Negromancer News Bits and Bites from Oct 1st to 5th, 2024 - UPDATE #8

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

TREATS: From AnotherCookie?:  There is a new online cookie retailer, "AnotherCookie?" The cookies are delicious.

DISNEY - From Deadline: Yes, there will be a "Princess Diaries 3." Anna Hathaway is returning.

NETFLIX - From Deadline:  Netflix cancels "That '90's Show" after the equivalent of two seasons.

CULTURE - From Variety:  Hollywood is trying to deal with "toxic fandom," according to this article. Apparently, ignoring them is too much like right.

MOVIES - From AVClub:  "Scream 7" has a release date, Feb. 27, 2026. Series star, Neve Campbell, will receive the payday she wanted, so she will return. Series creator, writer Kevin Williamson, will also return, this time as the film's director.

BUSINESS - From Deadline:  DirecTV is acquiring its rival, Dish Network, in a merger that will form the largest U.S. pay-TV company.  Dish's Sling TV will be part of the deal.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  American film and television actor, John Amos, died at the age of 84, Wednesday, August 21, 2024.  Amos was best known for playing "adult Kunta Kinte"/"Toby" on the 1977 ABC miniseries, "Roots," and for the role of "James Evans" on the former CBS sitcom, "Good Times," from 1974-76.  He also made multiple appearances on such TV series as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (CBS), "The West Wing" (NBC), "All About the Andersons" (The WB), and "Men in Trees" (ABC), to name a few.  He had memorable roles in such films as "Coming to America" (1988), "Die Hard 2" (1990), and "Madea's Witness Protection" (2012), to name a few.  Amos was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his role in "Roots."

From Deadline:  John Amos, a career in photos.

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From ESPN:  American professional baseball player, Pete Rose, has died at the age of 83, Monday, September 30, 2024.  Rose was the Major League Baseball (MLB) all-time hit king.  He was a member of three World Series championship teams:  the Cincinnati Reds (1975, 1976) and the Philadelphia Phillies (1980). Rose was also a member of the 1983 National League pennant winning Phillies, who lost the world series to the American League's Baltimore Orioles.  Rose was banned from Major League Baseball in 1989 due to gambling allegations and is currently ineligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Review: New "SCREAM" Will Entertain Scream Fans

[Fans will want to see the entertaining new “Scream” film in movie theaters – right now.  But for everyone else, there is nothing here worth a trip to the local theater.]

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 2 of 2022 (No. 1814) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scream (2022)
Running time:  114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)
MPA – R for strong bloody violence, language throughout and some sexual references
DIRECTORS:  Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
WRITERS:  James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick (based on characters created by Kevin Williamson)
PRODUCERS:  Paul Neinstein, William Sherak, and James Vanderbilt
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Brett Jutkiewicz (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Michel Aller
COMPOSER:  Rich Delia

HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring:  Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Mikey Madison, Marley Shelton, Dylan Minnette, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Sonia Ammar, Kyle Gallner, Chester Tam, Skeet Ulrich, and Roger L. Jackson (voice)

Scream is a 2022 slasher horror film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.  It is the fifth film in the Scream film series, which began with the 1996 film, Scream.  In Scream 2022, a new series of murders forces familiar faces to return to Woodsboro, where they will confront a horrible legacy.

Scream opens twenty-five years after high school pals and serial killers, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) and Stu Macher, terrorized the town of Woodsboro as the killer known as “Ghostface.”  Now, Ghostface (voice of Roger L. Jackson) has returned and high school student, Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), is the first victim.  

Informed of the attack on Tara, her estranged sister, Samantha “Sam” Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), returns to Woodsboro with her boyfriend, Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid), reluctantly along.  Sam is not only troubled by the attack on Tara, but she is also dealing with her shocking connection to one of the original Woodsboro murderers.  With this new Ghostface adding to the body count, Sam turns to an original Woodsboro survivor for help, the reclusive, Dwight “Dewey” Riley (David Arquette).

