#no icons we die like billys and stus

[thestarfishinjootsoffice]

Slashers x child reader where reader just runs up to them holding a snake (might be poisonous) and is like “Look I made friends with a noodle!” Slashers are just confused on why reader hasn’t been attacked by the snake yet

I don't know if you mean separate or all of them together. I can change it into your desired concept if I make a mistake.

Slashers finding child reader with a snake!

Michael

You found a little moving flexie stick, you thought it was adorable so you grabbed it and placed it on you hand and it just slithered around and flicked it's tongue at you.

Michael was looking for you and then he heard fast little footsteps behind him.

And behind him was you holding a small snake.

Immediate panic.

What if it's poisonous!? What if it bites you and you die??? Let go of it right now.

"dad, look its a-"

He grabbed that thing by its supposed throat and threw it at the ground.

"dad!" you yelled out.

"what did you do to my friend.." you started to cry so he quickly picked it up and gave it to you again. The snake is traumatised and hurt but you don't need to know that.

He's keeping two eyes though.

Sinclair brothers

You crouched down. You saw a big green line, you thought it was cool af so you just put it around your neck and tried your best to run to your brothers with the heavy weight on your shoulders and neck.

Lester and Vincent in the trunk of Lester's car and bo just leaning against the doors probably smoking and or drinking a bevarage.

"aye.. Where's y/n gon' to?" bo asked.

"oh shit, I completely forgot bout' them!" Lester exclaims.

"Goddammit, why can't you ev-"

"I'm right here!" a high pitched voice replies. All three of them surprised to see you holding a big green snake around you.

"y/n let go of that thang right now!" Lester is scared for your life

"what, but its my noodle friend." you respond sadly.

"like hell it's a noodle, what if it bites you?" bo says

Vincent is just trying to pry it off you subtly, he's trying the best of his abilities he's careful not to anger or make it feel threatened. Jonesy is barking at it.

When the snake opened its mouth was just when bo threw it off you. The snake just hissed at you three and scurried off to the woods.

Vincent picked you up and to the car and sat you down, a signal to not leave their side again, god knows what would've happened if that snake really did bite you.

Hannibal

Hannibal took you to a park. You loved playing there, you were stepping on the crunchy dead leaves and you spotted an orange snake with black and white lines which you almost stepped on.

It was just chilling on the ground and you had the uncontrollable urge to pick it up. And so you did and it did not snarl at you or act aggressive. You were starting fall in love with this snake.

"hey y/n, what's that you're holding?" one of your playground-mates asked you.

"look, a noodle!" you excitedly said to them but became confused when your other friends started screaming and running to their parents. This of course alerted hannibal as he came to the commotion.

"y/n what hap-" he stopped his sentence as he saw the snake in your arms, He sighed.

"y/n put that down."

"why? it's my friend."

"just-put it down you're scaring your frinnds."

"okay.." you let go of your little friendly friend onto the ground softly.

"can we please keep it?"

".... Maybe when you're older."

Billy & stu

Each of your two hands held the finger of your two parents. They were dressed as their iconic black robe and ghostly screaming face. You didn't know why but they drop you off somewhere maybe in your house or in the woods irresponsibly and come back covered in a weird dark sticky red liquid and a metallic smell.

You were in your backyard. They gently take their fingers away from your hand and tell you.

"okay y/n, we'll be back like always!" Stu your father said.

"and don't run off." your other father Billy added.

"I know." you say with an innocent smile. They strutted their way out the door. You have many toys and plastic/toy slide and swings that they stole brought just for you.

But the one thing tha caught your attention the most is a ssss sound. You crawl over to that sound and find a familiar looking snake. It had golden like skin with dark patterns. You saw on a documentary maybe it was called a pie.... Thong...? It doesn't matter.

The beautiful looking snake was making its way towards you not meaning any harm. It went up your arms and you patted it.

Few minutes later they come back. Unusual for them to back so early but maybe they got lucky in their "work".

Stu takes off his mask off immediately.

"hey y/n we're home!" he runs to their backyard and instantly starts shrieking.

Billy gets startled and runs to your location.

"WHAT WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING."

"LOOK AT Y/N!"

"WHAT DID THEY DIE?"

Billy was extremely reliefed to find you alive but was not relieved enough because there was a bigass snake all over you.

"SHIT WHAT DO WE DO BILLY."

"KILL IT!"

"noo! I'm not gonna let you kill noodle." you say with a frown.

"noodle!? That is a snake!" Stu tries to get you to let go of the animal.

Billy came back armoured with a long tong in his left hand and three knives in his right.

"alright, so I'm just.. Gonna pick the little fella up and let it be free where it belongs, okay?"

"but-"

"the lil dude doesn't belong here, he needs to be with his family, he must miss them right?" Stu tries to desperately make you let him go without you crying.

You give up and watch the armoured Billy cautiously throw it away. Stu then picks you up and takes Billy's hand and run into the house to go watch a movie.

"maybe we shouldn't just leave you alone like that..."

I finally finished one after 35 years.

[sharpth1ng]

I’ve decided that you’re my tumblr bestie now, sorry you can’t back out 😊

Anyway I feel like if enough people in a fandom agree on something, it should just be canon and the writers have to just suck it and anyway we all agree that Billy and Stu are gay ASF for each other (isn’t it actually canon??? Idk I thought I read something abt it)

Now we just have to get everyone to agree that Tatum and Sidney are gay for each other

- 🌂

EYYYY *does an overly complicated hanshake* (thats what friends do right?)

