Horror The Scream Franchise Thread

[DarthSkywalker]

Is The Force Awakens responsible for this annoying trope? Because I do agree with your point. Gale showing up in 6 definitely felt like a forced aspect but I guess Courteney Cox has enough pull that the only way she is leaving the franchise is in a body bag.

TFA being a huge success definitely got a lot of stuff greenlit, but it wasn't the first flick to do it.

 

[Zantera]

Six is about the city. Where the idea is that anyone could be the killer and it actually makes sense, because a proper city is far more claustrophobic then the burbs.

That's fair. I don't think it's a super strong angle BUT I do agree it's something unique that gives it a different identity than the other films.

 

[OrbOfConfusion]

 

[Zantera]

Judging by the trailer we're doing Halloween (2018) again with Sidney as crazy grandma Jamie Lee Curtis (except younger). Boobytrapped house with traps, safe rooms and hidden escape corridors just in case the <horror franchise villain> returns one day to take her or her family out.

 

[BatLobster]

How does any of this subtract from my original point?

The aim wasn't just to subtract- sometimes things are more "yes and". You raised some good points and I agree that there are some parallels between Sam and Rey, while I also see significant distinctions in how their respective arcs were set up as well as how Sid was positioned in the story vs Luke to where I think it's not 1 to 1 if you're comparing franchises. Dewey was Han though, absolutely. And both deaths were equally hated by the fans, haha.

But my thing is I always thought it was beyond obvious that Stu was coming back since the first trailers for 5, and I thought there were actually some neat thematic and fun meta commentary things you could do with that, beyond just fun of having a returning Ghostface. I've always had my cards on the table here about being a basic b**** Stu truther, eating up every clue. Which is why I always felt things were gonna culminate with a Sid and her family/Stu story, because there's no real reason to bring back a legacy killer without going all the way full circle. I would've of course wanted to see how the sisters' story continued and intersected with that, but having followed the franchise closely for a long time and knowing Guy Busick's stance on it, I've long suspected we were always building towards some version of a Sid/Stu confrontation, especially if he had any say in the matter. Of course it's tough to say what would've been had Neve been in 6 and Melissa/Jenna had been in 7. It's all speculation, but I think the evidence is strong.

My biggest fear with this movie is that I'll get what I wished for and regret it, because I truly believe there could be a good version of that despite the people who hate the idea on principle. But having to write out main characters is a very tough pill to swallow, the reasons for it are even tougher to swallow and there's an unfortunate stink on this movie. I do feel it will be lesser than it could've been because of that, even if it's still not bad on its own and I am a fan of many of the people involved creatively. So it all leaves me feeling a strange mix of hope, excitement and dread. A feeling I haven't felt for a franchise film, ironically since the leadup to each of the Star Wars sequels!

 

[DyeLorean]

Judging by the trailer we're doing Halloween (2018) again with Sidney as crazy grandma Jamie Lee Curtis (except younger). Boobytrapped house with traps, safe rooms and hidden escape corridors just in case the <horror franchise villain> returns one day to take her or her family out.

To be fair, Sidney being obsessed like this makes 100% much more sense than what Jamie Lee Curtis was experiencing in Halloween 2018. That movie counted only for the original. Why the hell would she be that crazy about Michael? It made no sense.

 

[Spider-Fan]

VI was also riffing off the idea of taking a series to a new location, like Jason Takes Manhattan or Leprechaun 3 going to Vegas, as well as our modern day issue with incels on the internet.

 

[Sithborg]

VI was also riffing off the idea of taking a series to a new location, like Jason Takes Manhattan or Leprechaun 3 going to Vegas, as well as our modern day issue with incels on the internet.

Yeah, 5 and 6 interacted more with how fandoms are tied to horror movies, rather than just the tropes of the genre. And I think this aspect is something Williamson will miss due to his age.

 

[BatLobster]

To be fair, Sidney being obsessed like this makes 100% much more sense than what Jamie Lee Curtis was experiencing in Halloween 2018. That movie counted only for the original. Why the hell would she be that crazy about Michael? It made no sense.

One of the fun things about Scream being one giant continuity where all the movies count, is as goofy as it is sometimes, it also allows for cool scenarios that to happen and make sense in-universe.

I rewatched VI recently and it really struck me how that subway sequence only can really work in a franchise like Scream where the main killer mask is a pop culture phenomenon and everyone dresses up as Ghostface for Halloween. Same reason the opening of 2 is so good.

 

[Lasirius]

Boycotts aside, this just looks painfully redundant and desperate especially after Halloween (2018) which spawned commentary in Scream (2022). Do I dare say, it also looks cheaply made?