Although he is initially reluctant to get involved, he contacts two other survivors, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), and his ex-wife, television host, Gail Weathers (Courteney Cox), to inform them that the killings have started again.  Although she is the center of the new killing spree, is Sam Carpenter willing to stay and fight the killer, or will she simply run away from her past, again?

I'll start of my critique of the new Scream by repeating what I said of 2011's Scream 4.  As a slasher film, Scream 2022 is entertaining.  Ghostface remains a terrific and terrifying horror movie villain, although in the new Scream, he does lots of slashing and stabbing, whereas Scream 4's Ghostface slaughtered his victims to the point that they seemed like butchered meat and offal.  Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette are still the “old reliables,” of this franchise, no matter how old they look or how much plastic surgery they may have had done.  Scream's new cast is, for the most part, pretty good.  As Sam Carpenter, Melissa Barrera seems like she could carry this franchise going forward – at least for two more films.  When the new Scream plays it straight, it is a better-than-average slasher horror film.

Scream 4 was the work of the franchise's original writer, Kevin Williamson, and original director, the late Wes Craven (to whom the new film is dedicated).  Scream 4 was a sequel and essentially a remake of the original 1996 film, but it was critical of two huge cultural changes that had occurred since the first film – Internet celebrity and social media culture.  [Williamson is only an executive producer on the new film.]

The writers and directors have offered in Scream 2022 a film that is a sequel and also a reboot.  This film is intimately connected to the original film, but it essentially reboots Scream with a new cast of both victims and survivors.  The original Scream was self-referential and was also steeped in pop culture, especially concerning horror films.  The new Scream essentially mocks both the idea of film sequels and the fan culture that is obsessed with sequels, prequels, reboots, and every detail concerning their making.

I thought Scream 4's rant against social media and celebrity seemed like the creation of two guys whose aging was putting an every widening gap between them and the core audience for the kind of films they made.  The new Scream seems like the work of dudes who don't appreciate the kind of fans they attract with the kind of the films they make.  In a way, if they can't stand the fan heat, they should get out the slasher film kitchen.

Anyway, I think the motivation behind the Ghostface of the new Scream would have worked better for the Ghostface of Scream 4.  So, I'll say about the new Scream what I said about Scream 4: it is best when it focuses on its great villain (Ghostface) stalking his victims.  For the most part, hardcore fans of this franchise will want to see Scream 2022 in movie theaters.  Anyone else who is interested can wait for on-demand and streaming.

6 of 10
B

Friday, January 14, 2022


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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from November 15th to 21st, 2020 - Update #25

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

Support Leroy on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS: 

TELEVISION - From THR:   A contestant on TBS' "Wipeout" died Wednesday, November 18th, after completing the competition reality show's course.

MOVIES - From Deadline:   Disney's 20th Century Studios (formerly 20th Century Fox) is producing a fifth movie in the "Predator" film franchise.  Dan Trachtenberg ("10 Cloverfield Lane") is currently scheduled to direct.

STREAMING - From Deadline:  Six actors have been cast in Netflix's live-action version on the beloved, cult anime, "Cowboy Bebop."

STREAMING - From BloodyDisgusting:  Horror movie icon, Robert Englund, the original "Freddy Krueger," will be a cast member on Netflix's "Stranger Things" Season Four.

DISNEY - From Deadline:  Disney is considering pulling three of its live-action remakes of its classic animated feature films, "Peter Pan and Wendy" "Pinocchio," and "Cruella," from theatrical release for Disney+ premieres. 

CELEBRITY - From People:  Actor Michael B. Jordan has been named "People's Sexiest Man Alive 2020."

MOVIES - From Variety:   Warner Bros. will release "Wonder Woman 1984" on HBO Max and to theaters on Dec. 25th and to international theaters Dec. 16th.

CELEBRITY - From LATimes:   Emmy-winning actor Michael J. Fox is reportedly planning a retire again because of his decline health.  Fox has been battling Parkinson's disease since 1991.

