Editorials
Special Feature: ‘SCREAM’… AND SCREAM AGAIN!
The wait is over. The teaser trailers are a thing of the past. The constant stream of leaked production photos and set news has come to a screeching halt. Tomorrow is the big day- the highly anticipated fourth installment of the SCREAM series hits theaters. Fans of the ghost-faced killer and leading lady Sydney Prescott will flock to theaters if not for the nostalgia, but for the newest generation of victims that are set to be claimed by the film’s yet to be identified masked murderer.
Let’s face it- SCREAM did for phones what Jaws did for the ocean, and even if you’re not a fan of the series, you have to admit that every once in awhile, when the phone rings, there’s always that curiosity- the one that says, what’s your favorite scary movie?
Inside you can read Andrea Albin’s special feature: SCREAM… AND SCREAM AGAIN!
“If you’re the only suspect in a senseless bloodbath, would you be standing in the horror section?” Randy- SCREAM
SCREAM slashed its way into theaters in December of 1996, only days before the Christmas holiday. While most were flocking to family friendly cinema, others were taking on a new wave of horror. After a gloomy kick off at the box office, word spread and by the end of its run, including a second release just a few months later, the movie had become one of the highest grossing horror flicks of all time. Not bad for a movie that faced more than its share of criticism and blunder. But it didn’t stop there, the cast returned for a highly anticipated sequel the following year and in 2000 director Wes Craven turned it into a full blown trilogy. It was like the horror engine that could.
But it’s not the statistics that horror fans cared about. It wasn’t about screenwriter Kevin Williamson’s highly noted bidding war over the original SCARY MOVIE script, or Craven’s battle with the MPAA- it was about changing horror. It was about putting a new face on a dying breed, and Williamson’s script pushed limits that hadn’t been pushed in years. Sure- the characters were cliché, doing the same things and making the same mistakes as thousands before- but that was the beauty of it. That was the direction it was meant to go. Add in some pretty gruesome deaths, a highly traumatized, cute female lead, and a couple of psychopaths and it was a hell of a way to kick off the franchise.
Many will argue that the sequel surpassed the original, initializing another cameo death sequence starring Jada Pinkett-Smith and Omar Epps, leading us into the same twists and turns that we had become accustomed to in the previous film. Finally, it rounded out with SCREAM 3 about three years later, disappointing many with its sudden turn from gory, rules-infused horror, to a comic bout with a mindless serial killer. However, with SCREAM 4’s release, fans are returning to theaters hoping that Ghostface is prepped to make a stellar comeback.
“Now Sid, don’t you blame the movies! Movies don’t create psychos, movies make psychos more creative!” Billy- SCREAM
Ask anyone who has seen the first movie, even those who aren’t fans of the horror genre, and the first thing they’ll remember are the rules. Every single one of the SCREAM films has, in one way or another, focused on those age-old annoyances that are seen in almost every slasher. A girl runs up the stairs instead of out the front door. Talking to strangers. Losing their virginity. Since SCREAM is one of the few films where the characters actually acknowledge the existence of cinematic horror, it was interesting to see them play it out just like a movie- a point that has given the franchise its trademark.
Randy, the nerdy video store clerk that bit the dust in SCREAM 2, walked us through the rules in all three films. That’s right, even after he was dead he managed to help Sydney and the gang defeat Ghostface. Pretty impressive. But let’s be fair, I couldn’t walk us down memory lane without talking about the rules, and, as obnoxious as Randy was, you can’t help but love him for it.
SCREAM
Number One… You Can Never Have Sex!
Quite the conundrum for Sydney since she loses her virginity to Billy right smack in the middle of a blood bath.
Number Two… You Can Never Drink or Do Drugs!
If this were true, the entire cast would have been screwed. That was one hell of a house party.
Number Three… Never, Ever, Ever Under Any Circumstances Say… I’LL BE RIGHT BACK!
More than likely, even the most careful of characters is bound to bite the big one. Look at Tatum, though her death had more to do with her assets than her strive to survive.
SCREAM 2
By the time the second film rolled around, Randy had a new list of rules to run with.
Number One… The Body Count is Always Bigger.
Just ask Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Will Smith’s wife.
Number Two… The Death Scenes Are Always Much More Elaborate… More Blood, More Gore.
The killers go so far as to commit murder in the middle of a theatrical rendition of Cassandra. Now that takes some stage presence.
Number Three… Never, Ever, Under Any Circumstances Assume The Killer is Dead.
It’s amazing how serial killers seem to have an immunity to guns and insanely heavy falling objects.
SCREAM 3
In the last film, Randy still managed to get his point across via video, despite his bloody demise in the second film. His sister miraculously surfaces with a tape that her brother had made smack dab in the middle of the massacre. Lame, sure, but we got the point.
