Still Screaming: The Ultimate Scary Movie Retrospective - DVD Documentary Review
Still Screaming: The Ultimate Scary Movie Retrospective - DVD Documentary Review
Directed by Ryan Turek, featuring Wes Craven, Rose McGowan, David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Liev Schreiber, Henry Winkler, Matthew Lillard, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Parker Posey
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FEARnet's presentation of Still Screaming took place in Los Angeles, CA., on the eve of the release of Weinstein Co.'s Scream 4 (just hours before the midnight launch) and played to packed theater, followed by a Q&A with director Ryan Turek and producer Anthony Masi. There isn't a release date as of yet, but the doc is in the hands of Weinstein Co. and should be on DVD soon.
One thing that sets this doc apart from most is its sense of humor and tongue-in-cheek homage in its opening sequence, which is a skit made to mirror the classic launch into all the Scream films. Prior to the screening, Turek spoke with horror.com and he told us, "Every Scream film has a killer opening and I wanted to somewhat stay true to that and give the fans a little bit of a kick. So, I scripted an opening of our own with two girls, settling down to watch our documentary - a precursor to their own private Scream-a-thon, commenting on the recent wave of horror documentaries when they get a call from Ghostface. Things go sour after that and we then resume the doc. Again, something fun that was a blast to shoot in one night."
Still Screaming then launches into the usual talking head format, but is spiced up with dimensional stills and punchy behind the scenes footage of the movies from their respective sets. While the lion's share of the attention goes to the first Scream film, parts 2 and 3 get their fair share of screen time. Scream had a huge effect on me in film school," said Turek. "It spoke to me as a slasher movie fan and as someone who was hoping to see '90s horror get good again. From the moment I saw it, I was hooked and I've loved the series since. And yes, I've even grown to have a greater appreciation for part 3 knowing what went into it and the 'stories from the trenches' we collected for this documentary. It's one of my favorite segments of the piece."
I have to admit, I too gained a better appreciation of Scream 3, having caught it the other day on one of the movie channels. It actually falls into line with the formula pretty well, and, if the story itself doesn't entertain you — you've gotta love Courteney Cox's crazy-short bangs! One of the things discussed pretty much at length in Still Screaming is Kevin Williamson's departure at the advent of Scream 3 and Ehren Kruger's picking up of the scribing torch — each man's writing style could not be more different from the other, and in Still Screaming Kruger candidly admits his struggle with the funnier side of the franchise.
Still Screaming takes a decidedly light approach, going more for interviewee personal recollection than audience education, featuring several funny stories from the actors (W. Earl Brown's inadvertent groping of one of his female costars, David Arquette's "stalking" of his future wife Courteney Cox) and anecdotal insidery tidbits about the mask and how Ghostface found his voice.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson
Check out the rest of our SCREAM coverage —