MOVIES - From BloodyDisgusting:  The site offers a list of 10 recent great horror movies, plus one more.

TELEVISION - From BloodyDisgusting:   TV god-king Ryan Murphy has shared the poster for "American Horror Stories," the spinoff of his long-running "American Horror Story."  The new series will feature "one-hour contained episodes" and will be exclusive to "FX on Hulu."

MOVIES - From BloodyDisgusting:  "Scream" creator Kevin Williamson has revealed that the official title of "Scream 5" is ... "Scream."

MOVIES - From Deadline:   Spike Lee and eOne are prepping a film musical about the miracle drug, "Viagra."

CELEBRITY - From Deadline:   Quentin Tarantino has signed a two-book deal with "Harper," the HarperCollins imprint.  One of the books will be a novelization of Tarantino's Oscar-winning film, "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood."

MOVIES - From Deadline:   Universal and the Cinemark theater chain sign a "theatrical window"/"premium video on demand." Universal previously signed such a deal with AMC in July.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Steven Caple, Jr., who directed "Creed 2," will direct the next "Transformers" movie, which will be set in a re-invented universe.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  With its Barack Obama interview (Sun, Nov. 15th), "60 Minutes" ratings surge again.

CELEBRITY - From Deadline:  Beloved stand-up comedian and actor, Sinbad, is recovering from a stroke.  Sinbad is best remembered for starring in "The Cosby Show" spinoff, "A Different World" and for hosting "It's Showtime at the Apollo" from 1989 to 1991.

BOX OFFICE - From Deadline:   The winner of 11/13 to 11/15/2020 weekend box office is "Freaky" with an estimated take of 3.7 million dollars.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Terry McMillan's bestselling 1990 novel, "Waiting to Exhale," was adapted into a popular 1995 film.  The author recently announced that a sequel television series is being developed.

MOVIES - From ShadowandAct:   Zazie Beetz joins Brad Pitt and Brian Tyree in the action-thriller. "Bullet Train."

MOVIES - From THR:   "Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey" is a Christmas that his getting acclaim and attention because of its Black cast.  This article talks about the great lengths hair and make-up designer Sharon Martin went to reimagine Black hairstyles for Victorian England.

STREAMING - From Deadline:   Will Smith has posted the first trailer for HBO Max's "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" reunion special.  "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion" arrives Nov. 19th on HBO Max.

OBITS:

From THR:  Noted television writer and producer, Charlie Hauck, has died at the age of 79, Saturday, November 14, 2020.  Hauck wrote for such popular television series as "Maude," "Frasier," and, "Home Improvement."  Oscar-nominated actor, Michael Keaton, credits Hauck with getting his career in Hollywood started.  He was twice nominated for a Primetime Emmy, once as a producer on "Frasier" and once for co-writing an episode of "The Associates," a series he co-created.

From YahooSports:  Former NFL player, Jake Scott, has died at the age of 75, Thursday, November 19, 2020.   Scott was a defensive safety for the Miami Dolphins (1970-75).  He was the MVP of Super Bowl VII, in which the Dolphins defeated the Washington Redskins and finished their 1972 undefeated season.  Scott was also on the Super Bow VIII-winning Dolphins team.

From ComicBook:  Noted Canadian voice actor and TV actor, Kirby Morrow, has died at the age of 47, Wednesday, November 18, 2020.  Morrow was best known for his voice performances in English dubs of Japanese anime, such as the role of "Goku" in "Dragon Ball Z."  He also acted in numerous TV series, such as "Stargate Atlantis," "The Flash," and most recently, ABC's "The Good Doctor."

COVID-19:

From CDC:   The Centers for Disease Control has a "COVID Data Tracker."

From YahooNews:  Why does COVID-19 kill some people and hardly affects others?

From YahooNews:  Yahoo has a dedicated page of links updating news about COVID-19.

From Deadline:  The news site "Deadline" has a dedicated page for news about coronavirus and the film, TV, and entertainment industries.

