Editorials
Stabbing Our Way Into a Second ‘Scream 4’ Press Conference
With anticipation building for the April 15th release of Dimension Films’ Scream 4 – the latest entry in the top-grossing slasher franchise after more than ten years of silence – B-D reporter Chris Eggertsen and a horde of other journalists crowded into a conference room at West Hollywood’s Mondrian Hotel this week to engage in a Q&A session with director Wes Craven, returning cast members Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox Arquette, and David Arquette, and new additions Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin, and Anthony Anderson, to discuss their involvement in the massively-hyped new sequel.
Topics covered included the reasons behind revisiting the franchise after such a long absence, updating the rules and conventions of the series for a modern audience, and how the ill-fated town of Woodsboro has changed in the decade-and-a-half since the original massacre. See inside for the full report.
With the addition of a horde of fresh-faced young cast members, who in many ways echo the crop of self-aware young high school students featured in the original ‘Scream’, one could be forgiven for experiencing a slight sense of déjà vu when watching Dimension’s upcoming ‘Scream 4′, the belated third sequel in the iconic postmodern slasher franchise that’s finally being unleashed on April 15th. It was a sensation actually experienced by many of the original cast members as well, who recently gathered – along with their next-generation “doubles” and director Wes Craven – at Los Angeles’ Mondrian Hotel to discuss the heavily-anticipated new entry.
“I think with the new cast coming to this, it was really interesting to see because they were kind of reflections of us when we first got there“, said Arquette, sitting with Craven and fellow returning cast members Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox Arquette. “It just really sort of [generated the same] electricity that I felt on the first film.”
For her part, Campbell related a self-aware moment that she shared with Cox Arquette during the initial read-through with their younger cast-mates prior to the start of production.
“Courtney and I looked at each other and we were like, `we could be their mothers!’” laughed the actress, looking just as radiant and beautiful as she did when we first laid eyes on her over a decade ago.
“Grandmother!” remarked Cox Arquette in response, leaving the group of reporters seated before her to begin calculating the math in their own heads.
Of course, since the release of ‘Scream 3′ at the turn of the new millenium (now guess who’s feeling old?), there has inevitably arisen an entire new crop of horror franchises and sub-genres, not to mention a host of changes in both the culture at large and the technologies we use to navigate it. Craven, who at 71 years old keeps himself refreshingly up to date on how today’s young people both communicate and consume entertainment, spoke to the evolution of the culture since the last installment and how that factored into he and the Weinsteins’ decision to revisit the hugely successful franchise after so many years of being away.
“[Bob Weinstein] originally told us I think after `Scream 3′ that there were not gonna be anymore for a long time. They didn’t want it to feel like we were just knocking `em out to make money“, said the soft-spoken Craven, as always exuding an aura of quiet grace and intelligence. “But I think at the end of the decade, there was a feeling that this was a perfect time to turn around and look at the first decade of the 21st century. It was quite distinctive from others. 9/11…that’s sort of hovering over things. And certainly the presence of the electronic media being brought down to the people, to the level where everybody is online. Everybody’s on Facebook, people are tweeting people all over the world all the time. That’s totally different [than it was].
“…I have a step-daughter who’s 20 years old, [and] she’s watching movies on her computer or her phone“, he continued. “So the whole business, as you well know, is changing dramatically. And the way the fans follow the movies, and participate in the movies, and make their own movies…[it’s] profoundly different.”
Campbell, now in her fourth outing as perennial victim Sidney Prescott, got back into character not by looking forward so much as delving into the past, taking time to revisit the first three films again prior to the start of production.
“I had fun watching the films again before we started this, just to get a sense of it“, she told us. “It was really nice to see that they still hold up really well. But…it isn’t difficult to get into the character. With Sidney, it’s just like imagining her circumstances and doing it.”
Cox Arquette found herself not only marveling at Craven’s predilection for staying connected to youth culture, but also at the way he’s been able to maintain a sense of what scares people after 40 years in the business.
“He’s an amazing filmmaker…he is the master of this” she said. “And the way he directs Ghostface, it’s the most…the way he tilts his head, it’s so eerie! I don’t know, there’s something about Wes that’s just like a choreographer when it comes to Ghostface…he’s just a great director.”
