HACKED TO PIECES SPECIAL! ITS A SCRE4M

HACKED TO PIECES SPECIAL

SCRE4M

Well it’s out, have you seen it yet?  What did you think?  Love or hate?  No matter how you feel, make no mistake, Scre4mis the most talked about film on the net at the moment, and being one of the franchise’s biggest fans, I thought it would be fitting to make this week’s Hacked To Pieces a discussion on the very film.  So sit back and relax, and enjoy want will be my

FINAL WORD ON SCRE4M

It seems sadly that many fans are taking great delight in the poor first weekend opening box office takings to the third sequel of the much popular franchise!  These are the ones who have never liked the Sydney Prescott saga, dismissing it as not a true horror because it has too much humour and plays with the genre rules!  I myself have friends who hate the very existence of Ghostface because they believe that he gives horror a bad name, a bogeyman who does not light a candle to the icon figures of Jason and Michael!  I will never criticise those people, I mean we all have different tastes and in some way I do understand the lack of love because compared to many Slasher films, Scream’s body count has always been on the low side so it quite does not cater for the fans brought up on the likes of Tourist Trap and Sleepaway Camp!

Scream has always been about the fun factor, its main element and movie trick is to give the viewers a game of “guess the killer!”- a “who is the person behind the mask?”!  It did not need to rely on filling the screen full of blood and body parts because its policy was suspense and thrills, I would actually agree and say its more of a comedy/thriller that now and again dips its toes into the pool of horror!  So I do understand those who have never found the love, I mean if you love the extreme old classics like Suspiria you not going to take much delight in some kids dressed in a black cape wearing a white mask!

What I find frustrating is the joy over the past two days that Scre4mwas beaten in the box-office by the animated film Rio.  Horror fans who are happy with this do not realise the long term damage being caused by these low takings!  What the studio have in their mind is if a popular and much loved film franchise like Scream can not bring them in, what is the point of making similar films!  Its already being said that these low takings may mean Halloween III will not get the green light, the studio were waiting to see how well Ghostface does before deciding on the future of Michael Myers, especially the abysmal low takings that H2 suffered!  So you can see that the ripple effect may start to take effect, not just with the future of Scream 5 but also of films like Halloween and Freddy!

But will it?

Lets look at the bigger picture!  Because while those rejoice at the low first weekend figures, they do not realise exactly how much of a flop Scre4m won’t be!  Every single Scream sequel have suffered low takings from the previous.  Its not the rollercoaster horror series that many think!  It does make the studio money, but only because the budget is low anyway!  Take a look at the official figure box below:

Scream: Budget  £15 Mill   Worldwide takings £173 Mill (£103M alone in the US)

Scream 2: Budget: £24 Mill   Worldwide takings £172 Mill (£101M alone in the US)

Scream 3: Budget  £40 Mill   Worldwide takings £161 Mill (£89M   alone in the US)

At the moment going by Worldwide sales which should reach £60M, Scre4m stands to make alone £130 Mill by the time the film reaches its end cycle at the cinema!  This is not guess work by my end, but estimated figures alone, so if you want to be fussy and think “no chance!”, then I am telling you the film at its worse it will take £120M especially when you include the DVD sales which the franchise is notoriously known for doing really well in!  Especially with the rumours that the DVD will hit the market in a mere four months time!  A shocking statement to make I know, but its a known fact that Australia will get an August release and Mexico will get a September date!

Wes Craven has said about the DVD!  “We shot a script that was 138 pages or something like that, so we had a lot of scenes that had to go on the cutting room floor. Some were kind of redundant. Sometimes we were pointing too much at a character as a red herring. There are seven or eight scenes that will be on the DVD. All the really good stuff was in the final film.”…..

What scenes is he on about!  Well how about this cut scene:

The eagled eyed viewers of you would have spotted this in the trailer, but it was cut from the main film!  Its the first killings that mirror that of Casey and Steve from the original!  With the first body hanging and the second body -unseen here-tied to a chair!  Hopefully this will be in the DVD extra along with the different beginning that saw Marnie’s final line being “But you not real!”, before Ghostface does what he is good

“But you not real!” Cue SCRE4M TITLE!

