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whorrorgrl · 2 years

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Reviewing all the Scream Movies

I’ve written the review on the new Scream movie, the fifth one in the franchise, but for some reason never published it and had no energy to rewrite the parts I didn’t like. But! I decided to watch the entire franchise and review it all all. Heavy spoilers, of course.

Scream (1996) dir. by Wes Craven

10/10

“Rule number one. Don’t fuck with the originals.”

Considering this entire franchise is a homage to the classics of horror, I really think Skeet Ulrich was casted because he looked like Johnny Depp in 1984′s Nightmare on Elm Street (confession, I’m not obsessed with that movie).

Rewatching it, I just realized that after the murder of Casey Becker and the Ghostface attacking Sydney Prescott, a high schooler runs through the hallway in a Ghostface mask. The two boys are then reprimanded in the principal’s office. The two boys had the same hair styles to Billy and Stu who’ll be the killers.

This movie is a classic and have made it up there with the films it pays homage to. Every time I watch it, there’s something new to peel back. While I always thought Billy killing Sydney’s mom and doing all of what he did over a divorce was bizarre, I then remember that they’re teenagers. Of course your parents divorcing sends you into a psychopathic, serial killing spree. Or whatever. I love Gail Weathers going to great lengths to get a story, only to be put in it, I love the call-outs of movie tropes, and I love Mathew Lillard. Sydney is relatable. While she criticizes how stupid girls are in horror, I always love the irony of her doing the exact same thing they do (like running towards the stairs instead of the door) - it shows that you really don’t know what you’d do until it’s you. The reveal is always iconic. Endlessly rewatch it.

Scream (1997) dir. by Wes Craven

9/10

The movie opens up with Jada Pinkett-Smith and Omar Epps playing college seniors Maureen Evans and Phil Stevens. Maureen criticizes slasher films as being predominantly white with their black characters being killed off...and then she and Phil get killed shortly after. In fact, even Sydney’s black roommate gets murdered. Maybe she wasn’t the first to be killed off, but she was definitely murdered....which made the entire self-awareness monologue in the beginning not so self-aware. I always questioned the point of it.

I automantically felt the I Know What You Did Last Summer references, especially with casting Sarah Michelle Geller, and even the I Still Know What You Did Last Summer set-up. Scream 2 came out before I Still. Not sure when each movie were filmed as opposed to released, but I peeped it. I’m not the most knowledgable person on horror references but I picked up on a few. Casey Cooper’s death reminded me of The House on Sorority Row, Friday the 13th’s killkillkillkilldiediedie when Cooper talked to her friend, and the Psycho reference at the very beginning of of the movie. There are a lot more, especially when Randy and Mickey listed off movies, but those were the ones I caught.

I picked up on Mickey being the killer right away, or at least were 70% sure of it. I assumed he was Billy’s brother since they looked so similar, but the random news reporter being Billy’s mom? Did not even think of that in a million years! I assumed it would be movie 3, so I wasn’t expecting her yet. I don’t really rewatch Scream 2 or even 3, so I only knew the killers of 1, 4, and of course 5. For a second, I thought the killer was Sydney’s boyfriend. The lingering camera angles and lighting made me go back and forth with if I thought he were the killer. One thing I love about these movies is that you’ll constantly ping-pong on if all the characters are guilty. Even when Randy so obviously calls out Mickey, that 30% pulsed. Even when Mickey was revealed and shoot Sydney’s boyfriend, I thought, “Probably fake.” He’s gonna get up and be the second killer. But when the eager news reporter, Billy’s mom, holding a gun? Blew my mind.

It following the iconic first one as a sequel and holding up against it I thought they did well. Ms Maureen had the worst roster of men because Cotton is grimy from head to toe. Mr. Loomis having a son like Billy and a ex-wife like that alone makes me question him too. Even when Cotton killed Ms. Loomis it was only because Sydney promised him an interview. So grimy. I especially loved the mock-movie that reenacted the first movie. I don’t know why I don’t rewatch it enough.

Scream 3 (2000) dir. Wes Craven

6/10

So whenever I remember the franchise, I always confuse whether or not 2 or 3 was the one the weak link of the three. After finishing this one....it’s so obvious which one it is. I talked so much shit about 2 assuming that it was the one I didn’t care for and now I wonder if whoever I told that thinks I have terrible taste. At least Cotton dies. Hi, Ms. Van Der Woodsen!

I fell asleep halfway through and had to restart it again. Other than the original cast, the new ones I wasn’t obsessed with. The setting didn’t do it enough for me either. It was like The Seed of Chucky but that released four years ago so I’m not sure if it’s derivative of it. The new setting was Hollywood on a set that’s built to resemble 261 Turner Lane and Sydney’s house. Gale has these terrible bangs. Dewey finally has grown man weight. Sydney works at a call center under the name Lauren in a secluded house that would’ve been perfect for Ghostface to trip and stumble around trying to kill her in. Even the woods that moated the property would’ve been great to have the characters running into. It would’ve given When A Stranger Calls vibe. Instead, it’s in some large mansion owned by John Milton which was a Wes Craven cameo.

