Scream, Scream Again

Earlier today (because these days I am not up to the task of remembering to write a post every day and then following through) I wrote about watching the entire series of Scream movies, which I should say, if you are not yourself familiar, amounts to four films. They were in my assessment good to passable, which is more than I can say for some movies I've been given to watch. I thought I might delve more thoroughly into them after delivering very broad strokes.

"Scream", the original, was a revelation. It really was a breath of fresh air that revitalized the horror genre as a whole and the slasher film in particular. It was satirical without being a spoof, and it delivered some fair scares while making a lot of valid points about the movies it was following. It came from a place of affection, which I think is very important, and it was focused, which is also important but which has been forgotten for a long time.

The opening scene will always be remembered, I suspect. It revived the great idea of casting a big name in order to dispel the preconceived notions all audience members have of what can possibly happen based on such practical considerations as not wanting to waste the presence of a star in one's film. That really is a great opening, even if it looks worse when one questions the decision-making of the characters involved and one can't forget about all the innovations in phone technology that followed the film.

The scenes that follow strike a good balance. There's humor, but not too much. The conceit of deconstructing slasher movies doesn't replace the making of a horror movie. The performers are able, and they have the benefit of mostly good directing and writing. I especially like the feeling that the characters are really distinct from each other in their world view and their manner of speaking. This is no Diablo Cody movie. In this and in other things, the sequels didn't do so well.