I think it being "woke" was one of its lesser sins. Sure, it had things like pride pins on a lesbian character that obviously had to let you know she was a lesbian at multiple points of the film so you wouldn't look past it, but in my eyes it was just another pale imitation of what came before it with shallow attempts at being "meta" or "clever" like the others.
What made the original Scream work was its fresh twists and genuine unpredictability. On a first watch you suspect everyone and hope characters you like aren't next on the block (or wind up being the killer). On subsequent watches you get to pick up on all of the subtle (or not so subtle) attempts at subversion, misdirection or genuine tells that you missed because it was so thoughtfully put together. This lessened with each sequel and died entirely with Wes Craven. Carefully crafted scenes and characters were replaced with "fuck it i'm flipping my murder switch" out of complete left field, and characters that did have tells or build up towards being the actual killer... just weren't. Subversion!! Ha ha ha.
Scream 5 is just a poor retread of borrowed and copied elements from its better predecessors while doing nothing clever or interesting.
You know what would've been a great twist? Dewey actually got one of the killers in the hospital. Boom. Suddenly you're questioning their connection with everybody else, wonder what the death of their accomplice will drive the other to do, watching for tells when people learn the news and what they do with the information after, tons of things we haven't seen in one of the other movies. A kind of mid movie climax that simmers back down before the big finale. Or to really subvert from the 'requel' idea, the main killer could've ended up being Stuart as hinted from the scrapped Scream 3 script back in the day - it'd be an actual out-of-left-field that'd fit with the series and be more entertaining than Richie (Jack Quaid) suddenly deciding he wanted in on the murder trend for no real justifiable reason.
tl;dr - Modern movie sequels lack the clever writing and direction that made their predecessors worth watching even all these decades later and will be forgotten about almost as soon as they leave the big screen.
I wouldn't say horror is dying, you just need to dig for good movies/books. The Color Out of Space is a great horror flick, and The Fisherman is a personal favorite book.
I think it being "woke" was one of its lesser sins. Sure, it had things like pride pins on a lesbian character that obviously had to let you know she was a lesbian at multiple points of the film so you wouldn't look past it, but in my eyes it was just another pale imitation of what came before it with shallow attempts at being "meta" or "clever" like the others.
What made the original Scream work was its fresh twists and genuine unpredictability. On a first watch you suspect everyone and hope characters you like aren't next on the block (or wind up being the killer). On subsequent watches you get to pick up on all of the subtle (or not so subtle) attempts at subversion, misdirection or genuine tells that you missed because it was so thoughtfully put together. This lessened with each sequel and died entirely with Wes Craven. Carefully crafted scenes and characters were replaced with "fuck it i'm flipping my murder switch" out of complete left field, and characters that did have tells or build up towards being the actual killer... just weren't. Subversion!! Ha ha ha.
Scream 5 is just a poor retread of borrowed and copied elements from its better predecessors while doing nothing clever or interesting.
You know what would've been a great twist? Dewey actually got one of the killers in the hospital. Boom. Suddenly you're questioning their connection with everybody else, wonder what the death of their accomplice will drive the other to do, watching for tells when people learn the news and what they do with the information after, tons of things we haven't seen in one of the other movies. A kind of mid movie climax that simmers back down before the big finale. Or to really subvert from the 'requel' idea, the main killer could've ended up being Stuart as hinted from the scrapped Scream 3 script back in the day - it'd be an actual out-of-left-field that'd fit with the series and be more entertaining than Richie (Jack Quaid) suddenly deciding he wanted in on the murder trend for no real justifiable reason.
tl;dr - Modern movie sequels lack the clever writing and direction that made their predecessors worth watching even all these decades later and will be forgotten about almost as soon as they leave the big screen.
Well, a lot of the problem with "horror" is that it tends to be reduced to just jump-scares and splatterpunk.
A wise man once said unto me thusly:
There's horror, terror, and splatterpunk.
Horror is that bump in the night, the shadow that crosses a moonlit window.
Terror is when what's making that sound reveals itself .. (jumpscares would be in this category)
Splatterpunk is the result/aftermath.
There's actually very little "horror" around.
I wouldn't say horror is dying, you just need to dig for good movies/books. The Color Out of Space is a great horror flick, and The Fisherman is a personal favorite book.
Shudder has tons of shows and movies that make me fear the night
Well that an anyone that thinks Jordan Peele is some kinda Horror Master.
Post Reported for: Rule 14 - Max posts (x3)
Post Removed: Try to keep it to 5 a day.