As for keeping the details of the new film a secret, Craven smartly recognized the need to balance preserving a sense of mystery with making fans of the franchise feel acknowledged and included in the process. To accomplish the latter goal, he maintained an active Twitter account during production.
“We did everything from have contests [to win] posters [of] the film…to having contests where people would identify photographs of weird bugs that we took off of the set…when we were shooting at night, and all these strange bugs [were] falling out of the sky“, he said. “We just sort of kept the fans aware that we were filming, and that we knew they were out there. I have to say, it was very intriguing to see how quickly people answered [the tweets]…[it] made me realize even in the process of filming how different this reality was from even emails, you know? Just much, much quicker, and worldwide.”
He was also diplomatic (damn it) in response to a question about the alleged sour grapes that arose between original screenwriter Kevin Williamson and the production after ‘Scream 3’ scribe Ehren Kruger was brought in for last-minute rewrites.
“I think we’re all pleased with the way the script turned out“, he intoned. “It was a result of Kevin’s original master script, and Ehren did a decent amount of work on specific scenes and areas…and I wrote sections of the film myself. But it very much is Kevin’s concept and characters and situations and overarching framework for the film.”
Following this uber-short Q&A session with the original ‘Scream’ crew, four new cast members – Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin, and Anthony Anderson – took their place on the panel to discuss joining the storied franchise after years of being exposed to the films as moviegoers.
“It’s an exciting thing to be a part of“, remarked Panettiere, who in the film plays Kirby Reed, the best friend of Roberts’ character who is essentially an updated version of Rose McGowan’s “Tatum” from the first movie. “It’s like a sequel, but at the same time a remake, but it’s a combination…it’s cleverly remembering where it comes from, the clichés, and really using them to our benefit and growing with the audience. Because as generations go on, they just get smarter and harder to scare, and all that stuff. So it’s a very cool movie, a fun thing to be a part of. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be in [a] `Scream’ [movie]? I thought, I was sitting on set and I was going, `Aren’t I supposed to be watching this movie? I don’t think I’m supposed to be here.’ I would never [have] imagine[d] myself on screen with Neve Campbell and screaming. It just doesn’t make sense.”
Anderson, one of the loudest, most insatiable hams I’ve ever had the dubious pleasure of being confronted with, spoke to the surreal nature of being involved in ‘Scream 4’ (he plays the character of “Detective Anthony Perkins” – get it?) after having appeared in the third and fourth installments of the (initially) ‘Scream’-lampooning ‘Scary Movie’ series.
“I’m a fan of the franchise. Actually, I was in another film that spoofed this franchise, and now I’m in this franchise. So that was that“, he acknowledged, before later admitting he hasn’t actually seen the movie yet: “I just found out who the killers were like 27 minutes ago, honestly. Because my script never had an ending to it. I don’t know if they didn’t trust me…the lines that I prepared the night before, when I got to set everything was different. That’s how I went to work. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one like that, but honestly, since I haven’t seen the film and my script never had the ending part of it, I didn’t know who the killers were until literally before [the] last roundtable discussion.”
Emma Roberts, who won the lead role of Sidney’s teenage cousin Jill after Ashley Greene reportedly turned it down, talked rather generally (the name of the game at the practically worthless second panel discussion, which quickly devolved into an Anthony Anderson stand-up act) about what attracted her to the project – in a bit I’m only including because it was more or less the sole usable quote offered up the actress during the mercifully short 15-minute session.
“I was a huge fan of the franchise, I’m a huge fan of Wes Craven, and I thought that the fact that he was coming back to direct this one meant it was gonna be good, and yeah, I love the part“, said Roberts. “I read the script, and it was an interesting role, and I’ve never done a horror movie, so why not?”
At the far end of the panel from Roberts sat lost little Rory Culkin, who didn’t even attempt to compete with Anderson’s apparent personal mandate to dominate practically every second of the discussion. It was only near the very end that he was finally able to get a word in edgewise – and only after Roberts cheerily implored Anderson to give his fellow cast member an opportunity to speak.
