Scream and Scream Again (Scream 3, 2000)

Unlike Scream 2, this follow up took three years. And was it worth the wait?

Set a few years after the second film, Sydney lives in a remote location and is employed as a crisis hotline worker. But when murders start occurring the set of the latest Stab film (the movie series within the series based on the events of the series), Gail, Dewey and Sydney find themselves pulled into the plot of a possible trilogy.

Bringing everyone together for this one is a bit more convoluted. Dewey has been hired by the actress playing Gale (Parker Posey who is terrific and plays off against Cox really well). Gale is there to investigate after the killing of Cotton Weary. And Sydney is there… because? Like I said…convoluted. And while the film makes an effort to be clever…it just feels tired.

The twists and reveals are downright tortured as the film reveals a mastermind who was behind the other two films.

While there are some fun things in the film, and it is not unbearable…you can tell this was not written by Kevin Williamson who was too busy with Dawson’s Creek to return. And so only hal;f the magic is there. Craven does what he can, but Scream 3 feels like a true stumble for the franchise, especially for one to end on.

October 19, 2020 0

Back At It (Scream 2, 1997)

Scream was a massive success, and a sequel was green-lit and put out right away. Like, barely a year later. And for a lot of horror films, that can be a bad sign. So is Scream 2 a rush to cash in on success?

Picking up one year after the first film, Sydney is at college trying to make a new life. The past keeps haunting her though. The exonerated Cotton Weary (accused of killing Sydney’s mother) is insisting on Sydney participating in an interview with Gail Weathers. But the killings begin again, this time on the campus. Conveniently, Sydney and Randy decided to go to the same college, so Randy can explain the rules of a slasher sequel. THERE ARE RULES, PEOPLE.

Deputy Dewey shows up so that we can have some romantic conflict with he and Gail and the four survivors can investigate the killings on campus.

Scream 2 is written by Williamson and directed by Craven…and this is more of a case of striking while the iron is hot. The return of Campbell, Cox, Arquette and Kennedy makes for a lot of fun. They all have a real chemistry together. The new additions are a cast of solid talent… even in smaller roles (Timothy Olyfant and Liev Schreiber are guys who can carry films as leads).

The writing does not cheat, even the repeating of incidents from the first film are deliberate call backs. Craven’s direction is on still strong. Scream 2 is one of those rare sequels that feels like it compares to the original favorably. It is clear that Williamson and Craven had a vision for a continuation of Sydney’s story. And I think what helps here is that Scream is not about its killer. It is about Sydney Prescott and her friends. This makes Scream 2 an admirable follow up.

October 18, 2020 0

I Wanna Hear You (Scream, 1996)

The slasher ruled the late seventies and well into the eighties. But in the early nineties, the slasher was looking to be dead. And then came the future creator of Dawson’s Creek.

An ambitious writer, Kevin Williamson arrive in L.A. in 1990…/and then saw no success for a few years…his first script sold, only to not get made until after Williamson’s script for Scream fell into the hands of Mirimax and Wes Craven.

Scream is the story of a small town beset by gory murders of local teens. Our central antagonist is Sydney Prescott. A year before the murders, her mother was brutally killed by her lover. Sydney has tried to come to terms with the tragic loss through her friendships. Her boyfriend Billy straddles the line of supportive and selfish as he really wants to have sex with Syd, while she is rather hesitant. But after the first murder, it seems the killer is not content with the act of murder alone. No, the killer is playing a cruel game.

Testing his victims with horror movie trivia, teasing them with the notion of survival if they can just answer the questions right. In a way, the killer (nicknamed Ghostface) is your typical gatekeeping Internet troll.

The killer seems focused on Sydney, and after a failed attack on Sydney, the cops focus on protecting her along with the crime. There is a lot of stuff going on in Scream and a big cast. So trying to recount the plot seems pointless.

Just know that Scream really delivers the goods. Williamson has crafted a solid script full both great scares and the humor that his scripts became known for. The kids have defined personalities that separate them from each other. And you tend to like them.

The cast is really quite good. Campbell proved she could carry a movie, Courteny Cox showed range beyond Monica on Friends and David Arquette was a lovable deputy that was supposed to die by fan love saved him.

Skeet Ulrich was one of those guys who looked like someone else (he and Johnny Depp could play brothers in a film) but also had a certain draw. The stand outs are Matthew Lillard and Jamie Kennedy. Sadly, this series is the only place where Kennedy shined. Lillard just turns the insanity up throughout this film and is a real goofy joy to watch chew the scenery.

This is a nice comeback for Craven on the heels of Vampire in Brooklyn. His direction keeps a consistent tone throughout. The satire never comes into conflict with the horror. And when Craven builds the tension, it is effective without being oppressive.

Scream is a fun and exciting thriller. And almost 25 years later? It is just as effective. I mean, I know the twists, yet, I still had a great time watching this year. Craven and Williamson proved a solid team with this film and it is one of my favorite slasher films.

