SCREAM
GHOST TOWN
GHOSTFACE IS BACK – BUT WHO ARE THEY THIS TIME? SFX TRIES TO UNMASK A KILLER
WORDS: DARREN SCOTT
PARAMOUNT/LANDMARK MEDIA, ALAMY
When SFX takes a trip into the North Carolina hotel rooms of the cast and crew of Scream, it’s dark outside, there’s a glowing pumpkin and candles are lit. It’s Halloween 2020 and there’s a chill in the air. A chill isn’t the only thing in the air, of course, so it’s little surprise that all those rooms are separate and we’re joining them from London, via Zoom. No stalking Woodsboro for us, sadly. Or maybe that’s a good thing considering there’s a certain masked killer back in town. Yes, again – you can’t keep a good, sorry bad, movie monster down as the fifth instalment hits screams, sorry, screens this month…
Exec Producer Kevin Williamson and “friend”.
Jenna Ortega: Ghostface? We knewit!
DIRECTORS MATT BETTINELLI- OL& TYLER GILLETT
How do you make Scream relevant to this generation?
Tyler Gillett: One of the things that’s been exciting to us about all of the Scream movies, the franchise in its entirety, is how it does seem to not only comment on the current state of media and pop culture, but it’s also always wildly prophetic in the way that it does that. For us, the goal first and foremost is to just make something that’s really scary, and really fun. There is a lot, thematically, happening in this movie, but for us it was really about not wanting to make something that was super heavy-handed in terms of the kind of thematics that it was dealing with, but really just a fun, scary popcorn movie. That transcends any specific time or place.
How do you address horror for this generation?
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin: One of the things that the writers Guy [Busick] and Jamie [Vanderbilt] did with this is they really made a point of addressing the current state of horror, much like the original Scream addressed slashers. We fell in love with how well they addressed and dealt with the current state of horror, without it being anything like parody or farce. Not unlike in ’96, horror is not on a downtrend right now. It’s not something passé. It’s another golden era right now and that’s really built into the story in a major, major way.
Spyglass decided it was time to relaunch the franchise. How did it feel to get the gig?
TG: We’re so grateful. It’s one of those franchises that we hold so dear and have since the first movie and to even have the opportunity to pitch on a project like this is an honour. We of course have been involved in things where you pitch and fall in love with it and then you ultimately don’t get the project, and the heartbreak of that with this project would have been, I think, almost impossible to deal with. It’s one of the most incredible honours, I think, of our careers.