Number One… You’ve Got a Killer Who’s Going to Be Super Human.
Or just smart enough to wear a bullet proof vest.
Number Two… Anyone, Including the Main Character, Can Die.
Come on now, we all know that Sydney is never really in danger. I don’t think the girl has even had a drop of her own blood spilt.
Number Three… The Past Will Come Back to Bite You in the Ass.
Or murder a bunch of movie stars and blame you for his shitty upbringing.
Going into SCREAM 4, I’m curious to see what’s thrown at us. Whether it’s a new set of rules or the theory that all rules go out the window, I’m sure Craven has something up his sleeve for how to survive another visit from the neighborhood masked killer.
“Have you ever felt a knife cut through human flesh and scrape the bone beneath?” Ghostface- SCREAM 2
Slasher fans love some good bloodshed. I know I do. I get tingles every time a director does something new and exciting to bring pain to a character on film. It’s that look of horror, the blatantly obvious fear that a character has that sets off the adrenaline it takes to fall in love with a scary movie- or detest the idea. Either way, the director got his point across.
Looking back over the first three SCREAM films, I’m sure everyone has their favorite death. I think most everyone can agree that the original opening sets it off. It was a huge surprise that one of the film’s main marketing perks, Drew Barrymore, gets gutted and hung from a tree in the first ten minutes of the film. No one saw it coming- the helpless boyfriend, the burning popcorn, the crazed voice on the other end of the phone. It all rolled into one hell of a memorable scare.
Another murder scene from the first film that had a lot of people talking was when Tatum met her demise via garage door. Girls remembered it because we had fallen in love with Sydney’s tough but tiny best friend. Most of the male population remembered it because of, well, you’ll see.
In the second film, I nearly cried when Randy was swiped off of the college campus, thrown into a van with Ghostface himself, and slaughtered via beatbox. Gale’s shrill scream said it all.
I’ll be the first one to tell you, I didn’t care for SCREAM 3. I felt as if there was something missing- as if it wasn’t meant to be a part of the trilogy. There wasn’t enough there in terms of fear, blood, anything that had become a crucial part to the existence of these films. However, I think the opening scene where Cotton Weary faces his demons and gets, well, stabbed, is the only scene worth mentioning.
The bottom line- SCREAM is a mainstay. Sure, there was laughter, there were plot holes, there were a few mind boggling mistakes, but overall, it was a vision. It was just what was needed to put horror back on the map and some of the more inventive kills are what makes the series. Think about it- would you have thought to kill the Fonz?
“It’s a perfect example of life imitating art imitating life.” Mickey- SCREAM 2
The original SCREAM film was truly thrilling. Here you have a director who was known for causing fright (hello, the guy did NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET!) at the helm of a successfully scary movie. Of course, it infused laughter, the occasional lame line, and a beautiful cast- but there was more to it. It was truly a groundbreaking film that the industry needed at the time. Unfortunately, it was followed by some movies that many of us horror purists would rather forget.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
A bunch of teenagers accidentally kill a man and bury the body. A year later, their lives are in the toilet and he’s after them for revenge. It could have been good, but it just wasn’t. I also hate the fact that it led to a lame sequel (I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER) and an even worse follow up (I’LL ALWAYS KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER). I wish I was kidding.
Urban Legend
The premise was kind of cool- a serial killer is murdering college students using age old urban legends. I could work with it- if the kills were actually inventive. I don’t consider putting a dog in a microwave a good use of my time.
There were others. Valentine. Disturbing Behavior. One followed right after the other and the trend really hasn’t stopped. Nearly all teen slashers try to follow what SCREAM did back in 1996- unfortunately, most of them fail. It’s hard to beat an iconic film.
“No, please don’t kill me Mr. Ghostface, I want to be in the sequel!” Tatum- SCREAM
It’s been fifteen years since the first SCREAM film hit theaters. Many had little hope for the film, which was released during a time of year when Santa Claus overrides gore. But it overcame many obstacles, raking in millions of dollars and pushing for not one, but two closely greenlit follow-ups.
Now, SCREAM 4 is only hours from surprising fans. Critics are saying that this film is going to bring Craven and his crew of misfits, including fan favorite Deputy Dewey, back into the spotlight. The director and his crew are also in talks for a fifth and possible sixth installment. It’s certainly a challenge to do something new and different with each new addition, so here’s hoping the later films capture the same essence that we’ve seen time and time again from Ghostface and his undying legacy. I, personally, am glad that Wes Craven took his love of horror movies just a little too far and asked the impeccably spine tingling question- what’s your favorite scary movie?
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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