In this case the writer agrees with us tho! Kevin Williamson (Icon) is gay and has confirmed that Billy and Stu were inspired by actual gay murderers Leopold and Loeb! And theres a bunch of shit in the movies too, will Randy calling Billy homo-repressed and Sid calling him a pansy-ass mamas boy. Also they were originally supposed to die together in a puddle of blood, i'd say its pretty canon.

And like, I know FOR A FACT that Sid and Tatum are in love. Sid has a fucking indigo girls poster on her wall shes a L.E.S.B.I.A.N.

[mickyaltierisgf]

Just curious to hear why you put Roman and Mickey in s tier in your Ghostface ranking

well for added context, despite running this blog, I'm not a big horror fan. up until around november/december of last year, the only slasher I stanned was Jason. then I don't fully remember how, but Mickey caught my interest, and I decided to watch all the scream movies bc I didn't remember much of them except for the first film.

and like right off the bat, you have Mickey pull off a double homicide in an extremely crowded movie theater. the audacity of this bitch is astounding. then the sequel debate, which he absolutely won when he said T2 is better than the original and their lying asses just didn't want to admit it. and people want to clown him for tripping over the couch but idec cause that shit was hilarious. and I won't shut up about the car scene cause that's literally one of the best scenes in this entire franchise. him just jumping out of nowhere, taking out the cops, and driving the car like he wandered onto the set of the fast and the furious. that's probably why they wanted Tim to play Dominic Toretto. and the tension in that scene as Sid and Hallie have to climb over him to escape the car?? if it were me, I would just simply sit on his lap and refuse to leave. rip to Sid and Hallie, but I'm different. then Mickey is the first actual ghostface to reveal himself by unmasking. truly iconic. there has never been a better reveal before or after him. plus the fact that he was already a serial killer before being ghostface. and I love a good hired gun character. he carried that whole plan and the movie itself on his back, and he probably would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that meddling hag, Nancy.

then, going into scream 3, I knew Roman was going to be the killer, but I didn't expect to care about him. but then my man was not only employed but a director! and idc I love him for all the reasons people hate him. the voice changer? genius. game changer. ahead of its time. getting Billy and Stu to do his dirty work? lmao. frankly we don't talk enough about the fact that he was basically a celebrity to a certain extent and one who killed other celebrities! hey at least Jennifer and Cotton got taken out by one of the best to ever do it. And my girl Jenny even got to hit it first. And anyway, Romickey have a lot of similarities, and one of the best of those is that they won't always go in for the easy knife kill but will be extra just cause they can. man rigged a bomb like this was die hard. just doing the most for absolutely no reason. and when he pulled up and put on the mask to 1v1 everybody in Milton's mansion at what was supposed to be his own birthday party?! the kills might have suffered from the censors, but my man put on a performance better than most wwe pay-per-views.

I love two chaotic murder boyfriends with the highest kill counts.

so yeah, where Jason once stood alone, these two were the only ones to elevate ghostface enough for me to stan.

[jimsmovieworld]

SCREAM 6- 2023 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

GHOSTFACE TAKES MANHATTAN!

Absolutely loved Scream 6.

The Core Four move from Woodsboro to New York City to go to college and ghostface isnt far behind them.

The opening was inventive and fresh. Samara Weaving was great. The moment ghostface took his mask off really shocked me. I thought maybe this was a stab movie or something. Then ghostface calls him and he becomes the victim. I didnt understand why until later in the film but really liked all this.

Also a great Friday the 13th 8 nod with that on the tv.

The New York setting was brilliant and a breath of fresh air. Absolutely love Woodsboro but was nice to mix it up. The scene in the convenience store was so cool. Ghostface with a shotgun! ❤️

Ghostface in general was really scary in this. Really vicious kills and a lot less clumsy than he usually is. Scream 6 had some really tense moments and chase sequences. The ladder kill was absolutely terrifying.

As for the characters....

Just as Scream 2022 did. This film gives plenty of screen time to newer characters before introducing any of the legacy cast.

I think it really worked here and set up a lot for the film. Tara and Sams relationship was very well written. Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega were both amazing. So happy to have them as the centre of these movies. Both very likable.

Chad and Mindy were great. Chads relationships with Tara was sweet and Scream 6 confirms Mindy is Randy (Meeks). Just as her uncle Randy used to do she is the horror buff who gets to to explain the updated rules. And does it very well. Although i think her haircut is probably the worst Scream haircut since Gale in Scream 3.

I was very happy they brought Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) back again through Sams thoughts. Love Sams conversations with him. Its hilarious that he is always trying to convince her to become a serial killer like him but he also watches out for her. Theyve found the perfect way to bring Billy back and should continue to do so for as long as Sam is around.

Now as for his boyfriend Stu, he was mentioned to be dead and then Mindy said:

"If you believe hes dead".

This is all i need to hear to continue holding out hope for him to still be alive and the next killer...

Other returning characters were Roger L Jackson as the iconic voice of ghostface.

Courteney Cox returns as Gale Weathers. Despite saying she wouldnt write a book about the last movie she does anyway. This leads to one of the best moments of the film when Sam tries to punch Gale. Gale ducks it only to be punched moments later by Tara. Hilarious. Somehow this is also the first time she has talked to Ghostface on the phone. Her putting him on hold had me laughing. That whole scene was great, Gale is badass and put up a great fight. I was genuinely surprised she survived, i thought she was going to die for sure.

She is also now the only person to appear on screen in every Scream movie.

Neve Campbell declined to return over a salary dispute sadly. The film mentions Sidney, shes alive and well and has taken Mark and the kids somewhere safe.