“He’s always a different person with different motives“, intoned Culkin, in response to a question about what makes Ghostface so scary. “You don’t really know why they’re doing this…it’s also weird because the whole town sort of celebrates this massacre that only happened like ten years earlier, so everyone in town is sort of twisted. It’s a pretty sick little town.”
Therein lays one of the most interesting components of the new film, which heavily references the first installment in painting a picture of how the fictional town of Woodsboro has itself changed in the last ten years. While it would’ve been disingenuous of the filmmakers ‘not’ to have referenced the ’96 original in crafting the latest installment, there’s also the obvious risk of making viewers pine for the good ol’ days if they end up feeling significantly let down by this new entry. There’s no doubt the world has changed dramatically over the last decade, but thankfully some things – like the hypnotic allure of a good piece of filmmaking – don’t ever go out of style.
College kids, strippers and vampires—those were Donald P. Borchers’ only requirements when he approached Richard Wenk about writing and directing a movie for New World Pictures. As requested, Wenk cooked up Vamp (1986), a tailor-made blend of the decade’s teen movie craze as well as its horror boom.
Grim and earnest stories were still very much a part of the ’80s horror landscape, yet Vamp is something of a comedy. One difference between it and, say, Saturday the 14th, though, is the former avoids using schtick. Wenk’s movie proves that horror comedies also don’t have to subtract thrills from their recipes. Of course, it takes a minute before reaching that point; college antics and culture shocks preface this one macabre misadventure.
Vamp‘s initial setup is apt for a typical college-set, sex-driven comedy; to bribe their way into a fraternity house, two pledges (Chris Makepeace, Robert Rusler) go looking for some adult entertainment. Without wasting time on any further exposition, the characters embark on an all-in-one-night trip that quickly detours into terror.
To procure their elusive MacGuffin—a stripper willing to gyrate for some frat boys—Keith (Makepeace) and AJ (Rusler), plus a third wheel named Duncan (Gedee Watanabe), trade the safety of their remote college campus for the seediness of some unnamed city. The setting is recognizably L.A. by day, but as soon as night falls, downtown, along with the characters, slips into a kind of surreal universe. Director of photography Elliot Davis gave this early entry on his prolific résumé an unusual yet distinctive look; that Mario Bava-esque, magenta-green lighting is omnipresent, so much so that it’s almost its own character.
Chris Makepeace and Robert Rusler in Vamp
The faint comparisons to Martin Scorsese’s After Hours are merited, although not just because of Vamp’s distinguishing nighttime aesthetic. Save for the primary characters, the supporting roles in Wenk’s movie are also quite colorful and transactional in their behavior. The difference here, though, is the additional urge to ruin Keith and his friends at every turn. Some of that harm is humorous and tolerable enough, whereas the moment Vamp dishes out its first fatality, it’s abundantly clear how this movie qualifies as horror.
Vamp falls into that category of horror movie that reveals its genre with a scream rather than a series of whispers. The opening scene can function as a hint of what lies ahead—things are not at all what they appear to be—but otherwise, Wenk is more than happy to hold off on the horror. When that time does come, though, it catches the viewer off guard. In addition to the pure shock value is that sudden decision to upend the movie’s foremost feature. Or so it would seem.
If afraid of major spoilage, those new to Vamp would be wise to stop reading here. There’s just no skirting around the fact that the central fellowship in this buddy movie hits a serious snag when AJ is killed. That development causes the story to become more of a “long, bad night” journey for Keith and his romantic interest. So while Wenk scores points for subverting expectations, there is also a touch of sadness in his decision. Because if Vamp does anything well, it’s making the characters likable.
Something that comes easily to Vamp—and other teen horror movies from this same era—is its ability to invent young characters worth caring about, or at the very least, are interesting and not so immediately off-putting. More impressive is how Wenk did all this without actually fleshing out those characters. Still and all, Keith and his kind are a grade above cookie-cutter, and in some cases, aren’t completely devoid of growth.