October 17, 2020 0

The Night He Goes to School (Halloween H20, 1998)

By 1997, slashers had almost seemed like a dead genre. Frankly, Halloween 6 could have been the death bell. Yet, 1996 was also the year that slasher pics got a shot in the arm. A little movie called Scream-a satirical look at the genre was a major hit that had people talking. It seemed to poke fun at the conventions of the slasher film, while following them quite a bite (though taking opportunity to turn some of them on their head). Scream proclaimed Halloween the grand-daddy of them all. And that got producers talking.

There were, as I recall, talks to bring back Carpenter (which I thought was exciting). Then there came talk of involvement from Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream (both one and two). This also excited fans. But the thing that really got people talking? Jamie Lee Curtis was back in the game. This brought about an interesting turn.

A few facts. Donald Pleasence was dead by the time they were writing this. Laurie Strode was dead according to previous films. So what did they do?

Spoilers ensue…

The filmmakers took an approach that both wiped the slate clean and yet adhered to some film continuity. It’s clear that none of the events in 4-6 happened now. As far as H2O is concerned? The series started with Halloween and the story had ended in Halloween 2. And now, the story was continuing 20 years later. For some this was upsetting, to others? It was a bit of relief.

The director Steve Miner (a veteran of the Friday the 13th series) had taken quite a task. Dimension was giving a big push to this new film. The end result is satisfying. I would say that it is one of the best of the sequels. The story is told at a fast pace, and they make sure not to confuse the audience. It’s clear from the start that Dr. Loomis has passed. And we rapidly learn Michael is still alive and still obsessed with his sister…a woman the world thought dead. But it turns out she has gone underground to avoid the pressures of the fame. And to avoid Michael. She’s now pretty much a functional alcoholic single mom. She is the head of a prestiges private school in the middle of nowhere. She is haunted by images of Michael.

Her life of paranoia is driving an ongoing wedge between her and son John (Josh Hartnett) -What? Not the family name?! At first she is prohibiting him from going on the school camping which aggravates him as he was looking forward to being with his girlfriend Molly (Michelle Williams). But as slasher films tend to go, Jon and Molly slip aside and stay at the school with their rebel friends Sarah (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe) and Charlie (Adam Hann-Byrd, whose career pretty much halted after this film-apparently to go to college).

So this leaves the school empty, except for Laurie, her boyfriend (and fellow faculty member) Will (Adam Arkin) and the security guard Ronny (LL Cool J) . The kids, of course are hiding out and decide to have a night of romantic fun and reckless sex (or reckless fun and romantic sex, I don’t know). Michael is quietly stalking the grounds by this time, not quite as carefree in his slashing as the earlier films. Sarah and Charlie are clearly knife fodder and Michael dispatches them quite ruthlessly. These are some of the most intense sequences the franchise has seen in a long time, with some genuine discomfort and suspense.

John and Molly seek out Laurie, who is not to excited at the sight of her big brother. Getting John and Molly off the campus, she turns back and decides this must end. Grabbing an ax she starts to stalk Michael. We get a very solid cat and mouse sequence that finally appears to result in Michael’s death. But Laurie is no idiot, after Michael’s body is loaded into an ambulance in a body bag, she steals the vehicle, waiting for what she knows is going to happen.

Michael rises from the body bag, so Laurie intentionally crashes the ambulance. Michael is pinned between a branch and the ambulance. There is a somewhat touching moment, where Michael reaches out to Laurie in an almost child like fashion. And for a moment? Laurie hesitates, ax in hand. Then she swings the ax and takes Michael’s head off.

All in all, Halloween:H20 works extremely well. Easily the best of the sequels. And as sequels go, it makes sense without having seen the original-without relying heavily on “plot exposition” guy. The actors all do fine jobs and the direction and cinematography is good, with a great use of shadow. Really, this film works well. And had this been the last movie? It would have ended the series on a high note. Of course, it was not the last, so the really high note they could have ended on? Squandered. But I still like this one. It offers closure to the story, and Laurie comes out heroic and on top.

October 29, 2015 0

Keep an Eye Out In Your Nightmares

Since my earliest childhood, I loved monsters. Whether horror or sci-fi or fantasy…stories with monsters were exciting to me. This resulted in my not finding horror movies so much as scary…but exciting. My parents did not let me watch horror movies in general, mainly to avoid me having nightmares I suppose.

In high school, I started to get more access to horror movies I saw a Nightmare on Elm Street. I did not find it super scary, but I loved the imagination behind it. Teacher turned filmmaker Wes Craven made a real impression on me.

Not every film he made was a classic, but he gave some truly visionary offerings. He started the Elm Street Franchise and then, with New Nightmare, turned it on it’s head, before “challenging the rules of the genre” was the thing to do.

Honestly, there is an extra cruel irony when a storyteller faces something like brain cancer. It is like a monster directly attacking the heart of a storyteller. My condolences to his friends and family in their loss.

Craven understood the power of story, and I am glad he shared his experience with us.

Thanks for the Nightmares, Wes Craven. You’re gonna be missed.

September 1, 2015 2