From TheNewYorker:  The venerable magazine has a dedicate COVID-19 page free to all readers.

From YahooNews:  Re: the federal government's response to COVID-19: What if the most important election of our lifetime was the last one - 2016?

From YahooLife:  What is "happy hypoxia?"  And do you have this COVID-19 symptom?

From JuanCole:  Remember when President Donald went crazy and suggested that we ingest household cleaning supplies and UV light to fight COVID-19.  Here is the video and commentary from Juan Cole.

From TheIntercept:  The federal government has ramped up security and police-related spending in response to the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic, including issuing contracts for riot gear, disclosures show. The purchase orders include requests for disposable cuffs, gas masks, ballistic helmets, and riot gloves...

From TheAtlantic:  The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying. The pandemic has exposed the bitter terms of our racial contract, which deems certain lives of greater value than others.

From ProPublica:  Hospital's Secret COVID-19 Policy Separated Native American Mothers From Their Newborns

From TheGuardian:  More than 20 million Americans could have contracted COVID-19, experts say.

From RSN/WashPost:  The COVID-19 mutation that has taken over the world.

7/13 - From YahooSports:  Maybe a pandemic means that there will not be college football this fall.

7/13- From YahooNews:  The CDC adds four new symptoms (including nausea and purple or blue lesions on feet and toes) to the list of COVID-19 symptoms.

7/19 - From YahooFinance:  Harvard Public Health professor Dr. Howard Koh says the U.S. "needs to regroup" to find COVID-19.

7/22 - From YahooNews:  A public health employee predicted Florida's coronavirus catastrophe — then she was fired.

7/22 - From YahooLifestyle:  Florida mom loses son, 20, to coronavirus, and then days later, her daughter.

7/23 - From TheWrap:  The site has a list of movie and TV stars, entertainment and sports figures who have tested positive for COVID-19

From Bloomberg:  Will the COVID-19 pandemic turn Millennials into socialists?

7/27 - From CNN:   Chief of critical care at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Joseph Costa, passes away due to Covid-19 complications... after treating the hospital's sickest COVID-19 patients.  He was 56 and leaves behind family, including a husband of 28 years.

7/31 - From Slate:  COVID-19 is airborne - for reals!

8/9 - From YahooAFP:  According to the real-time tally kept by John Hopkins University, the United States has hit 5 million cases of COVID-19.

8/16 - From Truthout: COVID Deaths Continue to Surge in Countries Led by Far Right Authoritarians

9/19 - From WashPost:  U.S. coronavirus death toll reaches 200,000

9/23 - From CNBC:  Mark Cuban, who owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and star of ABC's "Shark Tank," suggests that every household in American get a $1000 check every two weeks for the next two months.

9/28 - From Deadline:  John Hopkins University's coronavirus tracker reports that over 1 million people have died of COVID-19 worldwide.

10/2 - From YahooNews:  President Donald and the First Lady have tested positive for COVID-19.

10/26 -  From YahooFinance:  Walmart CEO detects a new wave a panic buying as consumers stock up for another surge in coronavirus cases.

11/5 - From CNN:  The US set a grim new Covid-19 record Thursday -- following a week marked by high case numbers -- surpassing 120,000 infections in a single day. 

11/7 - From YahooNews:  "It's a slaughter," doctors say of new coronavirus wave.

11/13 - YahooNews:  "We blew it": U.S. reaches 'explosive' COVID-19 spread as virus is nearly impossible to control, experts say

BLACK LIVES MATTER:

From RSN:   Judge's Blistering Opinion Says Courts Have Placed Police Beyond Accountability

From TheGuardian:  Yusef Salaam, one of the "Central Park Five," says in an interview, "Trump would have had me hanging from a tree in Central Park."

From NPR:  Prosecutors' plea deal required drug suspect to name Breonna Taylor a "co-defendant."

From ChicagoSunTimes:  Rev. Jesse Jackson: America has millions of people in poverty because Americans choose not to demand the policies that would lift them out of poverty.