This movie promises that a sequel in the franchise will make you question something from the original. What this movie gives us is more details to Maureen’s death and someone claiming to have killed her. Turns out, she was an actress in Hollywood that got assaulted by Milton While in Hollywood, she also had a child she abandoned and no longer claimed...even when when he showed up on her doorsteps. His father was Milton, so.

That child is Roman Bridger, the director of the movie they’re working on. He's angry that Sydney had a life with their mother when he didn’t. He convinced Billy to drag Stu into murdering Maureen, which isn’t hard since we know Billy’s family broke apart because of their dad’s affair.

Record scratch for a second. Mrs. Loomis and Billy needed to focus their energy on their off-screen ex-husband and dad and leave Sydney alone. Maureen’s already dead, that’s spilled milk. But why is Sydney being lugged into this day in and day out and this mysterious Mr. Loomis is just somewhere in a one bedroom apartment glad he’s no longer paying alimony since Mrs. Loomis wants to redirect her anger to a college student.

The end of Scream 3 was better than the beginning and made me forgive them for not using her house as the final scene. But everything else? I just wouldn’t rewatch it, or at least not as much as I would the others. It’s like a filler anime episode. I take nothing that happened in it seriously.

The jokes just fell flat. I honestly didn’t care who was running around killing people. Oh, and the black cameraman Tyson from the second movie finally dies. It was bound to happen.

I like that Sydney in the end no longer allows fear to rule her life.

But as long as she’s alive someone will get inspired by the crime in some cryptic online chat and come after her. At this point, even I would feel honored to kill the Sydney Prescott because there’s only so many times you can evade death before I call up Jason.

Scream 4 dir. Wes Craven (2011)

10/10

“You just won’t die will you? Who are you, Michael fucking Meyers?”

I already know my rating of all five of the movies and Scream 4 is up there. One of my favorites. I mean, only one of all the movies sucks for me, but Scream 4 is the one I rewatch the most behind Scream 1.

This movie gives me Sorority Row remake vibes. They’re vastly different but I think it might just be the filters being similar. Jill, Sydney’s cousin, is the Ghostface killer along with a film fan Charlie Walker.

I can see where she’s coming from. Not with the fame hungry, final girl obsession but because, from an outsider’s perspective, everything is about Sydney-fucking-Prescott. Even Jill’s mom, Maureen’s sister, mentions that she also lost a sister. The sorority girls from movie 2 is passive aggressively annoyed at the attention Sydney gets for being the survivor or a serial murder. Every killer has had some obsession with being the one to gut Sydney. She’s always in the center of it all. For people like Jill and Cotton, even Sydney’s publicist Rebecca, they will try to milk her of what they can. They act as if she purposely survives these murders to get media attention If anything, there was a time she wanted a secluded life before she embraced the attention she’ll get regardless. She goes into hiding, Ghostface brings her out. She becomes public, Ghostface still attacks.

Kristen Bell’s character in the intro mentions that there’s something so good about just someone with a knife murdering. I think that’s what I love about the Scream franchise. While I love me a good demonic entity, I love realism too. In the second Scream movie when Ghostface is just running around, tripping over shit, getting knocked out, it was just so good Even in the sinful third movie when he’s running around the set clumsily, I enjoyed it. Movies like Texas Chainsaw or Jason, no matter how slowly they walked and how fast the victims ran Jason and Leatherface always caught up. It’s bordering on supernatural. I think this is why people flock to movies like The Strangers (2008). Humans are just as evil as any monster.

Everything pointed to Jill being the killer but Scream 4 did it in a way where you still question it. I never had the pleasure of not knowing Jill wasn’t the killer since my first watch of it I’d already been spoiled, but still a good movie. Jill’s face the entire movie is just so sly. You probably wouldn’t pick up on it your first time watching, but every line delivered was so...layered. She seemed amused by the whole thing, always holding back a laugh. Her reaction to her friends dying was so bad! The acting was terrible! Although Emma Roberts is not my favorite person, she’s a great actor so the bad acting is purposeful. Jill is what’s wrong with everyone trying to get big off of a tragedy. I’d rank her the second best Ghostface behind Stu and Billy.

What I never understood with these murderers staging the scene is if they don’t think professional investigators can see something’s off with the placement of bodies, blood splatter, gun shots/knife wounds, all that. When you give them a play by play and it doesn’t match, what then? And these videos you plan on being found, how will you explain you getting stabbed, getting your hair ripped out, crashing into glass coffee tables not being on the videos? This is Gonjiam all over again; I’m over thinking it. But...be fucking for real, Jilly girl.

I’ll suspend belief, I guess. Iconic villain. Who knew a domestic abuser could perfectly play a believable murdering bitch. ❤️

Scream (2022) dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

7/10

I like it. I do, I swear. Just...

