You Scream. They Scream. We All Love the Franchise Scream.
Welcome to Horror Anonymous. A great place to hide.
*taps mic*
Hi! My name is Dani.
Hi Dani!
I’m really nervous about this but I have something to share with the group.
This is a free and safe space, Dani. You can share anything here.
~sigh~ Okay, ummm…I haven’t always been a Scream fan.
…..silence…..What?! How dare you?! How on earth can you sit here with US and call yourself a horror fan?!!!
Well, I…
Kick them out! Horror membership revoked!
Okay, okay, I had a feeling the knives would come out about this…and yes Ghostface I see you lurking ready to pounce. Just hear me out for a second.
Hmmm, well let’s hear it…and yeah Ghost, put the knife away…for now. We’re horror kith and kin here and we’ve all got our {grumbles} personal relationship with the genre.
Okay, first and foremost, I was six years old when the first Scream came out. This was the early 90s and trying to see some horror-related media at that age was still really difficult. It was rated R and my parents didn’t play back then about the rating system.
Well, that’s fair, we all know what that’s like. Too young for the cinema. You were like…a baby. So you get a pass, but you got into the movies when you got older right?
Aww, thank you everyone for not filleting me outright…and to be transparent with everyone here I eventually saw the movie when it aired on tv sometime later…and I thought the movie was…~gulp~…okay.
Okay? Okay???? Just okay?! Ghostface, let them have it.
🔪*dodges a knife slash*🔪 At the time yeah, I had been too spoiled by the elders. 🔪*blocks another stab*🔪 You know…Michael Myers. Pamela Vorhees. Jason. Freddy Krueger. Candyman. ~wrestles the knife away~
Wait a minute, wait a minute. Don’t say Candy — his name again! And uh, don’t be too hasty with that knife. Okay, okay. We get it now. Ghost just wasn’t your cup of tea…I mean you did list their predecessors and some of them weren’t human and had higher kill counts. {pats them on the shoulder} Sorry Ghostface.
I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings Ghost. Listen, in all honesty, I didn’t appreciate you then but I did watch all of your movies in the meantime and keep up with the timeline. Here’s your knife back, I know you’ve got another one hidden somewhere anyway.
So…you did come around to the series? Was it the guess who Ghostface angle? All the Scream Queens? The reinvention of the genre and smashing of all the tropes?
Yeah, it was all of those things, especially Wes Craven. He and the entire team had such an eye and heart for the craft and made each movie just…fun. I mean he did create thee Freddy K after all and New Nightmare was just as experimental as the Screams.
The franchise is kind of a miracle, isn't it? The fact its lasted this long and has all of these new fans with each new generation is really dope. It’s okay, don’t cry Ghost. Don’t use your cloak for those tears, have a tissue.
Yeah Ghost, you’re always surprising me. It’s always a thrill to see who you’re going to be. Some of my personal faves were Nancy Loomis: some top-tier acting with that one. Jill Roberts: her physical dedication to be ‘the final girl’ was spectacularly unhinged. Amber Freeman: that slasher smile and your comeuppance with the fire was sublime.
{claps in agreement} What about Scream VI? Yeah, yeah, the latest one?
I actually saw the twist coming. The detective dad gave off literally killer vibes. We horror folks can always detect that stabby slashy energy and his kids were a nice touch to throw us off. The family that slays together stays together blah blah blah and whatnot. And you couldn’t misdirect us with that Kirby ‘potentially Ghostface’ bit towards the end if you tried. Fans love Kirby and that leather jacket was way too sickening to get blood all over.
True true. We do love Kirby and her style was wicked this time around! Did you see it’s made over 116 million dollars now? I hope it keeps up the pace and can match the others. Plus, shout out to the Carpenter sisters. Their dynamic is really breathing new life into these latest installments.
Totally, I adore their relationship. And that stat was really something about Melissa and Jenna being co-leads of this mammoth franchise. We don’t big up Latine folks in the horror genre enough. The stories and folklore from the diaspora could fill volumes, let alone the representation. Still salty about Los Espookys being canceled.
Yeah, way too many things are being shelved lately… but tons of things are being greenlit at the same time. It’s wild to be a genre-anything fan right now. We support women’s rights and women’s wrongs in this space too. Horror challenges us, plus we live for the camp or fabulously stylish villains. We’re excited to see if they’ll do a Scream one day where one or both sisters could be Ghostface or if they throw that all in the trash and become something…more.
Yeah, I hope the movies keep surprising us and shifting our expectations. Sidney and Gale won’t be with us forever. I hear you smiling about that Ghost. Plus, I’ve had Demi Lovato’s: Still Alive on a loop during my workouts. So I’m going to need the franchise to keep this energy and these horror relationship bridges going. Please and thanks.
Totally, and what a rug pull with that Samara Weaving cameo opening. She was ‘that girl’ in Ready or Not, happy she got to contribute something special to this latest movie. Well, I guess you’ve made your case and you really are the franchise stan we thought you were. So, before we end today’s Horror Anonymous…what’s your favorite scary movie?
🔪Well, that’s easy…it’s THIS one!🔪
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Essential listening:
…and some reading if you feel so inclined…