From APNews:  No one will be held accountable for the killing of Louisville African-American resident, Breonna Taylor.

From Channel4:  Revealed: Trump campaign strategy to deter millions of Black Americans from voting in 2016

From GuardianUK:  California is going to consider paying reparations to the descendants of African slaves after adopting a landmark law to study and to develop proposals around the issue.

From TheRoot:   What to Do When Your Country Turns Into a Dumpster Fire

From Vox:  It's True: 1 in 1,000 Black Americans Have Died in the Covid-19 Pandemic

From CBS:  Breonna Taylor's boyfriend certain cops didn't identify themselves

From DonaldTrump:  Well, because it has been in the news a lot lately (via Ice Cube and Li'l Wayne), here is "The Platinum Plan."  It is impressive, but no Republican Congress would go along with even 10 percent of this plan which is basically a long list of promises to the Black Americans - individually and as a group.

From Truthout:   Yes, 55 Percent of White Women Voted for Trump. No, I’m Not Surprised.

Review: Entertaining "Scream 4" Treads Familiar Territory

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 32 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scream 4 (2011)
Running time: 111 minutes (1 hour, 51 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong bloody violence, language and some teen drinking
DIRECTOR: Wes Craven
WRITER: Kevin Williamson (based on characters created by Kevin Williamson)
PRODUCERS: Wes Craven, Iya Labunka, and Kevin Williamson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Deming (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Peter McNulty
COMPOSER: Marco Beltrami

HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin, Marley Shelton, Anthony Anderson, Adam Brody, Nico Tortorella, Marielle Jaffe, Alison Brie, Erik Knudsen, Mary McDonnell, Anna Paquin, Kristen Bell, Heather Graham, and Roger Jackson (voice)

A little over 11 years after Scream 3, Scream 4 hits movie theatre screens in an explosion of blood and guts. However, Scream 4 is not just a sequel. It is also something of a remake of and homage to the original 1996 movie, Scream.

On the 15th anniversary of the Woodsboro massacre (as seen in the original movie), Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returns to Woodsboro, the final stop on the tour to promote her book, Out of Darkness. Sidney discovers that she cannot escape the horrors of her past, because two high school students have just been murdered by the new Ghostface. Sidney also finds herself thrust back into the lives of the only other two people to survive the various Ghostface killers, Sheriff Dwight “Dewey” Riley (David Arquette) and his wife, journalist-turned-novelist, Gail Weathers Riley (Courteney Cox).

Now, Sidney’s young cousin, Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts), and her high school classmates are the targets of the new Ghostface. This new generation of potential victims, however, seems to relish the murderous attention of the infamous killer and hope this latest Ghostface rampage will help bring them fame in the age of social networking. Will they still be excited when they learn that the new murder spree is not like a sequel, but is instead like a reboot? Do they know that Ghostface is playing by new rules? Anyone can die anytime.

As a slasher film, Scream 4 is entertaining. Ghostface remains a terrific horror movie villain, slaughtering his victims to the point that they seem like butchered meat and offal. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette are reliable, if not a little a hoary. The new cast is, for the most part, pretty good, but Hayden Panettiere’s saucy Kirby Reed is the only standout. Overall, when Scream 4 plays it straight, it is a better-than-average horror movie.

Director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson continue their efforts to make the Scream franchise self-referential and each installment a horror movie about horror movies. This is where Scream 4, as well as the other sequels, flounders. The original film, for all its hip attitude and pop culture references, was a traditional horror movie, only slicker and with a better script and filmmaking. The original’s charming small town setting was perfect for a horror movie, and the youthful cast was vibrant and cool. The villains behind the Ghostface killer had believable (though crazy) motivation for their murder spree. Scream was a genuine horror flick.

