Reviews
[TV Review] “Scream” Shows Promise, But Still Has a Ways to Go
MTV’s Scream TV series has been fighting an uphill battle since Day 1. When it was announced three years ago(!), it was met with an incredible amount of backlash. Either from people who just wanted a fifth movie (me), people who thought the franchise had run its course, and those who simply didn’t give a shit, no one seemed to have much faith in the series. Add to the fact that it was set to air on MTV, and all hope was seemingly lost. While by no means a failure, Scream has a ways to go before it completely wins over this critic. The pilot shows enough promise to make me want to keep watching, though.
To give this review some context, it should be known that I’m a huge Scream junkie. I love Scream 2, 1 and 4, in that order (yes, I love 4 a lot). I like 3 is fine, but is definitely the weakest of the bunch (though I don’t hate it like so many of you do). As for the series, I had high hopes but low expectations going in to it. All of that being said, we can get to the actual review.
In an opening montage very reminiscent of this year’s Unfriended, a video clip featuring Audrey (Bex Taylor-Klaus, Arrow, iZombie) making out with a girl is posted online and shared on every social media platform known to man. Queen Bitch Nina (Bella Thorne) is murdered in her home, and we are then introduced to Good Girl Emma (Willa Fitzgerald) and her boyfriend Will (Connor Weil), Princess Bitch Brooke (Carlson Young), Mysterious New Guy Kieran (Amadeus Serafini), Randy Stand-In Noah (John Karna), Douchebag Jake (Tom Maden) and Nerdy Hot Girl Riley (Brianne Tju).
[Related Post] Review: “MTV’s ‘Scream’ Isn’t Playful Enough,” Says Mr. Disgusting
There is also an entire sub-plot involving Emma’s mother Maggie (Tracy Middendorf, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare), being the survivor of an attack by a deformed boy who had a crush on her in high school. Is this boy back from the dead and offing teenagers one by one? We don’t find out in the pilot, but it proves to be a somewhat intriguing and unexpected premise.
What is most surprising about Scream is that with so many characters, barely any of them register. I had to look up all of their names on IMDB while writing this review. The girls fare slightly better than the boys, as they are actually given plot lines. Of particular note are Klaus, who imbues Audrey with a nice dose of heart and snarkiness and Young, who is a dead ringer for a blonde Kate Mara. She doesn’t get to do much than be bitchy, but she has fun with it. With the exception of Karna’s Noah, though, none of the other males make an impression. Though he is only memorable because he has the most to do in the episode.
The acting is hit or miss, but it’s mostly passable. A lot of the dialogue feels forced and a bit too on-the-nose. The emphasis on technology is a little overwhelming as well (though there is a nice bit with someone trying to use a smart phone with wet fingers, only to realize the screen is unable to detect them). This was a problem I had with Scream 4 on an initial viewing but grew to forgive over time, so the same may happen with Scream the series. Also, it could just be a symptom of being a pilot. Shows usually take 3 or 4 episodes to get into a groove, but since Scream’s first season is only 10 episodes, that could cause it to lose viewers early on.
Speaking of meta, there is a lot of it in Scream. Some are obnoxious (conversations about horror series actually on the air, a character explaining that the series is being stretched out into 10 episodes, so that the audience can get attached to the characters) but others are subtle and clever. There’s a pretty nice nod to Tatum’s death in the first film about halfway through the episode that I found quite enjoyable.
What is nice is the gore quotient. In the pilot episode alone we get to see a severed head, a throat slashed and a heart in a box. It’s nice to know that MTV isn’t afraid to get down and dirty with the gore. I’ve never seen an episode of Teen Wolf, but I’ve heard it’s actually pretty good. Here’s hoping Scream keeps on delivering in that respect. Don’t get me wrong, it’s no Hannibal when it comes to the gross-out factor, but it’s better than I expected.
What prevents Scream from being truly great is that it’s just not all that fun or memorable. It’s not really different from anything else on TV, and is reminiscent more of a darker episode of Pretty Little Liars (which is fine, as that show can be good when it goes dark). That being said, I saw enough potential in the episode to merit a slightly above average score. I want to like Scream; I just hope it finds its groove sooner rather than later. If anything, the closing montage (yes, another one) provides enough mystery to make you want to check out the second episode.
