With that let's begin with what is clearly one of the greatest Horror franchises in history, and it has, now, only 4 films! Unlike Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers, and Jason Voorhees, the infamous Ghostface has only appeared in currently 4 films, and in a way, it places him on a pedestal compared to other slashers because this series has been created and set very smartly. However, the most important factor about these famous films is that they are known not just as amazing Horror films, but they are also very smart, clever, and suspenseful murder mysteries that ingeniously blend comedy with gruesome terror and kills. Overall, this series holds a very special place in my heart as it is the only franchise besides A Nightmare on Elm Street, that I have ever watched every installment. Meanwhile, the film also stands above many other Horror films because of its sharp, and funny, criticism on the genre it takes part in. The Scream franchise has shown itself as not just a smart Horror series but also as a brilliant form of modern satire.
It all began in 1996 with a single phone call, the events to follow would lead to not only the first brutal killing of a major star in Horror since Janet Leigh's death in Psycho, but it would also bring about the beginning of a phenomena that would rock the latter half of the 1990's. With the brutal killing of Drew Barrymore at the opener to Scream, Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson showed themselves as Horror film masters. Thus we begin with the one that started it all - Scream. The film would utilize an all-star cast of huge 90's stars, and with a smart blend of laughs and scares, made a killing at the box office. The film tells the story of our heroin, Sidney Prescott, who is tormented by the rape and murder of her mother and trying to cope with the loss. Neve Campbell, I must say, has my complete respect in that she makes Sidney a character that one could easily meet in the real world. She is a suffering teenager, but she is also smart in that she knows Horror films. She knows their flaws, and she knows how to fight back. She is by far the best Horror movie heroin since Nancy Thompson in A Nightmare on Elm Street. Meanwhile, her character has flaws like all normal people, she is still vulnerable to attack but not afraid to fight back if necessary.
Next, we are given a group of teenage friends. What is most fascinating about these people is that they know about film. They mention a huge amount of films in the movies in terms of reference. The best example of this can be seen with Randy, who perfectly reflects the Horror movie nerd. He knows all about the genre and the rules that we have constantly noticed but never fully recognized. The presentation of rules of survival in Horror films, I found to be another interesting part of this film. It is an amazing formula to utilize when watching old Horror films and is quite fun. Meanwhile, we have the typical wild girl friend, Tatum, who gives some very interesting one-liners. However, the most satirical character in this film, has to be Gale Weathers, who is portrayed to perfection by Courtney Cox. She is the perfect bitch that you love to hate, but you cannot help but laugh at her phrases. We are also given the character of Deputy Dewey Riley, who is not only Tatum's brother, but he is also another extremely quirky and comedic character that holds the film together. Finally, it is important to discuss the characters of Billy Loomis and Stu Macher. Stu is probably the next best comedic character in the movie, but he is also quite known for have an enormous "creep" vibe. Meanwhile, Billy, the brooding and suspicious boyfriend of the heroine, is an interesting character both psychologically and in terms of mystery.
The one major factor that Scream is known for though is the emergence of Ghostface, the masked slasher who is bent on killing everyone close to Sidney before killing her. He is definitely one of the more terrifying serial killers in a Horror film in how he mentally tortures innocent people through disturbing phone calls. The opening with Drew Barrymore, is just one piece of evidence to show how Scream proved to be one of the most terrifying films of the 1990's. The kills are intense in this film, especially the opening scene involving multiple disembowelments. Furthermore, after its release, the amount of caller ID users increased dramatically. What I found to be even more frightening about these phone calls wasn't the insanity as much as how seductive the voice of the killer sounds on the phone. Roger Jackson does superb voice work in leading people on before scaring them half to death turning brutal murders into twisted games. However, the more fascinating factor has to do with the mystery of who is behind the mask.