This is the only one not directed by Wes Craven since he, you know, died. This man is iconic, directing movies that pays homage to his own is crazy. Directing Vampire in Brooklyn? You’ll be missed, king.

So will you, Dewey.

Yeah, Dewey dies.

I’m a basic bitch when it comes to horror. I own The Witch, Get Out, and Gretel and Hansel so I can appreciate a “complex, emotional and thematically underpinned” “elevated horror” every once in a while, but I love a good “schlocky, cheeseball nonsense with wall-to-wall jump scares.” In fact, they’re my favorite.

Yeah, Tara.

There’s nothing wrong with watching a good senseless slasher with decent enough “underpinning.” BTW, it means a foundation of ideas, motives, or devices to justify the basis of something, or the foundations of a fucking building. Had to look that up. Fuck you, Tara. This is why you and Anna Paquin got stabbed up for being rude.

I do like Scream. There’s another coming out next year so I’m guessing the Carpenter sisters will be the new final girls. Sydney Prescott yet again survives. Love you girl, but it’s your time. Clearly Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrerra will continue on the legacy. They already have the questionable mom to start off. I loved seeing Skeet Ulrich reprising his role. I adore (practically obsessed with) Jenna Ortega. Ms. Barrerra is okay. I liked her in Keep Breathing (2022). I feel as if she’s up and coming too. She’s in Vida, which I haven’t watched, along with a few telenovelas, so she’s a seasoned actor. However, her acting in Scream was so stiff!

The new friend group, Tara’s friends, are all descendants of the originals of the Woodsboro murders, except Amber who lives in the old Macher house. Deputy Judy Hicks also dies too but I never liked her or her lemon squares, so whatever. Dewey advising that it’s always the boyfriend is hilarious because it turned out to be in this movie. Any mother fucker that looks like Curtis Lepore is questionable. Not sure if it’s based off of other horror movies, but it’s really only been the boyfriend twice, and that’s if you count that random film freak in Scream 4.

How do you not look at Amber and not know she’s the killer? This is also another movie I got spoiled so I knew she was the killer from the get-go, but the boyfriend was an educated guess. I love how Mindy, Randy’s daughter and the show’s film nerd, theorized that Judy Hicks and her son Wes won’t be killed since Judy’s not in the original only for Richie and Amber to promptly kill them.

I don’t know...I didn’t like the ending. When the Richie tries to play with Sam’s mind on who the killer might be and suggested Tara, tell me why I fell in love with that idea. Imagine if they all were Ghostface? Sam being surrounded by the friend group who secretly hate her for abandoning Tara and wanting their fame for killing Loomis’s mysterious child. Tara could’ve stumbled on her mom’s old journal and fueled her hatred for her sister, planned it with her friends to lure her back, and now she’s dealing with countless ghost faces. Never been done before. Speaking of her mom, her existing with a demon child in her is so bizarre. It’s plausible. Still bizarre.

“Something about this feels different,” Dewey had said. But it didn’t. It felt like when Sydney found out the had a random sibling. Why is everyone having secret children? Pretty Little Liars (the books) is the only one that did it right.

Plus Ms. Prescott has kids! Endless remakes that’ll last into my grandkid’s generation.

Furthermore...

I don’t have high hopes for this franchise. I don’t know....I don’t know why I don’t but I don’t. No amount of Jenna Ortega scenes is going to convince me. But who knows.

My Ranking:

1. Scream (1996) is obviously first. It’s just so perfect and layered that I can’t think of putting anything else above it. I rewatch it so much, so much so that I have all the lines down. As Sydney loves to say, no one can mess with the original.

2. Scream 4 (2011) is second. My second most rewatched. Jill being the killer, the kills, even the surprise second killer was so good. It payed homage to the remakes of originals while Jill parallels trying to be the new final girl by taking out her cousin. Kirby Reed panicking as she lists off all the remakes give the same energy as April Kepner stammering out her life story to a gunman.

3. Scream 2 (1997). I’m conflicted on if this deserves second spot or third, but then I remember the ending. Didn’t like it as much as 4. Mrs. Loomis took me by a surprise, but Jill still tops it. Ilove the setting being college and that mini sorority scene. That crashed police car scene where Sydney and Hallie have to crawl over an “unconscious” Ghostface alone was so good, especially when I was waiting for Hallie to get stabbed when it was her turn to go. Lastly, everyone was rocking bouncy, cute bobs.

4. Scream (2022). I didn’t like it that much, but I did like it enough for it to be fourth and Scream 3 to be last. It’s not a bad movie. I realize the way I’m writing about it makes it seem like I hate it, but I don’t. Just really wanted the entire group to be Ghostface.

5. Scream 3 (2000). Beautiful, lovely, transcendent gowns. Those damn bangs, Ms Cox, obliterate them!

#scream #wes craven #horror #slasher #ghostface #movie #whorrorgrlreviews #whorrorgrl #Jenna ortega #Sydney prescott #Courtney cox #90's

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