Following a smash success in rebooting (sort of) the Halloween franchise, it makes sense that Blumhouse would look to some other popular horror properties for possible remakes and reboots. One of the most iconic slasher sagas is the Scream franchise, which ended with Scream 4 in 2011. The franchise features one of horror’s best final girls, Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell), and some decently sharp commentary on both the commodification of female trauma and, in an unfairly maligned third film, the Hollywood machine.
With Blumhouse’s love of strong final girls, it makes sense that they’d tackle Scream as a possible reboot. Studio head Jason Blum, who has expressed interest in a reboot before, recently said of rebooting Scream, as well as Hellraiser: “Yes, we definitely have [discussed it]. We’re looking—there’s nothing happening with either one of those things—but we’re definitely looking at it, and it’s definitely something I’d be open to.”
As a diehard Scream fan, I know I should be, well, screaming at the idea of a reboot, but I actually don’t think a remake or a reimagining would be so bad. I remember seeing jokes about Sydney assembling famous Final Girls like the Avengers, which honestly wouldn’t be a shabby idea. Blumhouse’s Halloween was a fairly strong film that tackled female trauma and generational trauma with three female leads; while Judy Greer’s character was underbaked, even she got a moment of badassery.
Scream has never quite pulled punches with how it tackles the way Sydney deals with her trauma, but it would be great to have a very hard-hitting look at the way this impacts Sydney from a female perspective. Yes, I am getting on this particular soapbox to say that a female director and writer would be key to making a Scream reboot work.
Be it following Sydney on one final fight, or following a new Final Girl, it’s important to keep the focus of the Scream franchise on a woman and her survival—not in an exploitative way, but in a serious look at the way women process trauma and the way horror films commodify that pain. It can still poke fun at the tropes of the genre, especially now that the rules have evolved, but it can also deliver a powerful look at pain.
The best way to do this is with a female writer or director. Halloween was strong, but could have been stronger with a woman more involved in the creative process as a writer or director. For a really fresh look at Scream, it’s time to invite a woman to direct the film, and to write it. Meredith Averill, who stunned with two powerful episodes of The Haunting of Hill House, might be a flawless candidate to tackle female trauma through the lens of the franchise.
I don’t think everything needs a reboot, but I’m so fond of Scream and enjoyed the new Halloween greatly, so with the right director and writer, Blumhouse could have a serious hit on its hands. Until then, I’ll continue my tradition of rewatching the entire franchise every Halloween and writing lengthy essays about the series that will hopefully someday see the light of day.
(via Cinema Blend, image: Dimension Films)
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