KERR9000 Horror House Review SCREAM (AKA Scream 5)

 

I was always a massive Wes Craven fan, I loved the Original Nightmare on Elm Street as well as The Last House on the Left, the Hills have eyes, in fact I would go so far as to say the man was one of the true Masters of Horror. When the original Scream first came out it was in my humble opinion a great movie because it took Wes Cravens brain for horror but added in what at the time was modern technology and fresh ideas. Craven directed all 4 of the Scream films up to this point but with his passing the question was who would be at the helm for the 5th film and would they be able to live up to the high standards set by a Master of Horror like Craven.

I am very happy to say that this fifth film in the SCREAM franchise went way beyond my personal expectations, I was really worried that without Wes Cravens influence it would miss a step and just become a hollow cash grab hollowed out corpse lacking all its former glory but that is not the case at all


This new film finds the franchise returning to its former glory, the film kept twisting and turning and keeping me guessing with what I would describe as a smart script that pays just enough tribute to the original 1996 movie whilst also managing to present new and unique ideas of its own. The original Scream felt like a love letter to slasher movies, part slasher film, part parody, but also very aware that while it was pointing out clichés it was also committing to a few itself. This Scream Movie does to the semi sequel semi reboot crop of current Horror movies exactly what Scream did to slashers, it discuses these new requels as it refers to them, it lays out the tricks they pull the rules they follow critiques them, sometimes pokes fun at them but ultimately sets out to to also try and be the best darn example of this genre that it can possibly be.


This film has a great cast, which not only includes plenty of characters from the earlier films, but also plenty of new and talented actors. It is great to see so many of the classic characters and where they are in there life, how the events of previous movies have affected them but the film doesn't linger on them too long either it helps set up the new characters equally well. If your anything like me you will soon find yourself not only deciding who you care about and who you want to see survive, not only will you pick your favourites though you will also start making guesses about who to trust and who not to.


There are lots of bits of this film that I would like to talk about things that I personally think are really cool or are neat little touches but I think the film works better if you go in to it fresh and discover these for yourself so I would rather keep this review spoiler free and in stead talk about the general spirit and feel of the film instead of run it down scene by scene. I think its the ideal film to discuss and ruminate on with friends though, particularly if you have all seen the earlier films in the series, so grab a pizza, grab a buddy or two and give it a go.

It's bloody at times its also funny it's tension-filled and has a fantastic payoff, without giving too much away this film has a surprisingly intelligent connection to the original. Overall I would give this film a 9 out of 10 and call it a must see Modern Horror, its a fantastic Tribute to Wes Craven the Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett should be incredibly proud.

A review of Wes Craven and Richard Rothstein's Invitation to Hell and a little bit about YouTube and TV movies.

When someone says the word film to you what do you think of? Do you think of big Hollywood blockbusters? Most people probably do but those films are just the tip of the iceberg there are so many more titles there are indie films and made for TV movies, mock busters there are so many films out that some of them end up lost under the pure weight of how many exist. I think made for TV movies can often be some of the first to get lost.

So what is a TV movie? A TV movie is a feature-length motion picture that is produced for, and originally distributed by a television network, really they are just made to fill a slice of TV time in contrast to theatrical films, which are made explicitly for initial showing in movie theatres.

The term "TV movie" was coined in the United States in the early 1960's, the main idea was to try and get movie audiences to stay at home and watch these instead of going out to the cinema, they were pitched as sort of one time chances to see something new and cool, remember back then we didn't have the likes of on demand services, remember until the 1970's people didn't even have VHS recorders and even when these came in to play obviously not everyone would have one and tapes were quiet expensive so it wasn't like you could just record pretty much everything like you can now.

You would imagine that these movies would be of an incredibly shoddy quality, Movie ideas with a TV episode budget but the truth is that many early television movies actually featured major stars, and some were accorded higher budgets than standard television series of the same length. What if you missed them being shown though? Well some channels would occasionally repeat them and some of them might go on to have physical releases but a great deal of them end up being forgotten about for a very long time.

The film I want to talk about today was a TV movie but it had a very famous Director a Mr Wes Craven (of nightmare on elm street fame) it was originally shown in 1984 and is called Invitation to Hell. Now I feel it is important to mention that I was only a small child when this was shown and as a result of that and its made for TV nature I didn't actually see it until recently so there are no rose tinted spectacles here. It's only available on region 1 DVD and as far as I know it never received a VHS release here either but like many other films it has found its way on to YouTube and various other on-line services.I know some people would complain about all of the films that have found there way on to here and how those involved with them are not seeing any of the profits but some of these films seem to be on the very edge of being lost, they have been forgotten and ignored by there makers because they don't think that there is any profit in them and sites like YouTube have actually given a new lease of life to many movies that were previously unavailable.

