out Hollywood and doing favors as a woman to get work. The film is ahead of its time in this respect. One more fun thing before I move on, Scream 3 makes fun of franchises inserting characters into the past that have been there all along and yet does the same thing with its killer reveal being Sydney's long-lost brother, Roman.
****worth noting that the shift in tone towards comedy is likely related to this movie being made shortly after the Columbine tragedy. Which Scream 3, of course, comments on the violence in cinema being an issue****
Okay, Scream 4 time! I love this movie unabashedly. It has a great young cast with Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, and Rory Culkin. It also brings back the Big Three in Sydney, Dewey, and Gale. The film is a perfect mesh of the old and the new. Just like the Scream movies before it, it has a lot to say about the genre of horror at the time. During this period, movies like Saw and Hostel were all the rage. The torture porn comment in the opening scene goes right for the jugular.
It also asks the question, what the hell can you do with a fourth installment? Where do you go? The rules that Randy laid out only go up to the trilogies. It turns out as another ahead of its time commentary on doing anything and everything to become famous. Emma Roberts' character Jill, which turns out to be Sydney's niece, is the mastermind behind the new killings in Woodsboro. Along with Culkin's character Charlie. The two had been dating all along. So what are the rules? There are none because Scream 4 found a way to make their own.
Scream 4 continues the commentary on the Stab franchise, even mentioning that the later sequels went to space and got all kinds of crazy by its 7th and 8th installments. This leads me to the final part of this writing.
Scream (2022) follows the Halloween (2018) format of not putting the 5 next to its name. It wants to capture the old audience and a new so simply naming it ‘Scream’ was the idea to rejuvenate this thing. While it gets confusing for the casual fans, leaving a number out of it probably makes them more inclined to go see it.
This will be the first Scream film not directed by Wes Craven, after his passing in 2015. But the franchise seems to be in good hands with co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, known for their breakout hit Ready or Not.
So what do I want to see from a new age Scream movie? I want it to honor its legacy first and foremost, a love letter to the franchise and its patriarch, Wes Craven. I want relatable new characters and strong performances from the Big 3 in Sydney, Dewey, and Gale. The film needs to comment on the direction that horror has gone since 2011 and speak on where cinema has gone in general. Marvel movies, Star Wars, etc. but do it in a way that isn’t a parody.
Scream needs to do what this franchise has always done and that is giving the horror fans what they want along with luring the casual movie-goer with a captivating whodunnit story. The Scream (22) poster mentions the killer being on it. Well, Ghostface is on that poster. This leaves it up to your imagination, Ghostface could be anyone. I for one, am looking forward to finding out.
This may have been a little long but I felt it was the right time to gush over a set of films that deserve it. Now, go out see Scream this weekend or