“Scream" Franchise

Scream- 1996 Directed by Wes Carven, who also directed “Nightmare on Elm Street”

It revitalised the slasher film genre in the mid 1990’s, the two main films which are referred to throughout the film are ‘Halloween’ and ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’. The movie ‘Scream’ uses irony which was recognised as a device which carried on in the rest of the ‘Scream’ movies. Foe example when the character Randy lists all the typical conventions which happen in o Slasher movie, which ironically is happening to that group of teens. The fact that they know the signs and don’t react to them is ironic. Its also ironic that Sydney’s mums death and the deaths happening in her small town are related.

Scream 2- (1997)

This movie following from the first also uses irony as in the beginning its ironic that the first couple in the movie are murdered during the same time when they went to watch a preview of the movie “Stab”, which of course connotes death. Also once again Randy discusses the “rules” in a slasher movie, pointing out the obvious which know one has yet managed to overcome. Of course in the end the killer turns out to be the mother of Sydney’s previous boyfriend, Mrs Loomis, which kind of follows the twist of Friday the 13th , as the mother kills people for her son.

Scream 3- (2000)

Sydney has now moved to an excluded area in California, of course how ironic to move in the middle of nowhere. The cast and crew of the latest movie are ironically being killed one by one; the guy who was wrongfully convicted of Sydney’s mum murder is also murdered for not giving up Sydney’s whereabouts. So that eliminates him from being the suspect again. The killer reveals himself to be Roman (who had faked his own murder), the connection being that he is Maureen's illegitimate son and Sidney's half-brother. He brings out John (who had been gagged and stuffed at a corner of the room) and kills him in front of Sidney. It is further revealed that Roman is a product of rape, which occurred during Maureen's brief stint as a movie actress. Roman tells Sidney that her mother left her father and cheated on him with Hank Loomis, causing Mrs. Loomis to leave her husband. Roman told Billy Loomis why his mother had left his father, and convinced him to kill Maureen. Roman also told Billy to have an accomplice who was weak and easily willing to help him out, which turned out to be Stu Macher

HOW IT’S POST-MODERN. It can be argued it’s post-modern as it embodies various genres of movies to create it own new form. For example the way it uses irony can be kind of seen as comical.

Pastiche- postmodern playwriting technique that fuses a variety of styles, genres, and story lines to create a new form- This is relevant to scream as the director has used different genres from different movies and embedded them into Scream. For example ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ as it’s a sci-fi.

Irony- an outcome of events that is the opposite of what was, or might have been, expected. Its ironic how the teenagers themselves know the typical conventions of slasher films, but yet still manage to become a victim of one.

Intertextuality- is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can refer to an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text. This is relevant as the film itself makes references to films such as ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ and ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’