Scream was the return to form for Wes Craven, and was probably the most popular horror film of the 1990's and in itself became a sort of pop culture phenomenon- with voice changes, and a large variety of the Ghostface costume avaiable. It took the popularity of Courtney Cox from Friends, playing a slightly more annoying version of Monica, and Neve Campbell still getting roles that people saw.
It was such a popular film that spawned a lot of copy cats and spoofery- when Scream in itself was considered a minor spoof of the genre. Scary movie, Shriek, and little nodds and winks throughout other culture avenues. It captured the feeling of the generation by bringing slasher horror back from the lull of the repeated sequels of the eighties.
With Scream 4 comming out this year, I thought I would make a wish list of what I hope this new expression of this generation of horror does not stoop to;
1. Have Ghostface engage in T.P
Saw, Hostel have bled (forgive the pun) this sub genre dry, and it does not feellike a good mix for the character of Ghostface- he is more like the slashers of old, and there are definitions and standards- basically he has an M.O, and to engage in these activities will not fit, and will be seen as an obvious ploy to accommodate in the trend that is already on the down hill slide.
2. Reboot
I know that by using the title Scream 4, they have already avoided the basic quality of the reboot, however there has been a feeling of the reboot of horror films recently that they are stylised, and the film looks good, but they are unneccessarily treading over the classsic story- with little nods to some of the key scenes from those films, instead of creating something entirely new- a new version, they seem to take the story of the original, change some of the outdated technology- will use cgi more than physical sfx and might add a few scenes to make it different.
Going from the rough trailer available it seems as though this film will be the start of a whole new trilogy (alert! Most of the recent reboots have not had sequals and if they do they are trying to explain the killer as in 'Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning', or take the series out of its comfort zone 'Halloween 2'- though I kind of liked this movie, I can see how it would be problematic for fans). Sidney, Dewey and Gale are all back, but it appears that the story will move on to focus on Emma Roberts character- a cousin to Sidney.
Plus we all still remember Scream- and its knock-offs, so a reboot will not give us anything new.
3. Use social networking well
Social networking has grown rapidly since the last Scream film and it will more than likely be making an appearance. However we have also seen recent movies where technology is used incorrectly, or as a tool to establish ok this is the distracted teenager- just like the walkman, cd player and ipod have been used- so that we the audience can go- oh teenager.
It would be interesting to see how Ghostface is able to implement elements of cyber stalking to get into a circle of friends, and then expand upon that with phonecalls- possibly picked up from someone's facebook profile?
It should not replace the phone, but It could be implemented well.
4. Do not be afraid to rid us of the cast from the past 3 films.
I enjoyed Scream 1-3, but looking back at them now, the character of Gale grates on me, and the relationship with Dewey is not going anywhere. Sidney is really just a combination of at times scared victim number 3, and Ripley...they were essential, but they are not what people remember most about the films- mostly the pre-credit kills, and Ghostface- including the voice.
5. Scream 4 needs to determine whether it will be a more serious horror film, or as a more light hearted nodd to the horror trend of the time.
Scream 3, I felt was too much comedy and self reference, where it ties the story back to the first film which we had seen spoofed before, and we had actors playing the characters, and then more actors playing actors who are playing those characters- wow depth.
Scream should follow a balance between the two, and not be too tempted to go down either role, as it did with the first film, and to a lesser extend scream 2. They were more of a self parody in scream 3. Even having a contribution cameo from Jay and Silent Bob - who I love in their own films, but it just started to raise the question of whether those characters were in the same universe as scream- or whether they were not....it just lead onto possible stories where I ask myself what would happen if Ghostface came into the Askewuniverse in a much bigger way.
Will these suggestions ruin the franchise- will killing Dewey and Gale, and Sidney ruin the franchise? How many more times can I say franchise?
Keep in mind, a new decade- a new set of rules- and that includes you film makers
Can they make Scream a scary movie again?
Leave your comments below.
Dale Stam
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