I did miss seeing Sid as shes my favourite final girl ever, but the film was so good that the story didnt need her to work. Glad shes still alive though in that universe so we can bring her back. Pay Neve Campbell anything she wants she deserves it.

Also returning was Kirby (Hayden Panettiere). Everyones favourite character from Scream 4 was brought back from the dead and now works for the FBI. She took a special interest in the ghostface killings naturally and helps them solve the case. Great idea bringing her back. Shes a great legacy character, had good chemistry with the new gang and would love to see more of her.

As for the killers....

Really liked their motive. Its Richies family. They explain they killed the film student wannabes at the start after they got everything they needed from them.

This is a great nod to the killers motives in Scream 2 which this film parallels in many ways. The most obvious of which being they go to college (the frats and sororities even have the same names as in Scream 2).

Richies family out for revenge is like Debbie Salt and the guys killed at the start are like Mickey.

Good stuff.

This is now the most killers ever to be in a Scream film which was interesting. Even if you dont count the guys at the start, three is a record.

The double knife clean from the dual ghostfaces was perfect. Out of the kids i much preffered Quinn. I thought Quinn was really great when we saw her earlier and i didnt see the twist coming that she was still alive. Her brother seemed completely boring to me during the film. Showed a lot more personality when he was revealed as a killer though to be fair. I thought Dermot Mulroney was good but the bit where he called and warned Sam about Kirby being the killer sadly was a dead give away. Its obviously not Kirby so therefore was him. I thought the three killers was really interesting. They all had brilliant deaths i thought. Love that Sam resists being a killer but when she does get to stab someone she stabs them 100 times.

Also loved the way this movie pays tribute to every previous Scream film and not just the original. Great to see underated killers like Roman Bridger get some props. The ghostface museum filled with all the previous killers costumes and other props was absolutely incredible.

After seeing this on Wednesday for the first time i was annoyed to hear there is a post credits scene that i missed. Went back yesterday and rewatched it and stayed til the end.

Its a five second clip of Mindy saying:

"Not every film needs a post credits scene".

Now theres only one thing i had a problem with.

I didnt have an issue with no main characters dying. This is rare for a Scream film but you can do it every now and again as long as get some in the next sequel. With Dewey dead and Sidney unavailable, we are running fairly short of Legacy characters so im glad Gale and Kirby lived.

I love the Core Four so glad they all lived. But for gods sake you have to sell the stab wounds a bit more. Chad got stabbed like a million times, its fine for him to survive the film but make it seem believable, there is no way someone could live through that.

Mindy was even worse. Stabbed twice directly im the guts. So less than Chad, but not only did she survive but she was running around unphased 30 minutes later with the explanation that they gave her strong drugs? I absolutely loved the subway stabbing scene so will give it a pass. Very creepy and loved all the iconic horror costumes people had.

Scream 6 has topped the box office with an opening weekend of 44million plus domestically making it the best debut for any Scream film ever. Its been getting rave reviews from fans and critics and currently stands at a 7.4 on imdb. With all that happening its all but guaranteed we will have another Scream movie on the way before long.

What a time to be alive.

Directed by Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli Olpin.

[carolingarts]

I appreciate the horror fandom. You can do the most <b>heinous</b> shit and as long as you're punished for it even if you survive you'll have an absolute fucking legion of fans begging people to step on you. Like it takes a genuine <b>lot</b> to be like <b>this person fucking deserves it</b>. I feel like you know you're totally beyond redemption if a horror fan gets pissed off at you be you character or real person.

This can have it's consequences because you'll get some truly vile people who think they can sneak the fuck in but like - if it comes out that you do something that's <i>truly</i> truly taboo as a whole, horror fans will fucking come for you. Like the Jeepers Creepers guy. People don't even talk about missing the creeper thing because they know the guy who made him is a literal fucking creep.

Also yahtzees. Be they in a movie, tv show, or anything, if there's a yahtzee they either die or they are the monster and they're a totally inhuman collection of creatures that exist just as canon fodder. Yahtzee zombies? Yahtzee monsters? Same hat, same gun, praise the fucking writers and pass the ammunition. Everybody gets to be the final person and there is no quarter as they all die. these writers get they deserve nothing.

Stu and Billy fucking ripped through their own town in a gay whirlwind, the SAW apprentices have stans, people actively oppose the remake of Nightmare where Freddy Kreuger was a pdfphile, Jason has protectors, Pennywise dominated the culture landscape and still kinda does, Pearl is treated as an icon, and William Afton basically was dad to an entire generation of kids who were the product of a guy who combined 80s kidsgames and adult horror. Art the clown is Art the fucking clown and Charles Lee Ray is Dumballa's bitch- but none of them are yahtzees, none of them created by people who do evil monsterous things in real life.

(I did not include several on this list who I enjoyed but then I remember their creators are their creators and while nobody's perfect these guys have gotta do some serious work.)

I wish the actors behind these roles warm fuzzies because they seem to be wonderful lovely people and the creators of these characters support for understanding they wrote absolute fucking monsters who don't deserve to live in the real world but who we can kinda watch and appreciate for varying reasons. The biggest reason being that we're all traumatized broken people who need an outlet and rather than be the people non-horror fans think we are, we root for the bad guy or the broken guy turned bad guy and know in the end the final person will win but that it's not always that easy and we wish it were. That there's always a part of us who have seen the boogeyman and there's a flicker of our souls who know we've been the boogeyman, and there's a half a second we wish they could do better and come with us.

we know it's possible to love both in different ways and help others realize that finding that balance in our duality is the work of being a human being. To love the monster but hate the monster's actions, to one day know we can pick up the axe and smash the fucker through the head. Or set them on fire. Or shoot the hell out of them. Or torture them in turn. But we have enough pity to know it's not always simple and we do care about them.