Scream 4 wants to be more than something from the horror movie slasher subgenre. The script makes Scream 4 essentially a remake inside a sequel, and some of the film seems like a middle-aged guy’s rant against Internet celebrity and social media culture. That’s just filler material. It’s time for some fresh faces and ideas. Scream 4 is at its best when it focuses on what it already has that every successful horror franchise needs – a great villain. So if there is a fifth film, hopefully it will feel more like a fresh reboot instead of a tired sequel. Still, Scream 4 offers some bloody good fun.

6 of 10
B

Sunday, April 17, 2011

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Review: "Scream 2" Doesn't Sustain Strong Start

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 51 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scream 2 (1997)
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – R for language and strong bloody violence
DIRECTOR: Wes Craven
WRITER: Kevin Williamson (based upon characters Kevin Williamson created)
PRODUCERS: Cathy Konrad and Marianne Maddalena
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Deming (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Patrick Lussier
COMPOSER: Marco Beltrami

HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Elise Neal, Jerry O’Connell, Timothy Olyphant, Jada Pinkett, Liev Schreiber, Lewis Arquette, Duane Martin, Rebecca Gayheart, Portia de Rossi, Omar Epps, Heather Graham, (voice) Roger L. Jackson, Tori Spelling, and Luke Wilson

Two years after the shocking events in Scream, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and Randy Meeks (Jaime Kennedy), the only surviving teens of the Woodsboro massacre, are attending college. Sidney is trying to get on with her life until a copycat killer begins acting out a real-life sequel, and some of Sidney’s college classmates meet a grisly fate at the hands of a knife-wielding killer. Ambitious reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Woodsboro deputy Dewey (David Arquette) are also back as the new killing spree leaves no one safe and no one above suspicion of being the Woodsboro copycat murderer.

Scream 2 is, for the most part, quiet entertaining. It does not, however, have half the wild and crazy energy of the first, and part of that may be because the original film was full of nutty high school kids running amok and having a good time, although there was a murderer in their midst. There are plenty of party crazy college students in the sequel, but we don’t see much of them because the film really zeroes in on Sidney’s character. Wacky kid characters made the first film fun, not female problems. Beyond Sidney’s small circle of associates, no other characters, not even bit players, come in to add something surprising to the mix.

Scream 2 is worth watching, at least for the first hour. After that there are some good moments, but the film begins to fall apart.

5 of 10
B-

NOTES:
1998 Razzie Awards: 1 nomination: “Worst New Star” (Tori Spelling)

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Review: "Scream" Still a Scream

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 50 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scream (1996)
Running time: 111 minutes (1 hour, 51 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong graphic horror violence and gore, and for language
DIRECTOR: Wes Craven
WRITER: Kevin Williamson
PRODUCERS: Cathy Konrad and Cary Woods
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mark Irwin (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Patrick Lussier
COMPOSER: Marco Beltrami

HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Skeet Ulrich, Rose McGowan, Matthew Lillard, Jamie Kennedy, W. Earl Brown, Drew Barrymore, Joseph Whipp, Lawrence Hecht, Roger Jackson (voice), Liev Schreiber, and Henry Winkler

In the GenX/post-GenX thriller Scream, a psychopathic killer stalks a group of teens just like psychos stalk victims in slasher movie. His primary focus is teenage virgin Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), and the killings begin near the one-year anniversary of her mother’s death. A tabloid reporter, Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), who covered sensational murder trial of the alleged killer of Sidney’s mom, is determined to uncover the truth because she believes the wrong man was convicted of killing Mrs. Prescott and that the real killer is still at large. Of course, the mystery surrounding the killer culminates during a raucous teen party held at the obligatory isolated farmhouse. Finding out who survives is as fun as learning who the killer is.

Much has been made of how Scream references the many horror films that preceded it, especially 1980’s slasher flicks, but Scream is simply a great horror film and as much a mystery thriller as it is a scary movie. Maybe that’s because the film is a horror movie for the sake of being a horror movie. Any social commentary the film makes is ancillary, and anything it says about other movies is just the nature of the beast. Just about any horror movie will reflect the others that came before it.

