Before I start diving too much into discussing Scream I want it to be clear that this will not be a review of all 10 episodes from season 1 or even a review of any single episode. I am just going to be talking about the entire first season in general and about the new DVD of that first season. If you are looking for reviews on the individual episodes Trace has already written great reviews for each of them and I’ve linked them down below. Trace will also be reviewing season 2 for those that are interested so be on the lookout for that.

Now onto my thoughts…

The first Scream film is very near and dear to my heart. The film came out when I was 10 and it was the first real horror icon that was born during my lifetime. While Ghostface may not be on quite the same level as Freddy or Jason and horror legends of that ilk, I’d say he’s pretty darn close. Given that Ghostface was born during my childhood he’ll always hold a special place in my horror loving heart and I assume most people my age feel the same.

As far as the sequels are concerned I’ve only seen 2 and 3, and I like both just fine. I don’t think either is as good as 1, but I find both to be quite enjoyable. For some reason I have yet to watch 4. Not sure why, I’ve had it forever, just waiting to be watched, but I haven’t gotten around to it. Even without having watched 4, I consider myself to be a fan of the franchise, absolutely loving one film and liking two others.

Given my history and relationship with the franchise the thought of a television show excited me, even if I knew it was going to be an MTV production. I wouldn’t say I went into watching this series with high expectations, but I certainly had great interest in what it would be and eventually become.

The pilot makes it very clear what the goal of adapting Scream into a television show is. This isn’t a continuation of the Scream movies, but rather a re-telling of sorts. It’s basically the same story being told with new characters in a new setting with a more modern touch. And the idea of a modern Scream seems crazy to me still since I’ve always viewed Scream as the modern horror film and it’s only twenty years old, but in that twenty years a lot has changed, especially when it comes to technology. Think about this – in the first Scream film having a cell phone made you a suspect. In the Scream TV universe not having a cell phone would likely make you a suspect.

Bella Thorne takes on the Drew Barrymore role becoming our first victim. Instead of receiving a phone call she gets some interesting text messages that eventually result in her bleeding out in a pool. I think this first kill is done quite well and replacing the phone call with text messages makes sense. This kill is quite bloody and gory too. Multiple times throughout the show I found myself surprised at just how bloody it is. I approve of course, but it always managed to catch me off guard somehow.

This death along with a cyber bullying incident kicks starts the entire story for our series. The gruesome murder is reminiscent of slayings that occurred two decades prior and now the entire town is on edge, fearful that a copycat may be on the loose.

The setup works for me. Why wouldn’t it? The overall premise isn’t that different than the first Scream. We meet a handful of teens that are going to be the main group we follow with Emma (Willa Fitzgerald) being our lead. Emma’s mother was the focus of the earlier killings, though she did survive, and it appears that Emma will be the main target this go-around. Cool, this is good enough for me and I’m in.

At the start of this I mentioned how technology has taken huge strides since the first film. In case you didn’t realize that, have no fear because the TV series makes it a point to constantly throw that in your face. Yeah, the killer still makes phone calls but he also sends mass text messages, DM’s, Gifs and uploads videos. Using these new elements is totally fine and makes sense, but it’s the way they’re used that bugs me. Everything is so on the nose and being forced fed to the audience.

The kids at the school seem to always receive mass text messages. That’s a little far-fetched, no? I mean the logistics behind it seem in insane. How is the killer sending these to everybody? A fairly large group of twenty or so people, ok, I can buy that. But the whole school? That seems downright silly! And maybe it’s not even the whole school getting them, but it feels that way.

Then there is an episode where the word “Gif” is used like 40 times. I think its episode two. Every other scene starts with someone saying “Did you see that viral Gif?” “Oh yeah, did you see that viral Gif? I saw that viral Gif. It was a Gif and now it’s viral so it’s a viral Gif alright.” Who says viral Gif? Has any person in real life every said viral Gif? And if you are saying viral Gif, do you ask everyone if they’ve seen said viral Gif? Also, why are you saying viral Gif? Look, I get what they’re going for. The idea is to be hip and appeal to a younger generation, but this seems a bit ridiculous. Don’t force it, guys.

Tied into this use of Gifs and social media, is how the show makes me feel. And I do not care for how Scream the TV series makes me feel. What I’m saying is that it makes me feel kind of like a creep. I’m 30, I grew up with Scream. Why should I feel like a creep watching Scream? I understand I’m not the target audience. They’re trying to appeal to a younger generation, but you could probably do so without alienating people that group up with the franchise.

