Scream 2

sdcc wes craven 1
Originally uploaded by April A. Taylor

As if the first Scream weren’t reflexive enough, Scream 2 came around and suddenly instead of verbally making fun of the movies on which it is based, Kevin Williamson made the new tale center around the movie within the movie, Stab based on the Woodsboro killings from the original film. It’s a brilliant bit of writing and probably why I love this movie so much – it’s a movie about movies and Scream is the only horror franchise I can think of right off hand that is about the movies.

Wes Craven may be pigeon-holed into the horror genre but the man is a master at it. One of the reasons I love the Scream franchise is that the jumps and bumps are based on actual thrills and suspense that works, not gore and cheap tricks; the characters are also human and their struggles just real enough to put you in their shoes. While Kevin Williamson deserves a decent share in that credit, his scripts could have been completely butchered if it weren’t for the artful hand of Craven.

You may not be aware that Scream 4 is in production as I type this. The Craven/Williamson pairing is reuniting again and I can’t wait to see what new rules the characters will face now that their personal horror stories turned from a trilogy to a franchise. I for one can’t wait to see, and I hope desperately the studio does not force them into the horror movie killer – a PG-13 rating.

Mickey: Come on Randy, with all due respect, the killer obvious patterned himself after two serial killers who have been immortalized on film.
Film Class Guy: Thank you!
Teacher: Are you suggesting that someone's trying to make a real life sequel?
Randy: "Stab 2"? Who'd want to do that? Sequels suck!