Grace Jones in Vamp
Vamp appeals with an assorted cast of characters. No two are the same, nor are they operating on the same wavelength. The cinematically extroverted AJ, whose actor conveyed charm and vulnerability in near equal amounts, comes alive when he’s at his most undead. Makepeace then makes the chronically cautious Keith a sympathetic fellow, even as he’s more and more affected by the night’s bizarre events. Meanwhile, Duncan is indeed the designated loser of the whole bunch, but Watanabe still manages to humanize him. As a bonus, the role didn’t require him to pull a Long Duk Dong.
As for Dedee Pfeiffer, she is plain adorable as the mysterious After Dark server nicknamed “Amaretto”. She spends all night fixing her dress strap while at the same time trying to get Keith to remember how he knows her. As their offbeat romance grows, it becomes another highlight of this movie. Whether or not Pfeiffer’s character is really a vampire also creates some welcome tension in the story.
Like a lot of its contemporaries, Vamp went on to become a bit of a cult classic. That current status is determined by several factors, but without a doubt, the casting of Grace Jones is the most considerable. The image of her writhing on that unique-looking chair, a Keith Haring original, springs to mind whenever this movie is brought up.
Chris Makepeace, Billy Drago and Paunita Nichols in Vamp
Prior to that first display of unequivocal horror, local vampire queen Katrina (Jones) took to the stage and delivered a strip show like no other. One would expect nothing less from that renowned model and performance artist. By now reports of Jones’ tardiness on set are no secret, yet it’s also hard to deny her commitment to the part of Katrina. It was, in fact, Jones who took charge of her character’s appearance—on top of Haring painting her body and that now-iconic chair, she had Andy Warhol handle her costuming. And not too many actors could seize a room’s attention without saying a single line of dialogue.
In 2022, Vamp received a retrospective novelization from Encyclopocalypse. This literary union of preexisting source material—Wenk’s original screenplay—and new ideas from author Christian Francis amounts to a more comprehensive visit to the After Dark Club. The basic story there is no different than what’s shown on screen; however, Francis gets creative with the characters’ origins and designs, and he enhances a number of key scenes.
The novelization expands on the urban and social decay of the main setting, and supplies a background for the After Dark Club. Sandy Baron’s character, Katrina’s emcee and familiar, is given ample motivation for sticking around; up until the fiery end, he is loyal to his friend and former business partner “Squeak”, who looks like he was “fed through a combine harvester, and left as nothing more than a heap of mangled remains”. Then there is Billy Drago’s character Snow, the leader of a street gang called The Dragons. His reason for menacing Keith and AJ is more altruistic than in the movie; he and his peers act tough to scare off any potential food for the vampires.
Lisa Lyon in Vamp
If not for all the backstories, Francis’ Vamp would be a hell of a lot shorter. Instead, this tie-in read dives into how AJ met Keith—the orphaned Anthony Joseph hailed from a broken home back in Brooklyn—and how their friendship flourished over the years. Keith’s archership is no longer just an assumed part of his entire being; it’s a confidence-building extracurricular for a boy who got picked on before coming into the protection of the new kid in town. These supplemental, in-depth looks at the protagonists, plus their close connection, are maybe unnecessary. The movie already did a fair and concise job of addressing their platonic intimacy without the need for flashbacks and insights, specifically in that scene where AJ lays it all out as he sacrifices himself.
Where the novelization gets off course is its approach to the minor characters. Intermittently backstorying the likes of Katrina’s indentured servants, Seko (Leila Hee Olsen) and Vlad (Brad Logan), ends up disturbing the flow of the writing. Was it absolutely essential that readers know Vlad was the Grand Duke of the House of Romanov, or how Snow’s accomplice Maven (Paunita Nichols) became so dentally challenged? No, not really. However, one’s mileage with these random biographies may vary.
The novelization is a more substantial experience, but for a movie like Vamp, less is more. And as plentiful as they are, it never simply coasts on its campy charms, either. The character work sits comfortably in that realm between cursory and meticulous, the script is sharper than first realized, and Greg Cannom’s vampire makeup is straightforward yet effective. Most of all, the movie didn’t squander its out-of-the-box concept. Richard Wenk made his vision of a “comic nightmare in which just about anything that can go wrong does” come true, and it is very enjoyable.
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