Another smart part of Scream is that it leaves you guessing about who the killer is. At times it does leave hints for us to follow, but then we are given a twist to second guess ourselves until finally realizing we were all right to begin with. SPOILER ALERT!!!! The reveal of Billy as the killer was believed and then refuted until finally the ending when he coldly and disturbingly shoots Randy. To add to the twist the reveal of Stu as the accomplice was not seen at all. This reveal delved into further twists when we find out Billy's true motive of revenge against Sidney's family. He's the one who killed her mother because of her affair with his father cause his mother to abandon him. Talk about issues! Either way, the ending of Scream shows Sidney's fighting back as she makes Randy and Stu scream in agony as she gets her ultimate revenge on them leading to the death of the killers and an intense, yet very happy, ending to Scream.
Then by 1997, the sequel, Scream 2, reached theaters. This is, in my personal opinion, an example of a brilliant sequel. It stays true to the storyline and continues right where the original left off. However, it also brilliantly shows itself as an individual movie and not just a Horror sequel. The opening of Scream 2 would ultimately see not the death of one major star but two, Omar Epps and Jada Pinkett. The opening murders take place fascinatingly in a movie theater playing the film based off of the events of the original Scream, cleverly titled Stab. This clearly is a smart way of showing a movie not only acknowledging itself but also cleverly parodying itself with a movie within a movie. The more frightening aspect of Jada Pinkett's death is how she is killed by Ghostface in a crowded movie theater filled with people wearing similar costumes so no one can see who is killing her. Meanwhile, when she does scream in front of the screen they all stare at her like she is an act for the movie making a critical view on society's psychological inability to help people when surrounded by others.
Thus, we return to Woodsbor- SIKE! We find Sidney now in college as a much smarter survivor from the Woodsboro murders. Now a theater major at Windsor College, Sidney has developed many defense mechanisms to protect herself from anymore psychos chasing her. She has caller ID which she utilizes impressively to her advantage in the beginning against a prank phone caller. However, what makes matters more worrisome is not only does Sidney have to deal with the fact that the man she wrongly accused for murdering her mother, Cotton Weary, who Billy and Stu framed, but she also has to deal with the restarting of the murders. Moreover, Gale has returned with even more clever lines and even more bitchiness to bring to the table, but thankfully Sidney is able to beat her out of her senses, AGAIN! Dewey returns as well as the awesome and funny protective big brother as Sidney, Randy, and their new college friends deal with the return of Ghostface. Furthermore, we are given the rules of the sequel in that there is much more of body count and so on.
Sidney has moved on with a new boyfriend, Derek, and her roommate/best friend, Hallie; however, unfortunately history must repeat itself as Sidney is haunted by murders that constantly mirror the Woodsboro murders as we are given the signs of a copy cat killer. What Scream 2 does ingeniously is presents a huge amount of possible suspects. By the time we are revealed the identity it is shocking as we never expect it. As always, Ghostface does a very brutal job at killing his victims. Sarah Michelle Gellar's cameo appearance and death really felt most reminiscent to Drew Barrymore's death. Meanwhile, this time Ghostface does not hold back, he is willing to kill everyone close to Sidney and make her suffer. This we can see clearly when Randy dies brutally in the news van. This sad death really brings the remaining characters together more. Gale and Dewey come much closer and finally become more romantic in their relationship they started briefly in Scream.
Neve Campbell also shows herself as a much more respectable actress as she develops Sidney even further into the fighter she was meant to be. She never gives up and truly wants to end this nightmare once and for all. By the film's conclusion, she is the one to carry the film. However, another actor to take into account is Liev Schreiber as Cotton Weary. He definitely makes himself to be a complete asshole as well a prime suspect, but as much as he makes us hate him, he is also quite interesting to learn about. It was definitely smart of Kevin Williamson to add him to the sequel. However, what really makes this film awesome is that it has probably the best current twist ending in the series.