And that's okay and lovely because while we hope one day there will be no boogeymen we're honest enough to know what they look like and we know they're a part of us and that it's better to be the boogeyman sometimes because we can acknowledge we have it in us. And rather than deny it and go on to be the boogeyman, to be a monster in real life, we keep it to our own and root out the real monsters.

Because to be a horror fan is to accept that to be human is to survive and that to survive and thrive we have to heal. And to heal we have to slay the dragon, but we know the dragon doesn't ever really go away. We just keep plugging along because we're the final survivor, the main character in our own little tales, and we're smart enough to give the dragon a hug to complete the hero's journey because one day there will be no more dragons and we will model kindness and love. There is no one who wants peace and decency more than a horror fan. We just know it has to be fought for.

Fuck it man, I don't just appreciate horror fans, I <i>love</i> horror fans.

[alchemeiarchive]

hey how are you and your mom doing in hell --- sidney visiting billy's grave :/

❛     oh,  we’re  doing  just  fine  sidney  !  mom  says  hi  ---  she’d  say  it  herself  but  turns  out  your  mom’s  here  too,  what  with  her  being  a  homewrecking  bitch  an’  all.  so  mom’s  pretty  distracted  trying  to  kill  someone  who’s  already  dead.  how  are  you,  sid  ?  heard  it  fucked  you  up  pretty  bad  thinking  another  boyfriend  was  the  killer.  (  .  .  .  )  pre-med  frat  guy.  how  boring  can  you  be  ?  anyway,  i’m  sure  we’ll  see  each  other  real  soon,  sidney.     ❜

[stuckasmain]

Finally watched scream 5

It’s been out for awhile now and I had bits and pieces spoiled though gif sets, like I usually do. But never enough to give me the plot or expect what happened. Honestly this movie was pretty great, it’s just after scream 2 for me.

SCREAM FIVE IS WHAT SCREAM FOUR WISHES IT COULD BE

Look, scream4 had its moments but it’s genuinely the worst out of them all. It’s too 2011 for it’s own good and produced the two most annoying characters to the franchie. This movie does- as Mindy so wonderfully puts it- a good requel.

It’s a great  homage to the orignal without completely doing it over with the same points or the same thing subverted. It has new charecters who are connected but not annoyingly so to the point that’s all they are. Despite their relation to existing charecters and their rolls each kid has a actual personality that I really enjoy (except Liv/pink hair, by the third act she was kind of just a ass?) it does the legacy charecters well. Brought back but not overly used. The stories about them but it’s not. It passes the touch without over relying on their familiarity/ fans love for them. Also loved the small references to other works not just past Scream movies- such as they’re being Elm street (which Sidney cannonically lived on in the first movie) or Sams dad being billy - if he dated let alone married her mom it would have been Sam Loomis. Both Halloween and psycho references.

Also props for killing Judy (idk why I hate her as badly as I do but I absolutely despise this woman and she had it coming) Wes however- didn’t deserve that :(. He had to potential to make it into the third act.

I’ll also give them this - they returned to their roots. The orignal scream was a spoof and movies and horror fans, the second one slightly? Kept this but after that they became a spoof on scream fans rather than the whole. This one at least makes reference to more besides a few shoved in title drops. Idk how to explain it.

Randy Meeks memorial home theater 💕

Way funnier then it should have been but a great homage Randy himself would adore. Mindy is also a direct nod to her uncle sharing a LOT in common, their rants I relate to a lot lol. Seriously the re creation of the couch scene while watching it is absolute art. “Oh shit” realization is everything. And the line that was something along “you’re watching a movie where your uncle gets stabbed” her charecter is really the only one to directly follow a orignal charecter (the killers only really show randy/stu tendencies at the end) and so she survives the end of this movie even getting the iconic Dewey thumbs up while on a gurney. I only hope, if there’s a scream 7 she doesn’t also die in a sequel like her uncle.

There’s a few holes for as good as this movie is. Like how the creepy ex comes into it besides being another spot on the kill count. Sure he’s related to stus … apparent sister? But he’s never brought up after that and seemed like random bloodsport. Also a bit confused on how sams…dad situation is supposed to work but that’s for another post

While Dewey’s death is extremely sad for me it also makes a point about stakes. His whole  character is to survive when he really should have died in all of the movies, and I do like how his limp from the second is brought back. However I like that it mentions stakes- that these beloved charecters have had it really lucky for a bit to Long.

RICHIE I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU. But I do like how they make him the reverse Derek. There to help and is hurt by ghostface in the beginning but is actually guilty this time around.

Sid said “fuck doors”

JAMES A. JANISSE. SCREAMING FOR THE DEAD MEAT/KILL COUNT REFERENCE

Why’s Tara like 16 and the others all around 18? Or does the actress just look super young?

[shiplessoceans]

I've never seen 'Scream' or any of its sequels and it is halloween and yeah let's do it. Live blog below:

-Drew Barrymore so dumb you could have done 50 things different to not die, far out lady

- Skeet Ulrich looks like Johnny Depp and sounds like Rami Malek. Insert love child theories here.

-i'm suspicious of Billy. Why is "Don't fear the reaper" playing while they make out?

-Courtney Cox's hair....that's all.

-Neve Campbell so beautiful, had such a crush on her character in The Craft.

-HENRY WINKLER? Holy crap the cast on this is amazing.