Also we may get to the reasons of wholesome changes that were made to the original script!  Originally we were going to start the film with Sydney suffering from the hands of Ghostface and the film then skipping two years later!  It was Bob Weinstein who dismissed this idea, thinking that the film would be slow paced in watching Syd recover and then have to face her nemesis again!  Also Gale and Dewey were supposed to be with child, an idea kicked into touch after a few meetings!  The debates that raged through filming would make a great listen to and may put to bed the rumours that have dogged the entire production!  One of them is of Williamson walking off set and the ending changed to make it a more commercial success!  That is one rumour put to bed by Craven,

“I talked to Kevin last night. I think he was trying to figure out what to say about the film to the press because there are rumours that something horrible has happened. He has not seen the movie. He’s been completely immersed in Vampire Diaries. That was part of the reason he stopped being a writer on the film, but he did have a complete script. He had everything laid out for us. When Ehren Kruger came in, it was because Kevin had to contractually put his efforts into Vampire Diaries. Ehren did some great secondary work and some additional scenes that needed fleshing out. And I did some writing, too, but this was Kevin’s baby.”

So that ends all the fan based theories, and what about Scream 5 Wes?

“No, there is no Scream 5 script. Kevin [Williamson], when I first talked to him about this project before there was a script, he had an idea for a trilogy, so we’ll have to see what comes out of that. I’m sure Bob Weinstein is open to it if the script or ideas are to his pleasure. He has very high standards. I don’t think he’s in any rush to do it particularly, but on the other hand, I think he’s open to the idea of a trilogy, so at the point when there is an idea that he’s really excited about I’m sure he will begin launching that next film.”

Which brings the whole part of this special back to the beginning! Those doom merchants who think that its the end of the franchise really must think twice!  Wes Craven is already contracted to write the 5th but his comment that “he did not have no control of the script” does raise questions, especially more so of Williamson who to this day still has not seen the final product of the fourth film!

There will be a 5th, simply because like it or not, Ghostface has entered the lore of all the horror Bogyman, the crazed Woodsboro killer is more popular than Chucky the doll and that Child’s Play franchise has had five sequels and a due re-make.  Ghostface is also more commercial than Pinhead and his box of tricks and how many sequels did his Hellraiser have?   From my personal view, I really do not think the modern horror audience need another Scream!  The 4th was perfect for a nostalgia trip and it has been well received by all the die hard fans, but the story has nowhere else to go!  It would break my heart for this to go down the Saw route of endless sequels but sadly I feel this is going to happen.  Scream 5 or from one website 5cream, will make a profit, it will be made with a reduced budget and more of a lesser plot with more bloodshed!….only the die-hard fans will find any love and those of just a little interest with tune in!  Then when parts 6 and 7 come along, the numbers will dwindle and soon the franchise will run to the ground, becoming the very thing it once proudly took the Michael of!…..

It happens to all the popular horror series, its the norm of the genre and sadly it seems Scream has become the next one!  I love the 4th, my review is here https://horrorcultfilms.co.uk/2011/04/scre4m-out-now-in-cinemas/

And I am proud that it lived up to my expectancies, but we really did not need it!  Scream 3 ended it all, the story arc was done, by bringing it back has now opened the door for sequels a plenty, but of course when money talks in Hollywood, nothing ends forever, and while many dismiss the opening talkings as a poor showing, an estimated £90m profit is something you can not sniff at and it will make the studio especially the Weinstien brothers know they still have a franchise in which they can make easy money out of!

It will come to a stage when fans won’t know the difference between Scream and Stab!

Words Heard In The HCF Office This Week: “I wish…..Its High School Musical meets Beauty and The Beast!”

And Finally: Thanks to the wonderful website Scream Trilogy Net for this little info!  You know the end of Scream 3 where Kincaid, Gale, Dewey and Sydney have defeated Ghostface for the final time and are all set to watch a movie.  Well we see the back door open on its own and Syd stops, looks, and leaves it open, to suggest she now feels safe in her life!  Well I have often wondered what film they were going to watch….well thanks to that wonderful website here is a pic

Yes its Randy….and the rest of his videotape…..his voice would have signalled the end of the trilogy, a fitting tribute to one of the much loved and missed characters!

Also Matthew Lillard was talked about being back in the 3rd, as the second killer!  That’s right, it was originally planned for him to be behind bars, masterminding the attack……  Crazy I know…..

AND FINALLY…..FINALLY……AND FINALLY…..AND FINALLY…..AND FINALLY…

I was a naughty boy last week, my fellow Sub Editor Matt Wavish told me off because I forgot to mention his hard work in bringing you the latest Cinema and DVD/Blu-Ray Releases.  My poor co-worker works hard in updating this every week for our lovely readers, so if you ever want to know what’s out and hot, then check in here https://horrorcultfilms.co.uk/category/new-releases/ every week!…..

Until Next Time!…