How "Scream" Left Its Mark (Blood) in Pop Culture

• Scream

  , the fifth film in the saga, will be released in cinemas in France on January 12, 2022.

• In 1997, the first

  Scream

  was a small revolution, both a reflection on genre cinema and a pure slasher which then revived a fashion.

• From the Scary Movie

  parody

  to the popular Halloween Ghostface disguise,

  Scream

  has made a mark on pop culture with its characters and sequels.

The release of a new - the fifth - 

 in theaters on Wednesday necessarily awakened some memories, and traumas, even within the editorial staff of

. Indeed, even if it is younger than its big sisters (of blood)

,

or

, the franchise has left its mark (of blood… ok we stop) in the history of the slasher in particular, and of the cinema gender in general. And even from the box office.

Judith of the Horror Bridesmaids YouTube channel, which shines the spotlight on female characters in horror films, did not discover the first film when it was released in 1997, but later: “I was told that it was a pretty funny film, with self-mockery, but I especially remember the first scene, a shock ”.

"" Scream "participated in my discovery of the genre"

She was 12 years old and therefore not necessarily all the references with which screenwriter Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven play: "He's the first slasher I've seen, but I already liked horror cinema and movies. like

or

.

, on the other hand, clearly participated in my discovery of the genre, and its frightening and stimulating sensations ”. Marie Casabonne, one of the authors of the collective work

(Vents d'Ouest), managed to see the film "thanks to a small amount of VHS traffic with those who had Canal + at the time". But above all, she discovers

at the same time as

, either the meta movie and the references, and a "good Wes Craven period", since both are directed by the

.

“We must remember the context, details the specialist.

The slasher has been a bit dead, since at least the mid-1980s, and horror in general is on the wane, with sagas getting bogged down in sequels like Jason Goes to Manhattan, Hell or Space. .

If

owes a lot to the directing of Wes Craven, it would be nothing without the contribution of Kevin Williamson, then 25-year-old unknown screenwriter and fan of horror films.

This script, under the original title

, is his last chance to break into Hollywood.

The legend, because you always need one, says that he locked himself in three days to write it, before selling it for $ 400,000 to Miramax, the company of Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob.

More consistent and identifiable characters

If the meta approach contributes to the originality of

, does it alone explain the critical and public success of the film? Judith recalls that Mark Herrier's

film had already been there in 1991, with its murders in the middle of a horror film festival organized by film students, as well as

released three years later and directed by a certain Wes Craven. “When a genre runs out of steam, consciously revisiting it allows it to be rediscovered and resuscitated, which is what

did with the slasher, and on a scale never seen before. "

For Marie Casabonne, the film is also and above all the perfect blend of two genres, the slasher and the

à la John Hughes, “with more consistent and more identifiable characters.

They are no longer just cannon fodder ”.

Better: “They are fans of horror films like the spectators in the room, they know the codes of the film that they are living and can act accordingly… or not.

They are also looking, like us, to find out who the killer is.

The real heroes are the survivors, not the killer

Because

operates a paradigm shift, notes the author of

 : “Before, it was the killer who returned from film to film, like Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger.

But there the killer dies at the end and another person dons the Ghostface mask.

The real heroes are the survivors, the trio Sidney, Gale and Dewey ”.

They are also back in the new

.

Judith from Daughters of Horror abounds: "Sidney Prescott, played by Neve Campbell, redefines the figure of the slasher heroine, the famous

because she regains control of the story.

This was not the case before, and it is important for the new generations, to have these new representations, strong and complex characters ”.

Quality suites

parody

to the Ghostface disguise, one of the most sold on Halloween,

has marked pop culture, and spanned decades and generations thanks to “always quality” sequels, comments Marie Casabonne.

“There was no weariness like with other sagas, and although it was meta, the franchise never fell into parody, remained serious and respectful.

According to Judith,

may have started the neo-slasher fashion, with

or

, he has remained the master stallion of the genre.

The franchise has also accompanied the evolution of genre cinema, audiences, and even society, playing around with the notions of sequel, movie-in-the-movie, and even fame in the age of social media. in

.

And the next film, which advances in a mask ... at the same time sequel, revival or reboot?

The context is different 25 years later.

Horror reigns at the box office with Blumhouse productions, hits festivals and ceremonies with

from Jordan Peele and Ari Aster, and even the

saga  has returned from the dead.

Not to mention another cult franchise: 

 !

Movie theater

"Scream": "20 Minutes" shares his greatest memories and freaks out of the horrific saga

Culture

"Scream": Intrigues and killers ... The first four parts of the saga summarized by us

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