-...did Matthew Lillard just gatekeep murder? "It would take a man to do that"

-It says a lot that it's hard to differentiate teenage boys dialogue about gutting people or a murderer bragging about their sociopath accomplishments. Masculinity. It's a hell of a drug. Eh so far they both have alibis.

-OK, I like that they know that you are expecting a jumpscare and then it doesn't happen.

-ohhh what? Her mum? That's horrible:(

-OK...the caller sounds just like her boyfriend....

-Yaaas Sydney, drag those tropes

-I simply would not have gone out there.

-OK but how can they see through the mask?

-"the stupid girl runs upstairs" SYDNEY WTF

- OK so it's not Billy. Unless he's working with someone else.

-Billy is a trash human. Full stop.

- It's Stu and Billy isn't it. He had no reason to defend him in the video store like that. He has every reason to suspect him same as everyone and he stood up for him. Also they were making weird eye contact while teasing the video store guy. Like they were really enjoying tormenting someone.

-Wait, Sydney's dad? Nah. Don't buy it. I reckon the dads dead and they are using his phone.

-A house party? It's like these teens are trying to die.

-oh dear sweet Dewey.

-The only person we haven't seen at the party is Billy so I guess he's the one in the killer costume this time. They must be taking turns.

-Guys is it gay to have your bro kill your girlfriend.

- oh honey not the doggy door.

-Why wouldn't you just stand up and pull your head back out if the door...she wasn't stuck? *sigh*

- I liked Tatum. Humph.

- Gail's hair has changed colour like 3 times I swear to God

- Oh and look who just turned up now they the murder is done.

- OMG DO NOT SLEEP WITH HIM NOW WTF.

-"It's all one great big movie" ok so we are definitely meant to know that it's him then.

-I mean maybe it's a fake out. It's definitely not the cop.

-Omg the horror movie rules, amazing!

-Stu is not looking for Tatum when she went to get him beer so yep. I'm convinced.

-The dubbing on Gail's "Be right back" is so bad lol

-Nice try movie, it's not Dewey.

-"Here comes the obligatory tit shot!" OK I love a self aware movie.

- Oh shit I forgot about the principal!

- Dewey and Gail? I ship it.

- I still don't think it's her dad. I reckon he's dead. The killer/s could have taken his car.

-Finally Sydney is waking up.

-OH WHAT? BILLY??? I WAS SURE IT WAS HIM!

-Run Syd! RUN!

-Omg Tatum... I forgot about her.

-Randy narrating his own murder like "turn around!" Phew he got away.

-OH NO NOT FRANK!

-This is so well done btw. I'm loving this.

-If Dewey dies I riot.

-Did Gail just die? God what a clusterfuck.

-Dewey no!

-It's definitely Stu in the costume I just don't know why. Hard to hide how tall he is.

-BILLYS ALIVE!

-Oh I wouldn't give him the gun.

-I FUCKING KNEW IT!

-omg they killed her mother. What in the fuck.

-so they like to impale each other. Uh huh...

-"My mum and dad are gonna be so mad at me!" ROFLCOPTER

-omg can these guys die already.

-"Not in my movie" ICONIC.

OK that was awesome. 10/10 ghostfaces. Keen for the sequel.

[thewyloren]

Day One - Scream *SPOILERS ABOUND - YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!*

Scream (1996 - Rated R) Directed by Wes Craven.  Starring Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, Courteney Cox, and Drew Barrymore.

“What’s your favorite scary movie?”

What was once an innocent question is now an iconic line from 1996′s slasher classic, Scream.  While director Wes Craven is known best for A Nightmare on Elm Street where he was also a writer, Craven did not pen Scream.  The story comes from the mind of Kevin Williamson who went on to work on I Know What You Did Last Summer, and The Faculty; also horror films involving teens, so let’s say he’d found his niche.  It’s not too surprising to learn Williamson also created the hit teen series Dawson’s Creek.

If you’ve never seen Scream before, the killer is disguised in a halloween costume which is coined later as “Ghost Face Killer.”  He terrorizes high schoolers of Woodsboro, mainly Sidney Prescott, daughter of a woman brutally murdered a year earlier.  But her killer was put behind bars, so it couldn’t possibly be the same guy.  Right?

Scream grabs you within the first five minutes.  Poor innocent Casey Becker, played by Drew Barrymore, is home alone, about to start a movie and chill, when a phone call disguised as a wrong number turns into a game of cat and mouse, leaving her gutted, hanging from a tree for her parents to find.  One must always remember the killer from Friday the 13th is, in fact, not Jason Voorhees, but his mother.  Better luck next time, Casey.

Killed within ten minutes of the movie, one has to wonder why on earth a star like Barrymore would agree to play that part.  According to Barrymore herself, she wanted that role.  While she was sought out to play the lead role of Sidney Prescott, once reading the script, she asked for the role of Casey.  Writer Williamson originally wanted actress Alicia Silverstone (Clueless) for the role of Casey.  As if!  Barrymore nailed it, solidifying herself as an official Scream Queen with her memorable and iconic scene.

While audiences are recovering from Casey’s shocking death, we’re introduced to the main protagonist, Sidney Prescott, played by fresh faced Neve Cambell, star of The Craft and drama series Party of Five.  Portrayed immediately as young and naive, we see her being pressured to be more sexual by her boyfriend Billy Loomis, played by cutie Skeet Ulrich, donning his best Johnny Depp look.  Depp stars in Nightmare on Elm Street, so maybe Craven figured that “look” was part of some kind of horror film formula for success.  Who knows?

