Scream

Amicably making a case for itself. As a TV series, Scream has the advantage of having infamous namesake and it does deliver the classic slasher gimmick, although its greatest attribute is its self- awareness. It realizes the obstacles, such as cliché high school setting and transition from movie to series, and rather than trying to gloss it over, Scream faces it head-on with smart quips in addition to the mandatory pool of blood.

Premise remains the same, a killer stalks their preys before mutilating them in gruesome fashion. The show gives this antique gore aptly, it's pretty good in the buildup and effect of the butchering is done with just the right tone. However, it's not just slashing away randomly, it also tries to set an eclectic cast. As the movie itself says, the audience should invest or care about the characters to make the killing efficient.

Characters are presentable, casting fresh actors is a good direction to build the series. They don't veer too much from typical high school kids, but there is effort to broaden the personalities beyond the expected. It uses already proved formula and tweaks it with modern upgrade without overflowing it to needlessly aggrandized aspects.

The main concern is how much the straightforward plot can carry it for many episodes. Its necessity to offer kills can also be taxing for a series and unlike movie sequel or reboot, the nostalgia effect will wear off sooner of latter. Luckily, it has room to expand and with enough mystery, it could work for the long run.

Serializing a slasher flick might have its issues, but Scream is clever enough to turn most of them into perks, making the classic kill fest into a more modern version and also staying true to its root. 7/10

I'll admit, I was skeptical. I looked at it for a week and a half before watching it. And when I did watch it I was struggling with how you make a slasher flick into a show. But then, my boy Noah (the best character in the entire series) decided to break the fourth wall in the first episode, and explain exactly what was going to happen and how it would work.

As he so elegantly put when asked "whodunnit", "it's not about who the killer is, it's about getting to know the characters, and really feeling for them when they die". After he said that, and perfectly outlined the plot, I gave it a chance. And then promptly lost an entire night of sleep watching the first season.

This show is everything that made the old scream movies great, and then some. From the heart wrenching kills to the "big reveal", it will keep you enticed and enthralled. The show leads you to believe it's one character, before throwing evidence at other, and following it up with then clearing the latter. It got so good that I could tell who was the killer. I had probably 7 theories over the course of the first season, and 5 of them were proven wrong. The plot twists and sudden, and the kills are gruesome. Truly a classic slasher show.

On the other hand, the sequel. Season 3 was a surprise to me, who never reads descriptions of an episode before watching. And at first I was extremely skeptical. Sequels can often ruin a perfectly good movie. I felt like the token characters were shoehorned in with little regard for whether or not they would fit. But eventually they all settled into their right spots, and really brought out the story's themes of racism and secrecy. As soon as best girl Beth pointed out it was a sequel I changed my expectations from reboot, to sequel and everything fit better. Every character made more sense. And I must admit, I did not guess the killer correctly. But also I feel something more could've been brought into the show. More about the characters. I didn't feel for the characters in season 3 in the same way I felt for the first two seasons. And having grown up in the slums myself I should be able to relate to these public school breakfast club types. But I really think that was a lack of development on the side characters. Deion gets a lot of development, but the others kind of fall to the wayside. Very little is actually revealed about them and for the most part I suspected everyone to be the killer due to lack of proof otherwise.

Still, a fantastic show I highly highly recommend watching! Including season 3, it's still amazing.

The first two seasons, with the exception of the last episode of Season 2, were excellent and well acted. When they decided to reboot the series for season 3, there was a serious drop off in show quality. They abandoned a great cliffhanger from season 2, replaced the cast with far inferior actors/actresses, and created a story with characters you really don't care about. Stick to the first two seasons.

Absolutely loved the first two seasons! So I'm am incredibly disappointed they abandoned that storyline, so much was left not to mention many questions unanswered. Didn't give season 3 a chance, finish what you started because that was a fantastic plot with great characters.

I wish the series ran at least a couple more seasons with the original cast. The cast members of seasons one and two worked so well together and I think they could've told a lot more stories. Honestly, I'd be up for a Scream prequel about what happened in Lakewood before the killings. Nonetheless, they rebooted the entire show in season three and in my opinion, that did not end well. If you ask me there are no redeeming qualities about season three. Basically, I thoroughly enjoyed the first two seasons and was extremely disappointed about the third.

8.2/10 (excluding season three).