The problem with parodies is that there’s an extremely fine line between precise mockery and simply creating a genuine example of what was being made fun of in the first place. That’s why the best kind of cinematic satire comes from a place of love, as unironic appreciation for the material being parodied means that you’re still left with something fun to watch even when the humor fails.
I was reminded of this while watching I Hate Found Footage, the latest horror comedy by Michael Rock, director of the Tahoe Joe trilogy and founding member of Horror Dadz Productions. This cheekily titled parody has just been released on Found TV as one of the budding streamer’s first exclusive productions, and while I commend the folks at FTV for enlisting a found footage veteran to help popularize their fan-funded platform, the ensuing product might just be a little too accurate for its own good.
Taking inspiration from classic Muppets spoofs as well as a lifetime of experience with some of the best and worst that found footage movies have to offer, I Hate Found Footage may not be the very first comedy to poke fun at the FF genre, but it’s certainly the first one to feature colorful puppets as the protagonists.
In this decidedly meta experience, we follow Eddie Blake and Michael Rock himself as Ollie and Filbert – a duo of talkative hand puppets who embark on a quest to shoot a no-budget found footage movie in the middle of the Nevada wilderness. Unfortunately for the budding filmmakers, their cameras end up picking up much more than they bargained for when their impromptu monster movie accidentally puts them in the path of a masked gang of ritualistic murderers.
What follows is a self-conscious comedy of errors poking fun at all of the most hated and some of the most beloved tropes that the found footage genre has to offer. Ollie and Filbert frequently interrupt their terrifying POV misadventure with jabs at common faux pas like their own inability to stop filming even under risk of death, as well as multiple instances of puppet-based physical humor.
In general, this is far from a bad premise. The kid-friendly puppetry might be a bit jarring during the first few minutes as you get used to seeing this playful duo interact with the gritty real world, but there’s an undeniable charm to the way that these unorthodox characters record ironic versions of the familiar exposition dumps and ominous testimonials that we’re so used to seeing in “serious” found footage flicks.
Unfortunately, Rock is so dedicated to recreating an authentically terrible found footage production that the finished film often feels more like a failed attempt at an earnest project than an enjoyable parody. Sure, the copious amount of jokes and the fact that our leads are played by fluffy masses of felt should indicate that the film isn’t meant to be taken seriously, but pointing out how amateur found footage productions suffer from long stretches of dead air and unnecessary build-up is only funny until the movie becomes the very thing it’s supposed to be criticizing.
I get that having Ollie and Filbert’s ill-advised cinematic endeavor be a laughably bad movie is itself part of the joke, but unlike similar genre parodies in the vein of Ed Wood or even stuff like Sharknado and Velocipastor, which benefit from the fun parts of traditionally “bad” horror filmmaking, I Hate Found Footage has to contend with the fact that poorly-made found footage tends to be more boring than ridiculous.
That’s not to say that there’s no enjoyment to be found here, as I especially appreciate absurdist jokes like when the characters encounter the murdered “corpse” of another hand-puppet, and his full skeleton only consists of a bloodied arm. Or even the ridiculous scene where the duo attempts to simulate a jump scare for their monster movie using embarrassing levels of puppet-on-puppet effects work. But it’s a shame that these elements are shackled to excruciatingly long, though admittedly beautiful, shots of the Nevada setting.
That being said, regardless of certain stilted/unfunny line deliveries and the painfully slow build-up that doesn’t really lead to a horrific finale, Rock is still a skilled enough filmmaker to know that this kind of comedic experience works best in short bursts. That’s why the hour-long runtime comes as a blessing even if it also serves as an example of why the flick would probably have been better off as a short film. As it stands, however, I’d argue that it’s still worth suffering through some of the flick’s cringy moments in order to get to the good stuff.
Ironically enough, I Hate Found Footage will probably only entertain veterans who are already more inclined to forgive the genre’s common pitfalls and recurring tropes. After all, the production was clearly helmed by a team with a deep knowledge of how these movies work and what fans expect to see when they press play on a low-budget POV adventure. While I still think there’s only enough humor and story here to sustain a half-hour-long short, I’d still recommend this feature to die-hard fans who enjoy a healthy dose of silliness alongside their POV scares.
I Hate Found Footage is now streaming on Found TV.
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