I'm still on the boat of not supporting this for how the studio handled their former lead star. Not only she was unjustly fired for something that made a world of sense, but they gaslit their public and smeared her and her career in the process by calling her words "hateful" and "antisemitic". Bunch of spineless liars. I don't remember there being backlash for what Melissa expressed. They chose to do this and made it a thing, and now we're here with what looks like a soggy, uninspired product.

I'm not big on franchises, but this has always been my favorite one since I was 9. It's sad, there's 0% excitement here.

 

[Sithborg]

I am not entirely sure how much of an active boycott will be a factor. The things that drew in the audiences to 6 are not here. We will have to see what else there is, but ignoring everything bts, that was not a very good trailer.

 

[DyeLorean]

From what I've gathered online, there's a whole bunch of stuff they're purposefully hiding from the trailer.

 

[BatLobster]

I am not entirely sure how much of an active boycott will be a factor. The things that drew in the audiences to 6 are not here. We will have to see what else there is, but ignoring everything bts, that was not a very good trailer.

To be fair, that's just one opinion. Strictly as a trailer, I thought it was pretty solid and I also don't assume it gave away the whole game. There were some moments in it that felt strong to me on a pure visceral/suspense level. I think it will play well on a big screen with big sound. Neve looks to be bringing her A-game. It's on par with the first trailer for 5 IMO.

The irony with very online Scream fans is I think many underestimate the extent that the average casual fan is on board with Stu coming back. A couple of years ago I bonded with my wife's cousins at the Thanksgiving table because they're also into the Stu theory. It was the longest convo I've ever had with them. It's an actual thing! Obviously it's divisive and there are people who hate it. But I'd wager there's a lot of people who don't write in the comments who fall into that bucket, and have bought tickets for the last two with hopes of seeing Stu.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I'm not overtly for or against bringing Stu back. Like anything, it depends on execution. But I haven't been like....waiting for it to happen or anything.

I think for me, the trailer was dull. It just didn't offer me anything I haven't seen. No real selling point outside of "It's more of the IP you like!" And in the age of content where that's all we get, that isn't a win button anymore. I need more to care

 

[BatLobster]

I'm not overtly for or against bringing Stu back. Like anything, it depends on execution. But I haven't been like....waiting for it to happen or anything.

I think for me, the trailer was dull. It just didn't offer me anything I haven't seen. No real selling point outside of "It's more of the IP you like!" And in the age of content where that's all we get, that isn't a win button anymore. I need more to care

I totally respect that opinion. On its face, I do know what you mean. From a genre standpoint, there's nothing groundbreaking in this trailer. I think being that I'm very biased with the Stu thing and was reading a lot into it, I felt super catered to and teased which I enjoyed haha. But that's also the same lens I've been viewing the previous two films through.

I agree though, ultimately it will all come down to execution as it always does. I am going into this movie fully aware that it could be Stu and be a really disappointing version of that, or that Stu could be a giant misdirect and that ends up being something really clever.

Unrelated- but I'll say that even if this movie isn't good, based on the score snippets recently shared from Marco Beltrami, I'm at least going into this movie confident that the score will be great. The music is a big part of my love for the franchise, so that's something at least. I did like Brian Tyler's theme for the sisters, but overall found his scores a little on the generic side and was missing that signature sauce that Beltrami brought to the series. I'm glad he was brought back.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Boycotts aside, this just looks painfully redundant and desperate especially after Halloween (2018) which spawned commentary in Scream (2022). Do I dare say, it also looks cheaply made?

I'm still on the boat of not supporting this for how the studio handled their former lead star. Not only she was unjustly fired for something that made a world of sense, but they gaslit their public and smeared her and her career in the process by calling her words "hateful" and "antisemitic". Bunch of spineless liars. I don't remember there being backlash for what Melissa expressed. They chose to do this and made it a thing, and now we're here with what looks like a soggy, uninspired product.

I'm not big on franchises, but this has always been my favorite one since I was 9. It's sad, there's 0% excitement here.

Tyler and Matt make some rather good looking flicks on a budgets. Wouldn't expect the same from the dude's who only film directing credit is Teaching Mrs. Tingle.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

View attachment 152343

They barely showed her in he trailer. Feels fairly obvious.

 

[BatsAndNights]

End of the day, Scream was meant to be a deconstruction of the slasher/horror movie genre as it existed in the 80s and 90s. Which was 30 to 40 years ago. It was unique.

This simply isn't. It seems dull and tired.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

The aim wasn't just to subtract- sometimes things are more "yes and". You raised some good points and I agree that there are some parallels between Sam and Rey, while I also see significant distinctions in how their respective arcs were set up as well as how Sid was positioned in the story vs Luke to where I think it's not 1 to 1 if you're comparing franchises. Dewey was Han though, absolutely. And both deaths were equally hated by the fans, haha.

