Week 65 — I Scream, You Scream. November 16 to November 22, 2020
By: Sarah Cole
Tags: Diary, Filmmaking, Daily Blog, Film, Film Reviews

Week 65 — I Scream, You Scream

11/20/20

Still from Scream 2 (1997)

Scream 2 — Wes Craven, 1997

A full month after we sat down and watched the first Scream movie, I convinced my boyfriend to watch the rest of the series with me. I think Scream 2 is the last one that’s still clever about the satire of it all. After this, it becomes a little too on-the-nose for me. But I love all the tongue-in-cheek jokes about how sequels are never better than originals, and of course the movie rules that get repeated throughout the film. The killers stick to the rules, and even when victims try their best to be trope-savvy they still get killed (looking at you, Randy). They were able to play the hits from the first film while still keeping it original and fun for the sequel.

I really like the evolution from the first movie into this one, and I like how this builds the mythos of the series. Bringing Cotton back when he’d only appeared on a news broadcast in the first movie was clever, and of course I love the idea of the Stab franchise. That’s exactly what would happen in the real world. And of course, Jada Pinkett Smith’s death scene is the most dramatic death ever. Nothing can top the Drew Barrymore scene from the first one, but showing the movie version of that scene while someone is killed in the audience? That’s meta and clever and I love it. I like these movies because they make me feel like real life is like the movies, and that gives me comfort.

Still from Scream 3 (2000)

Scream 3 — Wes Craven, 2000

This was the only movie in the Scream series that I hadn’t seen before. I’ll admit, most of the reason I wanted to see it was because I saw a tumblr post about Courteney Cox’s tragic bangs. Then young Patrick Dempsey showed up out of nowhere, and my enjoyment of the movie greatly increased. This is the turning point where the movies stopped being quite so good, I think because they focus less on Sydney and more on the ancillary characters who aren’t as fleshed out. I love Dewey, but his will-they-won’t-they relationship with Gale is tiring, and having the movie centered around the two of them wasn’t as enjoyable for me. This series should be about Sydney, not the two of them.

A lot of the film takes place on the set of one of the Stab films, which to me is a step too far in the meta commentary of horror movies. I felt less like anyone could be a subject and more like I was watching a dark comedy. This was further emphasized by the arrival of Parker Posey, whom I love dearly, but isn’t really a dramatic actor. There were actually a lot of names that I really like in this movie, including Scott Foley. But that’s not enough to stop this from being my least favorite film in the Scream franchise. And it gets me a little worried about what will happen with the Scream 5 that is supposedly in the works.

Still from Scream 4 (2011)

Scream 4 — Wes Craven 2011

My favorite part about this film is Sydney’s evolution, which is why I chose a still of her to be the post image. We get to watch her grow from a scared high schooler, being taken advantage of by her boyfriend, to a college student just pretending to be normal, and finally to a well-adjusted adult who can kick ass and take care of herself. She’s older in this movie, and clearly has come to terms with what has happened to her. In the first few movies, she’s working through her trauma, and in this one, she’s written a book. She’s taken the narrative into her own hands. She’s not letting anyone else make decisions for her or push her around anymore. I, for one, love to see it.

I think this movie is a fun way to bring the Scream franchise into the modern day. All the kids have smartphones, the killer live-streams the murders, and there are even apps to make your voice sound like Ghostface. It’s a smart way to update the story and keep it from feeling out of style and irrelevant along with other big things from the nineties. The beginning is a little too much for me, with the super-meta openings of Stab 6 and 7, but it’s a fun showcase of a bunch of big-name actors getting murdered, which is classic Scream. While we’re on the subject, the acting is very good. Emma Roberts is deliciously psychotic, and of course Neve Campbell is perfection as an older Sydney. It will never beat the original for me, but it’s a quality sequel.