While casting young stars from TV shows popular with teens and twenty-somethings in the mid-90’s was a savvy move on the part of the filmmakers (most 80’s slasher movies cast young unknowns), the two elements of that make Scream great are screenwriter Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven. Williamson’s script is tight, smart, funny, deft, self-referential, and most of all, creates a solid structure of suspense. The characters are mostly throwaways, but Williamson makes us care about them because the situations he puts them in are so precarious, we’d be cruel not to root for them to escape. For all the artful window dressings, Williamson’s script simply tells a scary story.

Wes Craven is one of the greatest horror film directors of all time having helmed A Nightmare of Elm Street and The Last House on the Left. Scream simply cements his position as a master director of the suspense genre. He turns Williamson’s words into palatable fear. He knows when to make the film outright scary, and when slowly increase the level of suspense and fright. Craven knows when to be funny and silly, and he knows when to deliver the deathblow, but most of all when to leave it all hanging on a thin string.

Scream is a film no slasher fan should go without seeing, and certainly it’s a work not to be missed by admirers and students of horror cinema.

8 of 10
A

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Review: "Cursed" is an Odd Werewolf Movie (Happy B'day, Christina Ricci)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 29 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Cursed (2005)
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for horror violence/terror, some sexual references, nudity, language, and a brief drug reference
DIRECTOR: Wes Craven
WRITER: Kevin Williamson
PRODUCERS: Marianne Maddalena and Kevin Williamson
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Robert McLachlan with Don McCuaig
EDITORS: Raúl Dávalos, Gregg Featherman, Patrick Lussier, and Lisa Romaniw

HORROR/MYSTERY with elements of comedy and thriller

Starring: Christina Ricci, Jesse Eisenberg, Milo Ventimiglia, Kristina Anapau, Michael Rosenbaum, Mya, Judie Greer, Jonny Acker, Eric Ladin, Shannon Elizabeth, Scott Baio, Craig Kilborn, Lance Bass, Portia De Rossi, Bambi Allen, and Derek Mears

It’s released delayed over a year, Cursed, the teen/20-something oriented werewolf movie from director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson, the creators of Scream, finally made it to wide release the last weekend of February 2005. The film was not screened for critics and early word on the Net from fans who claimed to have seen it was poor… But I liked it. Cursed is not great and it has some problems; the makers don’t seem sure if they want a horror movie or a comedy, but scares and laughs mix a little better than oil and water in this instance. Thus, we have a new horror sub-genre – comic horror.

In the film, estranged siblings still dealing with their parents’ death (the film is never quite clear how recent they died or if they were killed) are attacked by a werewolf while trying to help a young woman in a car accident. Ellie (Christina Ricci), the sister, is some kind of producer for The Craig Kilborn Show. She’s always busy juggling guests for the show, and she’s hit a rough patch with her boyfriend, Jake (Joshua Jackson). Her younger brother, Jimmy (Jessie Eisenberg), is dealing with trials of high school as painfully shy nerdy kid who gets grief from the jock types, especially after he becomes attracted to Brooke (Kristina Anapau), a jock’s girlfriend.

At first, Ellie is reluctant to believe that a werewolf attacked them, and it deepens the riff between her and her brother, but eventually the physically changes to her body and her strange behavior convinces Ellie of the truth. A sexy gypsy fortuneteller informs Ellie that she is cursed, and that she must find the werewolf that attacked her (whom Ellie and Jimmy assume to be “the master”) and destroy it in order to break the curse of the werewolf or they too will become beasts. As usual, things are a lot more complicated, and there are several suspects, and it seems more than one villain wishes to harm Ellie and Jimmy.

The bad in Cursed: cheesy CGI to create a werewolf. I hate CGI werewolves, and there's a transformation scene in this movie that is more a mixture of live action and animation than it is computer generated imagery. Also, a lot of the acting is flat or is more pretending than acting, and a few cast members seem to be going through the motions or doing a paint-by-numbers version of acting. The characters are mostly a bunch of pretty people who drive expensive, high-end, luxury cars and act dumb. There’s not much to the plot, which the filmmakers stretch almost to the breaking point, and the story is limp. The film also lacks some poignancy, and it too conveniently resolves family and relationship problems.

