The Racking
The Scream films
DO WE LIKE SCARY MOVIES? FOUR EMPIRE WRITERS TACKLE GHOSTFACE AND CO.
SELMAN HOŞGÖR
Chris: So, the Scream series. The franchise that began under director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson way back in 1996. It gets a lot of props for its meta approach to slasher films, but it did a lot more. It introduced the idea of an opening kill, and a whodunnit.
Mike: It’s such a fun format.
It’s one of the most consistent horror franchises.
Helen: There are no bad Scream movies. But there are less good Scream movies.
What’s impressive is not just the meta angle, and the way people know the rules of horror movies and the killers are mostly motivated by those same rules. That’s exciting and cool, but they also work as slasher movies. Ghostface has an incredibly iconic design, and there are legendary kills.
Chris: I think there are genuinely great suspense sequences. I’m thinking Sidney trying to evade Ghostface in her locked car in the first Scream. Of course, it helps when you have a master like Wes Craven at the helm.
Mike: That first movie, particularly, is so perfect because you’ve got that balance of Kevin Williamson, who adds a bit of satire and commentary on the genre, but Wes Craven is directing it like a proper horror film.