My generation has very much been big into cell phones and social media and YouTube and so forth. You can use all these same stuff and make it so it appeals to both teens and people similar in age to me. And I think they’re trying too hard to be hip and cool to appeal to kids. I can’t imagine many 16-year olds are watching this and thinking, “yeah, that sounds just like me! Scream gets me.”

Did 30-year olds watching Scream in 1996 feel the way I do now? They couldn’t have right? Am I this out of touch? Have I become Principal Skinner? No, it is the children. They are wrong.

This mask is dumb. Whoever made this is dumb.

And what’s the deal with the mask? I understand wanting to change the mask for the show, but this is the best they could come up with? It looks terrible and makes me angry.

So at this point the show has made me feel like a creep and has angered me. Obviously, I hate it, right? Not so fast!

Despite the show’s many flaws, I kind of dig it. As I made myself throughout each episode I found I kept wanting to continue and watch more, even when I thought the show was getting too stupid. The characters aren’t written great, but I find them all the be pretty engaging. I suppose that’s a testament to the actors. John Karna as Noah is probably the best part.

Noah is obviously here to get the interest of the genre geeks. He’s essentially supposed to be us. This is the Jamie Kennedy role. And for the most part he’s a success. He’s a likable dude that you want to see come out on top. I do take issue with his comments about romance being forced into genre films though, specifically his comments regarding Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor hooking up in Terminator. If they don’t have sex there is no John Connor and if there is no John Connor there is no one to lead the resistance. And if there is no resistance than Kyle Reese wouldn’t even be able to travel back in time! Come on Noah, you should know this! Side note: do not try and make sense of the Terminator timeline, it will not end well!

The show is very meta, which is important and in line with the film series. Noah is responsible for a lot of this and in the first episode speaks about how horror is in right now but there could never be a television show that is a slasher because main characters would be killed in every episode. Sure enough, Scream manages to kill off characters in every episode. And even though I expected main characters to be offed some were still quite shocking and there was one that I was a little upset by. If you ask me one person dies a little too soon.

Scream has a pretty good look. It doesn’t look cheap at all, which is sort of what I expected. Everything is shot and staged pretty well, likely a result of bringing in some pretty established talent to direct the episodes. It’s a good mix of directors too. Brian Dannelly directed 2 episodes in the first season and while he doesn’t have much of a background in horror, he has dealt with the gossipy teen element in his past work. Also doing 2 episodes in season one was Tim Hunter, and personally I think he did the best. Not only did Hunter direct River’s Edge, but the guy has been around the block a few times when it comes to TV. Joining Dannelly and Hunter are veterans Rodman Flender (Idle Hands) and Ti West (The House of the Devil) and relative newcomers (at least from the director’s chair) Leigh Janiak, Julius Ramsay and Scott Speer.

These director choices were very smart. They brought in a good mix of people that were able to touch a lot of different bases. The result is a show that looks pretty good. Well done, MTV.

Scream isn’t nearly as cool or hip as it so desperately wants to be. It tries way too hard and just needs to relax a little. With the proper adjustments season 2 could be a whole lot better. Re-work the dialogue a bit and allow the use of YouTube and texting and all that other stuff to come in more naturally. Also we deserve a much better season finale in season 2. The season 1 finale was kind of stupid and a generally disappointing conclusion after I had managed to get invested in the show. My overall thoughts on the first season of Scream is that it is most definitely flawed, but it does play around with some fun ideas creating a few little jump scares while building good tension. Not close to perfect, but good enough that I want to keep watching and I’m more interested in season 2 than I was season 1.

Also you have to remember what you’re dealing with. This is a teen soap opera with some horror elements worked in. Judge it for what it is and you can find enjoyment with it. Sure it’ll piss you off, but you’ll still have some fun.

As far as the DVD goes, it’s fun. There are a few deleted scenes, a gag real and a promotional gallery. This is all ok. It’s  a 3-disc set with four episodes on the first two discs and two episodes and special features on the third disc. Some interviews or commentaries with the cast or directors would have been cool. I would have really been interested in hearing what the cast had to say about the show and their prior relationship to Scream. The set does come with a slipcase though and I know some collectors are crazy about slipcases so that may be a bonus for some. As far as I know it’s only getting a DVD release which is a bit disappointing. This is a fairly major release so a Blu-ray would have been nice. For what this is though, it’s fine. The list price is $35 but it looks like Amazon and a few other places have it for $19.99. If you snag it for $19.99, it’s worth it.

Be sure to check out all of Trace Thurman’s individual episode reviews!

Episode #1 Review
Episode #2 Review
Episode #3 Review
Episode #4 Review
Episode #5 Review
Episode #6 Review
Episode #7 Review
Episode #8 Review
Episode #9 Review
Episode #10 Review