We learn Sidney and Billy have been dating for two years.  My first thought?  Two years and this guy is still whining about her being a virgin?  Dumpppp himmmmm.  But apparently it wasn’t always like this.  The beginning of their relationship started out hot and heavy (but which relationship doesn’t, amirite?) then somewhere it falters... Sidney grows a bit cold as far as physical touch goes.  Ah hah.  That would be when her mom was brutally raped and murdered.  

The quaint (but rather rich... I mean, everyone’s living in these huge fancy farmhouses and none of these kids seem to have jobs, other than Randy, whom I’ll get back to soon) town of Woodsboro is shooketh.  They haven’t seen crime like this since Sid’s mom.  

With Sid’s dad out of town for work, Sid waits around for her best friend Tatum (Rose McGowen) to pick her up for a sleepover.  Sid gets a prank call and assumes its their friend Randy.  Told you I’d come back to him.  Randy works at a video store and makes many references to scary movies.  In fact, the movie itself is very meta.  Lots of name dropping and parallels to other horror classics.  “Randy” gets Sid to chat about scary movies where Sid confesses she hates them because they’re all the same.  “The big breasted actress that can’t act always runs upstairs instead of outside; it’s insulting” (I’m paraphrasing) which is comical because once she learns the voice on the phone is not Randy, and the person calling is actually in the house and attacks her, she can’t get out the front door, forcing her to run upstairs.

Hiding herself in her bedroom, Billy pops into the window and a cell phone falls out of his pocket.  Dun dun dun!  All signs point to Billy!  There’s no way it can’t not be Billy!  But we are so conditioned by Scooby Doo as kids.  It’s never who we think it is.  There’s always a red herring.  There’s always a twist.  So while we believe they want us to think it’s Billy, we’re smarter than that.  We know it can’t really be him.  Because where’s the fun in that?  Giving away the killer so soon?  Nah bruh.  We’ll wait for the big epic “ah HA, I knew it wasn’t Billy” moment.

After a pit stop at the police station where both Sid and Billy are questioned, Sid stays over at Tatum’s house where the killer phones yet again, accusing Sid of “fingering the wrong guy again.”  Whoa, whaaat?  The wrong guy?  AGAIN?

It’s not long after we learn that Sidney testified against her mother’s killer, Cotton Weary, putting him away for good.  Tabloid journalist (think today’s TMZ) Gale Weathers played by Courteney Cox in a horrid neon green dress suit believes in Cotton’s innocence.  She made bank writing a book about the tragic event surrounding Sid’s mom and Sid ain’t too happy about it.  

Running into Billy at school, Sid and Billy chit chat about how the anniversary of the death of her mother is coming up and Billy thinks Sid should just “get over it” already.  Because he got over his father leaving a year ago.  Because that’s totally the same thing.

Boyfriend of the year right there.  What a sociopath.  Here’s where we get back on board thinking “Yeah maybe it’s Billy... who else could it be?”

The town of Woodsboro is put on a curfew until the police can get to the bottom of things.  But kids will be kids and kids will have parties when parents are away and why are the parents always away?  Randy and Stu (Stu would be Tatum’s goofy boyfriend played by over-the-top Matthew Lillard, and Stu just happens to be Billy’s ride or die) chat about Billy.  Randy thinks Billy’s the killer.  Stu laughs, but defends his buddy.  The signs are starting to point more towards Sid’s dad.  The police haven’t been able to get ahold of him.  And when they checked the phone records for the calls made to Sid, they weren’t coming from Billy’s phone, but rather Sid’s dad’s phone.  Uh oh.  Could it be with the anniversary of mom’s death, dad is finally losing it?  

At Stu’s house, teens are drinking beer and watching scary movies, provided by Randy.  The killer’s there and Tatum meets her end, getting stuck in a doggy door and her neck snapping.  Billy shows up to the house after this happens, again, making us believe he’s the killer.  No one cares about Tatum’s whereabouts I guess, and Sidney slips away with Billy, upstairs.  Two high schoolers headed upstairs into a bedroom, what could possibly happen next?  Downstairs, Randy lists off rules for surviving a horror film.

Number one, never have sex. Number two, never drink or do drugs. Number three, never say “I’ll be right back.”

Remember those rules and you too will be around for the sequel.

This film is full of clever bits.  While everyone is watching Halloween, Randy announces “obligatory tit shot” and just as the actress in Halloween bares her breasts, the shot then turns to Sidney taking off her bra but she gets blocked from view by Billy.  Hah!

Yada yada yada, Sid and Billy break rule number one and Billy is next to be killed.  This is when we believe we were right all along.  It wasn’t Billy after all.  The tricky movie makers tricked us but we secretly knew it wasn’t really him.  Sid escapes out the window after being chased around a bit.  The killer goes downstairs where Randy is now all alone on the couch watching Halloween.  Randy is played by Jamie Kennedy and if you remember, Jamie Lee Curtis is the lead in Halloween.  So Randy’s on the couch shouting “Jamie look behind you” as the killer sneaks up behind him.  Thankfully, Randy is saved by Sidney screaming for help outside and the killer leaves him, for now.

More death happens, yada yada, it gets bloody.  Sid ends up back in the house and Randy and Stu fight over who the killer is.  Stu blames Randy and Randy blames Stu.  We’ve seen Randy and the killer in the same room, but we’ve never seen Stu and the killer in the same room.... hmm.  Something to think about.  But not something Sid has time for, so she closes the door on both of them.  Billy comes stumbling down from upstairs, covered in blood.  Now that Sid is positive Billy isn’t the killer, she’s comfortable with him taking the gun from her, to be the protector now, even if he is half dead.

