The release of a new – the fifth – Scream in the theaters on Wednesday necessarily awakened some memories, and traumas, even within the editorial staff of 20 minutes. Indeed, even though she is younger than her big sisters (by blood) Halloween, Friday 13 Where Freddy, the franchise has left its mark (in blood… ok we stop) in the history of the slasher in particular, and genre cinema in general. And even from the box office.
Judith of the Horror Bridesmaids YouTube channel, which shines the spotlight on female characters in horror films, didn’t discover the first film when it was released in 1997, but later: “I was told that it was a pretty funny film, with self-mockery, but I especially remember the first scene, a shock ”.
“” Scream “participated in my discovery of the genre”
She was 12 years old and therefore not necessarily all the references with which screenwriter Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven play: “He’s the first slasher I’ve seen, but I already liked horror cinema and movies. like The hunter’s night Where Fly. Scream on the other hand, clearly participated in my discovery of the genre, and its frightening and stimulating sensations ”. Marie Casabonne, one of the authors of the collective work Slashers (Vents d’Ouest), managed to see the film “thanks to a small amount of VHS traffic with those who had Canal + at the time”. But above all, she discovers Scream at the same time as Claws of the night, either the movie meta and the references, and a “good time Wes Craven”, since both are directed by the master of horror.
“We must remember the context, details the specialist. The slasher has been a bit dead, since at least the mid-1980s, and horror in general is on the wane, with sagas getting bogged down in sequels like Jason Goes to Manhattan, Hell or Space. . ” Yes Scream owes a lot to the directing of Wes Craven, it would be nothing without the contribution of Kevin Williamson, then unknown screenwriter of 25 years and fan of horror films. This script, under the original title Scary Movie, is his last chance to break into Hollywood. The legend, because it always takes one, says that he locked himself in three days to write it, before selling it for $ 400,000 to Miramax, the company of Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob.
More consistent and identifiable characters
If the meta approach contributes to the originality of Scream, does it alone explain the critical and public success of the film? Judith recalls that the film Pop corn by Mark Herrier had already been there in 1991, with his murders in the middle of a horror film festival organized by film students, as well as Freddy comes out of the night released three years later and directed by a certain Wes Craven. “When a genre runs out of steam, consciously revisiting it allows us to rediscover it and resuscitate it, that’s what Scream succeeded with the slasher, and on a scale never seen before. “
For Marie Casabonne, the film is also and above all the perfect blend of two genres, therefore the slasher and the teen movie à la John Hughes, “with more consistent and identifiable characters. They are no longer just cannon fodder ”. Better: “They are fans of horror films like the spectators in the room, they know the codes of the film that they are living and can act accordingly… or not. They are also looking, like us, to find out who the killer is.
The real heroes are the survivors, not the killer
Because Scream operates a paradigm shift, notes the author of Slashers : “Before, it was the killer who returned from film to film, like Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger. But there the killer dies at the end and another person dons the Ghostface mask. The real heroes are the survivors, the trio Sidney, Gale and Dewey ”. They are also back in the new Scream. Judith from Daughters of Horror abounds: “Sidney Prescott, played by Neve Campbell, redefines the figure of the slasher heroine, the famous final girlbecause she regains control of the story. This was not the case before, and it is important for the new generations, to have these new representations, strong and complex characters ”.
Quality suites
Parody Scary Movie in the costume of Ghostface, one of the most sold on Halloween, Scream has left its mark on pop culture, and has spanned decades and generations thanks to “always high-quality” suites, comments Marie Casabonne. “There was no weariness like with other sagas, and although it was meta, the franchise never fell into parody, remained serious and respectful. According to Judith, Scream may have launched the neo-slasher fashion, with Remember last summer Where Urban legend, he remained the master stallion of the genre.
The franchise has also accompanied the evolution of genre cinema, audiences, and even society, playing around with the notions of sequel, movie-in-the-movie, and even fame in the age of social media. in Scream 4. And the next film, which advances in a mask … at the same time sequel, revival or reboot? The context is different 25 years later. Horror reigns at the box office with Blumhouse productions, comes to festivals and ceremonies with theelevated horror by Jordan Peele and Ari Aster, and even the saga Halloween came back from the dead. Not to mention another franchise that has become cult: Scream !