SPOILER ALERT!!! The reveal of Mickey, "the creepy Tarantino film student," is extremely clever in that his reasonings are clear criticisms towards the criticisms of Horror. By wanting to get caught, so he can claim insanity by blaming the movies, Mickey is parodying how many in the 1990's blamed the media for violence. My opinion on the matter is that the media really has nothing to do with it. These acts of violence in the real world are chosen by the person not solely from media influence but from the individual's poor mental reasoning and rationality. This is proven when Mickey is killed by the true killer, Mrs. Loomis (aka. Billy's mother, aka. Debbie Salt). By killing Mickey, Mrs. Loomis even criticizes Mickey's plan by saying that blaming the movies made absolutely no sense. She shows herself as the biggest and meanest bitch in this entire series, and you want to see her die. Let's just say that SIDNEY LET'S HER HAVE IT!!! The final showdown between Sidney, Mrs. Loomis, and Cotton, though very tense also makes for a very suspenseful and awesome ending to the sequel.
Three years later, we see the return of the Scream franchise, in the form of the very underrated Scream 3. Admittedly, this film does have it's flaws, especially since Kevin Williamson was not able to write the film. Instead the film was written by Ehren Kruger based off of what Williamson had outlined for Scream 3. True the film has it's issues compared to the other two, it does provide us with an interesting finality to the series, which shall start again very soon with the fourth installment. The third film, takes the major Scream characters to Hollywood. We are still given the major actor opening death as Cotton and his Hollywood actress bite the dust in the very beginning. Then we move to the studio of Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro.
Neve Campbell reprises her role as Sidney, who is now in the California countryside and has many added precautions such as alarm systems and locked gates and guns! However, as a recluse from the world, we unfortunately do not see much of Sidney in the film. Instead the film is significantly carried by Gale and Dewey. The other actors, who are spoiled and very unlikeable Hollywood celebrities are clear victims who you know will ultimately bit the big one. However, they are hilarious characters. The best one has to be the character of Jennifer Julie (aka. Judy Jergenstern), played by Parker Posey. She is a hilarious and dumb character who tries to be a copycat of Gale. However, Ghostface cuts the comedy short by slicing through the actors in the order they die in the actual movie.
Meanwhile, in the country, Sidney is haunted by phone calls from someone who claims to be "mother." She also suffers from disturbing dreams about her mother. The best part of this movie is the added mystery of Sidney's mother. Not only did she sleep around with a lot of people in her infidelity. Sidney's mother was also an actress for a few years but the controversy in the 1970's Hollywood setting was too much for her, so she left to return and settle down in Woodsboro. Ghostface has also shown himself to be smart again as he uses a voice changer to trick the main characters with the voices of other characters they all know. Randy also returns in a video to describe to possibility of a trilogy. He gives the horrifying possibility of Sidney's death.
Scream 3 redeems itself to me in its reveal of the killer. SPOILER ALERT!!! When we finally learn who the killer is, we never see it coming. The killer is the director of Stab 3, Roman (aka. Sidney's brother). While in Hollywood, Sidney's mother was raped and had a son who she disowned, and this drove Roman insane and willing to ruin Sidney's life once and for all. The most fascinating part is that Roman motivated Billy to kill in the first film thus bringing about a filling of all the holes. He is the reason for everything that happened to Sidney, and as all the Scream films go leads to an ultimate final showdown between sister and brother. Sidney holds nothing back in that she is absolutely tired of this torment in her life and is willing to sacrifice it all to end everything once and for all. Though she is shot and, at first, presumed dead, she is much smarter than Roman ever could be and the final act ends with Roman's turn to scream for his life. Finally, though Scream 4 is coming out, before there was knowledge of another, Scream 3 provided a definite sense of finality in how Dewey and Gale finally get engaged and Sidney no longer fears leaving her doors open to the outside. She is no longer afraid and is no longer weak. Thus, we see an ending to the series. That is until now.
Overall, the Scream franchise has shown itself to be a fascinating part of Horror history as it was one of the first of its kind to parody and criticize the very genre it supported while also scaring people to death in the 1990's. It's got the scares, laughs, and satire to provide us with a clever look at modern society and the Horror genre that ultimately revitalized the genre entirely for new generations of Horror fans. However, now we have seen a new decade and many new rules to take the place of the old ones. Thus, allowing Ghostface to return again to criticize and frighten a new audience and old audience with the new rules. The Scream franchise is a fascinating series that should not be missed.
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