Billy lets Randy in and ends up shooting him.  Whaaat?  Sidney tries to escape, confused as hell, obviously, and bumps into Stu who came in through the kitchen.  Stu pulls out a voice changer and speaks exactly like the killer and everyone is shocked to discover it was THE TWO OF THEM THIS WHOLE TIME!  They admit to framing Cotton, who’d been having an affair with Sid’s mom.  Apparently Sid’s mom had multiple affairs and was the reason Billy’s dad left.  Dun dun dun.

Stu pulls Sid’s dad out of another room, bound and gagged.  He and Billy plan to stab each other, kill Sid, then shoot Sid’s dad, making it look like Sid’s dad went on a killing spree, and then offed himself.  Billy and Stu would be the only survivors.  How convenient!  

But things don’t work out how they hoped.  Billy ends up getting shot.  Then Randy, who isn’t dead, says “This is when the killer comes back for one final scare” and Billy comes back for one final scare before Sidney puts a bullet in his head.

The way the movie is shot, the clever way it pays homage to other horror classics, makes it so lovable.  It’s really revived the horror genre, or at least the slasher portion.  Many sequels have since been filmed, as well as a television series, and comical spoofs.  It’s definitely a film that I would call a masterpiece of story telling and directing.  Definitely add this one to your Halloween and Chill list for October.  It’s available to rent on Amazon.  Also check with your cable provider, as it was free on demand for me.

RATING: 🎃🎃🎃🎃 4 out of 5 pumpkins

[janvba2film-blog]

Post D: Film 3 - Key Sequences

Scream (1996)

The film is littered with pop-culture nods to other horror films and subverts many tropes in the genre. For instance, the opening sequence is littered with references, including the mention of Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th during Ghostface’s murder quiz.

When Casey is stabbed, shot is in slow motion. All that can be heard is her muffled breathing, which creates tension. Wes may not have written the scene but his artistic vision realised it and made it as iconic a it is.

The shot of Casey Becker’s corpse hanging in the tree is sped up, almost as a reference to the final shot of Evil Dead (1981), however this was actually done to please the censors as the shot was “overly-long” to them.

When Sydney goes to get her bag tension builds through the music and sound design as she opens the closet door. Here Wes plays with our expectations by using a spooky sound queue which indicates Ghostface will appear behind the now opened closet door. It is rare that Wes let’s the viewer rest throughout the movie. Interestingly, the cinematography here also plays with the audience's expectations as when Sid sits down on the couch, there is quite a bit of open space at the top-left of the corner. This would be a prime opportunity for him to walk into frame, especially since the background is out of focus. The audience believes this will happen because it is indicated by the use of a long, sharp, chromatically-descending synth string, and because it is conventional.

A great quote referencing Wes’ mindset and other films is said by Sydney: “What’s the point? They’re all the same; some stupid killer chasing some big-breast who can’t act, running up the stairs when she should be going out the front door. It’s insulting!” This is a reference to The Final Girl, a common horror trope. What makes this better is that when she is chased she does this herself.

When the killer remarks “If you hang up you’ll die just like your mother!” the camera cuts to a close-up of Sydney’s reaction, conveying the fact that this definitely isn’t one of her friends (well...).

“You’re starting to sound like some Wes Carpenter film or something” – Tatum Riley. An obvious combination of Wes Craven and John Carpenter’s names, one of the many pop culture references.

Contains false jump scares; this is probably parodying many horror films.

The film has a very 90′s soundtrack. It is time appropriate, much like the NoES and Last House on the Left soundtracks. At the time this would have been used to define it as a piece of contemporary horror.

When Sydney is chased in the bathroom, Wes creates tension by slowly revealing that it’s Ghostface. The initial shot is off-putting enough; the men’s boots make us even more wary, and then finally the reveal of the robe makes us panic.

When the principal threatens to rip out the insides of one of the school pranksters it makes us wonder if he could be the killer. This is further playing of the mystery genre (explore genre fusion). It’s also quite strange that the scissors he pulls in focus make a ‘Clink’ sound, as if they’re being unsheathed.

When we return to the principal’s office we get a cameo from the director himself, dressed as his other famous serial killer, Freddy.

When the principal is killed we close-up on his eye. In it is the reflection of Ghostface, who wears a father death costume, which is symbolic as the last thing the principal will see is death looming over him.

“There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie. You can never have sex. You can never drink or drugs. Never, ever, ever say ‘I’ll be right back’. ” – Randy Meeks. One of the most iconically meta lines in the movie. One of the great things about this scene is that when Randy lists that you shouldn’t have sex, it inter-cuts a shot of Sydney and Billy doing exactly that. This is a clever subversion because Sydney is the Final Girl and Billy is the killer, who ends up dying.

Sydney says "But this is life. This isn't a movie." to which Billy responds, "Sure it is, Sid. It's all, it's all a movie. It's all one great big movie. But you can't pick your genre." - This is a very meta statement on top of being an effective use of dialogue.

“We all go a little mad sometimes...” - Billy quotes Norman Bates in Psycho (1960)

“Now Sid, don't you blame the movies. Movies don't create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative!” - This is social commentary on the long-standing argument that movies have a direct impact on the minds of viewers (Hypodermic Needle Theory).

The “The call’s coming from inside the house!” trope is inverted when Sydney calls the killers from her own house, while dressed as Ghostface.

Stu is killed by a TV playing Halloween (1978), which is quite ironic considering his murderers were inspired by horror movies.

