hollywood is usually governed by impatience and nervousness for trying to please both shareholders and the bulk of the public, who are the ones who provide them with the numbers that later justify their generous annual bonuses. They really owe more to the former than to the latter, but part of their current problems lies in confusing very noisy and very online sectors with the feeling of the general public, which is really much less connected.
Even so, it is clear that the phenomenon of reboots has had to change. If before the new characters carried the weight to appeal to younger generations and the veterans had a reduced presence to pass the baton, now it is the former who have to swarm while due homage is paid to the latter, those who are supposedly the interest of those who speak the most in networks. It is a difference that can be seen between the ‘Scream 4’ of 2011 and the ‘Scream’ of 2022.
It is a “requel”
The latter is now available for watch streaming via Netflixhaving left his former home streamer on Amazon Prime Video in recent days. It is a good occasion to rescue one of the highest grossing horror movies of recent years and a fun exploration of what late sequels to recognizable franchises have become.
Here the action takes place 25 years after the bloody murders in the town of Woodsboro, where Sidney Prescott managed to survive the insane threat of her boyfriend and his sidekick. Some events that have given rise to a saga of films that exploit tragedy and that have created a cult around the Ghostface mask, which once again terrifies the town with the arrival of a new assassin in disguise. The survivors of the original tragedy will have to assist a new group of young people in danger for this bloodthirsty masked.
Wes Craven’s ‘Scream’ films with Kevin Williamson have been noted for their fun mix of violent horror with self-aware comedy, which always has focused his darts on the situation of the horror genre and Hollywood. The classics, the sequels, the attempts to go back to the roots, the reboots. Now the creative team of Radio Silence reflects on the latter and the “requels” where the originals are revered while new faces appear to lead the saga.
‘Scream’: knowing how to laugh at yourself
They do so, of course, in a context of special alienation by online fandom communities, who feel in a position to demand, albeit violently, that the franchises to which they have dedicated so much time be respected (or rather that they not aspects that are really superficial are touched on but are given excessive attention). The film touches on this with some of its traditional explanatory monologues, some references to ‘Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi’ and no problem laughing at herself. Nor can there be a good handling of the intrigue around the identity of the murderer and some sequences of suspense and brutal violence.
The latter will be more prominent later in ‘Scream VI’, showing that Radio Silence have a good hand when it comes to interspersing gory terror with comedy. Something that has undoubtedly connected with the new generations of the public, who are consistently turning to this kind of proposal at this time when some believe that nobody wants to go to the movies. However, ‘Scream’ has shown that you can have something to respect the essence of the saga and that can be transmitted to a new audience.
In Espinof | The best horror movies ever
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It is one of the most successful horror movies of recent years and it can already be seen on Netflix: a sharp satire on modern sequels and against the alienation of fandom