OK so first here is a little idea of the films plot a scientist Matt played by Robert Urich and his wife Patricia played by Joanna Cassidy and their kids arrive at a new home. It is supposed to be the start of a whole new chapter of there lives. You see Matt has a new job a new job that is supposed to come with a better wage so he can provide newer and better things for his kids. They have barely made themselves feel at home before they begin to be pestered to join the Steaming Springs Country Club. The idea is built up that this club is the social heart and soul of the community, that nearly everyone is a member and that everyone wants to be a member. Members seem to be getting promoted faster at work. So why wouldn't you want to join? Well Patricia is very keen to join she views it as the key to a better life for her and her children but Matt has a gut feeling that all is not right and is very hesitant to join. When Patricia and the kids start to act strange Matt finds out she has joined the health club and this is when he decides that he needs to find out what is really happening. Now I don't want to spoil the ending or give away too much but there are some great ideas in this film, I have certainly seen far worse things released on DVD in this region, if I had to pick any faults with the film my biggest fault would be that there is a laser in it which compared to everything else in the film is positively crap-tastic effects wise, if it was me I would have gone out of my way to remove this and to have replaced it with a regular pistol or something. The film to me almost feels like a Tales from the Crypt/Twilight zone episode but stretched out to movie length.

The film deals with a lot of ideas that have been dealt with in horror films before and after, the idea of being tempted to do anything to achieve wealth and fame, about how people feel the need to be accepted and to belong to something. This is the real strength of the film, it talks about the way the world works, the way it deals with real world fears in a horror movie setting, the fear that those around us might change, that we might find ourselves alone and alienated, it feels very Wes Craven like even if he only directed and Richard Rothstein wrote it (he is most famous for writing Universal Solider). I cant call the film a piece of cinematic gold but I would certainly describe it as a nice piece of Movie Silver. If you like Wes Craven and you like things with a Tales from the Crypt/ EC comics sort of morality to them then I really would advise that you track this film down and give it a few hours of your time after all it is October. Do not go here if your looking for monster creatures and explicit gore though as you will find this movie really lacking its basically a gore free zone. It does offer some scares but more in a deep thoughtful way, there are no jump scares or things pulling people through windows but there doesn't need to be


7 out of 10 screaming Skulls

RIP Wes Craven: We lost not only a Master of horror but one of its guardians as well.

So unfortunately Wes Craven passed away a few days ago. I wanted to say something at the time but the truth was I was just too shocked to really know what to say. So I sat back and looked on as the heartfelt statements came out from so many of the people he had worked with. I could write a piece about his films celebrating his achievements but this has been done by so many, I also touched on this kind of thing when I posted a belated birthday wishes blog post. I also considered writing a piece about Wes Craven's new nightmare and the way it blended fiction and reality in a way that had never been done before but then my friend showed me an amazing article on this and I figured it had been done justice so then I wrote this.

Lots of people will have been upset by his passing because they grew up with his films, had seen him at various events and read about the man behind the films. Some comfort can be taken from the official statement released by his family which read: “It is with deep sadness we inform you that Wes Craven passed away at 1PM on Sunday, August 30 after battling brain cancer. He was 76 years old. Craven was surrounded by love, in the presence of his family at his Los Angeles home.'' Now while none of us really wanted him to die yet at least he was with his family and at home as peaceful as possible.

Lots of people know that Wes Craven was a writer and director they will have seen some or maybe all of the movies he was involved in but he was also in my opinion a great spokesperson for horror films.The horror film as a type of media sometimes seems to struggle to gain the recognition it deserves, it seldom seems to be adequately celebrated during the awards ceremonies in my opinion and this was something Wes Craven recognised “There was something really profound with the whole treatment of horror in culture at that time, which was, it was something kind of disgusting. Proper people didn't associate with it,”

A lot of people seemed at least at one stage to look at horror directors as hacks who were circling the gutter of society who were churning out this kind of thing because they perhaps didn't understand the complexities of more supposedly high brow forms of movie related art and yet Craven had an undergraduate degree in English and Psychology and a master's degree in Philosophy and Writing and he had been a teacher of both English and the humanities.He was able to use his skills to intelligently explain horrors place in the world and how it had always been there and he could defend it from this basis as can be seen in the following quote “I had been a college teacher. I had taught Greek mythology. I had taught The Iliad and The Odyssey, Greek tragic drama, and it’s all very bloody.''
While various government related busy bodies were trying to argue that horror films were pure garbage that served no purpose other than to warp and twist children Craven saw things in a much different way and while others might have lacked the words to fight back Craven was able to beautifully argue his point. “Stories and narratives are one of the most powerful things in humanity. They’re devices for dealing with the chaotic danger of existence.”