Randy: [Gale, Sid and Randy are looking at Billy's body] Careful. This is the moment when the supposedly dead killer comes back to life, for one last scare.[Billy starts to rise]Sidney Prescott: [shoots Billy] Not in my movie.” - A clever subversion of a trope and self-awareness.

[jimsmovieworld]

SCREAM- 2022 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Words cannot express how much i enjoyed this movie. (Full spoilers ahead)

Eleven years after the last attacks, Ghostface is back in Woodsboro killing people who were related to the original attacks.

Ghostface is attacking a new group of friends as well as returning "legacy" characters returning from previous movies.

Lets start with the opening which sees Ghostface target Tara Carpenter (jenna ortega). Its much like the original opening scene with Casey Becker but with a more modern feel, and the questions she's being asked are about the Stab movies. Opening scene was scary and great to hear the iconic voice of Roger Jackson again. Wouldnt say it was my favourite Scream opening but was very well done.

Unlike every other scream opening, the victim survives and we find out shes in the hospital. Her sister Sam who ran out on her family years ago returns to town with her boyfriend Richie (jack quaid). We meet her group of friends, several of whom are related to original characters. For example Chad and Mindy were related to Randy, Wes Hicks is Deputy Judy Hicks son. As for the group i liked them and thought they worked well. They were given proper screen time and time to develop there characters. I dont think they were anywhere near being on the level of the original group at all but that would be a tall order.

Of all the new characters my favourite is Tara played by Jenna Ortega, shes an angel and very glad she lived, also liked her sister Samantha.

After my second viewing i really liked Chad and Mindy a lot more. Both funny and likable.

As for returning characters...

Was happy to see Deputy Hicks again, the scene where she was killed in broad daylight surprised the hell out of me and was so well done.

Was so happy to see Martha Meeks return in an adorable cameo! And the fact shed made a memorial cinema room for Randy! What a sweetheart! ❤ that was so good.

Bringing back Billy.... i couldnt have been any more shocked by that. Didnt see it comimg at all. I fucking loved it. Turns out Samantha is Billys illegitimate child and this plays a huge part in the plot, as she sees him in hallucinations. One of my favourite parts of the movie. Give us Stu next time!

Of the big three i think Deweys character was handled the best. The lovable former sherriff is now living in a trailer after having seperated from Gail after she got a huge opportunity to host the morning show in New York. Was very nice to see he still had Tatums ashes in his trailer. It was great seeing him interact with the new characters. Hes as funny and kind as always. As for his death. It was absolutely heartbreaking. And done perfectly. I knew one of the big three were going to die. Didnt think it would be Sidney, and thought Gale was the best pick. Dewey is the heart and soul of the scream franchise and to see him die such a painful death had me in pieces in the cinema. But it had to be one of them so i understand.

Sidney and Gail had the same amazing chemistry as always and was amazing to see them back together. Although id hoped theyd have got more screen time i understand why they didnt, and everything they did while they were on screen, made sense in line with there characters.

When Dewey called Sidney and asked "hows Mark?". This surely confirms shes married to Detective Mark Kincaid from scream 3! While i would have loved if Patrick Dempsey could have made just a quick cameo, this was great, the movie is filled with excellent easter eggs like this that Scream fans will enjoy. Another is during the scene where James A Jannise from Dead Meat makes a hilarious cameo, a suggested youtube video says, interview with survivor Kirby Reed. Confirming the fan favourite from Scream 4 survives! Amazing. Movies filled with stuff like this as the directors are true fans of the franchise.

New movie has the usual Scream meta talk discussing the rules of the movie. Does a great job of establishing everyones a suspect and works well as a whodunnit. So much of the fun of the scream movies is guessing who the killer is. I guessed Richie was one killer the other came as a surpirse. When Amber was revealed to be the other killer i was shocked as she barely stood as a character. Now ill see the movie again tommorrow so will be interesting to see her on the next viewing as ill already know shes the killer going in.

The killers motive?

They are both stab superfans who are furious with the latest movie going off the rails and are creating there own narrative for the next movie. This taking a stab at toxic fandoms. I think it works certainly. Some people im sure wont like it but you always need to take the scream killers motive with a grain of salt. Unlike other horror franchises like Halloween or Friday the 13th, they always have different killers and need new motives. Some work better than others. The Scream 4 killers motive wasnt received too well by a lot of fans at the time but i think was ahead of its time, this could turn out to be the same.

A few things i loved...

The return of Sidney Prescott.

Hands down my favourite final girl from any horror movie (sorry nancy). She is smart, sweet, resourceful, insanely beautiful and just an all round hunk (female version). Horror aside she has to be in the running for my favourite character ever, so was lovely to see her again.

Excellent use of Red Right Hand in Kyle Gallners scene. Great to see Kyle Gallner also hes a great actor.

Ghostface was brilliant! Still as clumsy as ever but brutal when it came down to it. Some very grizzly stabbings take place.

Loved the footage of stab 8 going off the rails with Ghostface wielding a flamethrower and nunchucks. Hilarious.

Loved the stab footage we saw of Randy at the party.

Loved Tara watching Dawsons Creek in hospital, a nice Kevin Williamson nod.

Use of Stus house was perfect. So great to see it again and bring everything full circle.

The "FOR WES" that popped up at the end of the movie was very nice.

Overall this movie hit me right in the feels. Amazing to see the old gang back in Woodsboro. Wrapped itself up nicely as a stand alone film but theres so much they could do with a sequel. Many of the new gang survived unlike in Scream 4 where they were all killed. As long as it does well at the box office it seems a sequel is pretty much guaranteed. Directed by Matt Bittenelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet.

Wore my best shirt to the cinema.