But my thing is I always thought it was beyond obvious that Stu was coming back since the first trailers for 5, and I thought there were actually some neat thematic and fun meta commentary things you could do with that, beyond just fun of having a returning Ghostface. I've always had my cards on the table here about being a basic b**** Stu truther, eating up every clue. Which is why I always felt things were gonna culminate with a Sid and her family/Stu story, because there's no real reason to bring back a legacy killer without going all the way full circle. I would've of course wanted to see how the sisters' story continued and intersected with that, but having followed the franchise closely for a long time and knowing Guy Busick's stance on it, I've long suspected we were always building towards some version of a Sid/Stu confrontation, especially if he had any say in the matter. Of course it's tough to say what would've been had Neve been in 6 and Melissa/Jenna had been in 7. It's all speculation, but I think the evidence is strong.

My biggest fear with this movie is that I'll get what I wished for and regret it, because I truly believe there could be a good version of that despite the people who hate the idea on principle. But having to write out main characters is a very tough pill to swallow, the reasons for it are even tougher to swallow and there's an unfortunate stink on this movie. I do feel it will be lesser than it could've been because of that, even if it's still not bad on its own and I am a fan of many of the people involved creatively. So it all leaves me feeling a strange mix of hope, excitement and dread. A feeling I haven't felt for a franchise film, ironically since the leadup to each of the Star Wars sequels!

That's a lot of words to avoid the point. You want to be excited, that's cool. But man, people are allowed to be negative. Especially when this movie is genocide approved.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

End of the day, Scream was meant to be a deconstruction of the slasher/horror movie genre as it existed in the 80s and 90s. Which was 30 to 40 years ago. It was unique.

This simply isn't. It seems dull and tired.

Just imaging these folks trying to riff on elevated horror.

 

[Zantera]

That's a lot of words to avoid the point. You want to be excited, that's cool. But man, people are allowed to be negative. Especially when this movie is genocide approved.

Isn't most of Hollywood very lovey-dovey with Israel? Don't get me wrong I think what happened to Melissa sucks and I 100% understand if anyone wants to boycott this, there's definitely despicable people behind the scenes pulling strings. But if we wanna be decent people we should probably boycott a lot more from hollywood.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Isn't most of Hollywood very lovey-dovey with Israel? Don't get me wrong I think what happened to Melissa sucks and I 100% understand if anyone wants to boycott this, there's definitely despicable people behind the scenes pulling strings. But if we wanna be decent people we should probably boycott a lot more from hollywood.

We live in countries that have governments that support the apartheid and genocide. That doesn't mean the people have to. This was direct action against someone for daring to speak out. They put out a press release calling her an antisemite and then lied about why Ortega left.

For comparison, Ortega has spoken out about the genocide. Talked of her support for the Palestinian people. She has not been fired from Wednesday no matter how Netflix's higher ups feels about the situation. Ruffalo has made his feelings clear for far longer. Still making Task.

 

[Zantera]

We live in countries that have governments that support the apartheid and genocide. That doesn't mean the people have to. This was direct action against someone for daring to speak out. They put out a press release calling her an antisemite and then lied about why Ortega left.

For comparison, Ortega has spoken out about the genocide. Talked of her support for the Palestinian people. She has not been fired from Wednesday no matter how Netflix's higher ups feels about the situation. Ruffalo has made his feelings clear for far longer. Still making Task.

Yeah I agree with you. Just saying you have Disney donating money to israel and trying to get Rachel Zegler to take down her free palestine tweet but people will still line up for the next MCU/Star Wars/Live Action Disney.

I think Ortega got too big for this franchise and it's probably for her best not to be shackled to it anyways. As far as Melissa goes I've only seen Abigail out of her non-Scream films and she was fine in that, hopefully she can still get some good roles after the fact. I don't think Spygate expected it to blow up the way they did but I'm happy it did as it wasn't right.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Yeah I agree with you. Just saying you have Disney donating money to israel and trying to get Rachel Zegler to take down her free palestine tweet but people will still line up for the next MCU/Star Wars/Live Action Disney.

I think Ortega got too big for this franchise and it's probably for her best not to be shackled to it anyways. As far as Melissa goes I've only seen Abigail out of her non-Scream films and she was fine in that, hopefully she can still get some good roles after the fact. I don't think Spygate expected it to blow up the way they did but I'm happy it did as it wasn't right.

Do they?

To be clear, I do not expect some large scale boycott. I do think there is a chance that aspect gets some traction when young people try to find out why the most popular actor the franchise has ever had is no longer in it. And young people care way more.

I don't think an actor can be "too big" for a franchise when the creative juices are flowing. Which is why Matt and Tyler, who are on a great run creatively, mattered so much. I do not think it's any coincidence that once they left the building, suddenly we have a movie that looks like it's lost all it's youthful energy and rather cheap.