The good: Christina Ricci and Jessie Eisenberg really buy into the concept. Everything about the duo rings true: their backstory, living situations, social relationships, and plight. They, more than any other element, sell Cursed to the audience. Rick Baker does some stellar makeup and mechanical effects work, but what else can one expect from this master effects man? The film’s atmosphere is also very good. It’s sometimes funny and outrageous and other times pretty scary, and there are also some nice character twists. Drop disbelief and don’t take Cursed too seriously. I had a blast.

6 of 10
B

Saturday, February 26, 2005

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Review: Video Game Adaptation, "Venom," is Surprisingly Scary Entertainment

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 12 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Venom (2005)
Running time: 86 minutes (1 hour, 26 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong horror violence/gore, and language
DIRECTOR: Jim Gillespie
WRITERS: Flint Dille & John Zuur Platten and Brandon Boyce; from a story by Flint Dille & John Zuur Platten
PRODUCERS: Scott Faye, Karen Lauder, and Kevin Williamson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Steve Mason, ASC and ACS
EDITOR: Paul Martin Smith

HORROR/THRILLER with elements of action

Starring: Agnes Bruckner, Jonathan Jackson, Laura Ramsey, D.J. Cotrona, Rick Cramer, Bijou Phillips, Meagan Good, Method Man, Pawel, Szajda, Davetta Sherwood, Stacey Travis, Marcus Lyle Brown (as Marcus Brown), James Pickens, Jr., and Deborah Duke

A mixed group of teenagers, led by Eden (Agnes Bruckner) and her boyfriend Eric (Jonathan Jackson), find themselves stalked by a mysterious madman who has a key chain that makes a tinkling sound whenever he’s near. They discover that the killer is a recently deceased man named Ray (Rick Cramer), and his corpse now possessed by evil voodoo spirits. Eden and her friends run to the only one who can help them, their friend CeCe (Meagan Good), whose late grandmother, Miss Emmie (Deborah Duke), was a mambo/voodoo priestess and also the reason these evil forces are loose. As the final showdown looms, six teenagers are trapped in Miss Emmie’s house while the monster that was Ray waits outside for them.

Venom is the latest horror film based upon a video game, except that the game in this instance, named “Backwater,” is still in development. Venom is actually sort of a prequel to the game and explains how the game’s featured villain, “Mr. Jangles,” (Ray in this movie), came to be (He’s called “Mr. Jangles” because of the sound his key chain makes when he walks). Venom is actually a throwback to the horror films of the 1980’s, especially such slasher films as the Friday the 13th and Halloween franchises, where a (damn near) supernatural killer stalks teenagers and dispatches them in violently gory and bloody scenes that feature sharp implements and tools piercing or repeatedly slashing young flesh.

Venom is neither bland nor lifeless, and while it may look like a modestly budgeted Sci-Fi original picture (where many obviously have ultra low budgets), it’s fun, and the villain is (mostly) pretty scary. The Louisiana film locations (in swamps and rural areas) add a dreary, fear-inducing, Southern gothic atmosphere. Rarely has a hot and muggy atmosphere seemed so chilling and foreboding. Yes, the writing isn’t very imaginative; virtually every scene is copied or based directly on other horror movies, and in that Venom doesn’t hide that it is hackneyed. The cast stepped out of Abercrombie and Fitch. But as far as horror movies go, this is a straight meat grinder – soft on laughs, but dirt cheap and blunt on blood and guts.

The violence is proudly, rather than shamelessly, gratuitous. I enjoyed this trudge through the mud and muck because Venom is also some of the creepiest Hollywood-style voodoo scares I’ve seen in a while. Venom is like the 25-cent “Little Debbie” brownie that satisfies the chocolate urge when gourmet just isn’t available, and I’d like this brownie. I’d watch Venom again.

6 of 10
B

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

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