Wes Craven didn't just make his films and then shrug when people complained about them and there content, nor did he get mad and stamp and scream instead he met the complaints head of and argued his case beautifully.So yes I want to join in with others in celebrating the life and the films of Wes Craven but I also want to celebrate him as a role model.

Wes Craven was a writer, a director, a story teller but he was also a fine example to anyone who wants to fight there corner with intelligence and class. He is also a good example of someone chasing there dreams no matter what it takes. He left his teaching job behind, his stable contract and regular pay check in order to pursue the path he really wanted to take and how poorer would the world of horror be if he hadn't.

Goodbye Wes Craven thank you for the films and for the stories but most of all thank you for the example you set both in how to follow your dreams but also in how to argue for your cause in a diplomatic and heartfelt way.

Belated Birthday wishes Mr Craven

I have talked a lot about Freddy Krueger in the past, the character is an icon of horror who is loved despite the fact that so many things about him should make him hated. I was going to write something about his creator Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven a week ago as on 02/08/2015 he celebrated his 76th birthday. I had planned to re-watch one of his films and maybe review it or talk about his influence on the world of horror in general. We Craven is largely thought of as one of two things either ''The guy who came up with Freddy'' or ''The guy who came up with the idea of Scream''. Now don't get me wrong I love Nightmare on elm street and I love Scream but limiting the guy in this way is doing him a huge disservice.

The thing I really love about Freddy is the way he came to be. I have watched multiple interviews with Craven in which he has talked about the origins of the character of Freddy Kruger so what I am about to type here is basically a rough version, the man is brilliant to listen too so I would recommend finding a video of him talking about this if it interests you. Craven had read a newspaper report about young people somewhere being terrified of going to sleep and when they went to sleep they died. Freddie came out of this but he also came out of an early experience of Craven's. He had been left home alone with a sibling when he looked out of his bedroom window and down upon a scary homeless man who looked back up at him and scared him.

Now I might not be an amazing film director or writer but I do write horror shorts and in fact the first horror short I published was called Digital Immortality. I might be over simplifying here or miss quote myself but the basic idea of this story came from a newspaper report I had read while waiting for my at the time girlfriend (now fiancée) she was at a short university lecture and I had sat in the campus coffee shop with a newspaper a pen and some time to kill. I had flicked through the paper just trying to find something to occupy myself when I had come across an article which was about being able to transfer the contents of a human mind on to a computer. The article was brief and in truth was a little beyond me scientifically but it did peak an interest in me. I didn't really wonder if it was or would be possible what I was more interested in was if it should be done and in what could go wrong. I guess this is because I am to some degree a pessimist, I always tend to feel something will go wrong in every endeavour so my mind tries to map out all of the possibilities and in this case it lead to the first short story I really felt proud of writing.

This is one of the reasons I admire Wes Craven because he managed to take an idea and spin it into not just a horror film or a character but into an entire world which seemed so full of endless possibilities that it spawned a whole film series, a TV series, a remake , possibly soon another remake. Yes Craven might not have been involved in all of these but he did the groundwork, he laid the foundation.

If you only know him for Freddy and Scream then let me recommend you watch some of his other films. If you want to see something else a little bit like Freddy to sample some more Craven without moving to far from your comfort zone then you cant really go wrong with Shocker but the film I would highly recommend is ''The people Under the Stairs'' both of these he  wrote and directed. I could talk about his work as a director almost endlessly as I believe he is really up there with the greats despite this though it is as a writer I really admire him even if he has filled this role less often.

As a writer myself I don't think I am even in the same league as Wes Craven yet alone the same ballpark but I still enjoy his work all the more for a kinship I feel with him, a sense of understanding of how our childhood fears and dreams can be used as a creative tool given his position as one of the kings of nightmares it seems only fair to end with this quote by Gene Wilder as Willy Wonker ''We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.''

Belated Birthday wishes Mr Craven...