30 years of Scream on Screen With The Iconic GhostFace
What began as a sample writing to get hired in Hollywood as a screenwriter and was written in only one weekend became something no one could ever fathom.
It has become one of the most successful horror/thriller franchises ever created. Scream offers a fresh take on the genre, which had started to become a bit monotonous at that time.
Immortalising GhostFace
A quickly, but brilliantly written script by Keven Williamson, into the hands of the ever-creative and legendary horror master Wes Craven, Scream quickly became a worldwide hit.
Ghost Face became everyone’s favourite Halloween mask in the years to follow. Thirty years later, GhostFace masks can still be seen on the streets and at parties during Halloween.
At this point, seven instalments and three decades later, it’s safe to say GhostFace has been immortalised
A who-done-it movie with some extra added twists.
Scream may come under the horror/slasher genre, but it’s actually a thriller at its core with a comedic twist. A dark comedic twist that gives the movie the right balance.
It’s a story about a group of horrified young adults surrounded by a series of murders with a similar style to horror movies they watched growing up as kids.
This has presented them with a set of rules they believe must be followed if they are to survive GhostFace. Unlike previous slasher movies, the killer/killers are usually very chatty with their victims before grotesquely killing them.
Sydney Prescott played by Neve Campbell
There have been many leading girls in thriller/slasher movies over the years played by beautiful women, but none have been able to become as famous as Neve Campbell, with the exception of Jamie Lee Curtis.
What made Sydney Prescott so loveable and enjoyable to watch on screen has a lot to do with Neve Campbell’s lack of appetite for horror films and Wes Craven using that to great advantage.
Her inexperience in this genre made her eager to learn, as did certain scenes that made her reaction and facial expression much more believable because they were real and not acted out.
Wes Craven did not allow Neve to meet Roger Jackson (voice of GhostFace) until the filming of the 3rd instalment, all done to create a more realistic performance from his lead actress.
A Generation that grew up alongside Sydney Prescott
Apart from the immediate success the first Scream instalment achieved, not only locally in the United States but also globally, there is a generation of fans who had the privilege of growing up alongside Sydney. Every time a new film comes out, the franchise’s main protagonist always seems to be in a different chapter of her life, much like her fans, especially her female counterparts.
Sydney Prescott through the years has gone from being a teenager in high school to college to the working world and then unto motherhood.
She went from being a young, naive teenager to a strong, competent woman who knows how to stand up for herself and even fight back when needed. Where most women might crumble under a life such as hers, Sydney rose to the occasion.
So whenever this generation of 1996 watches the latest instalment, Scream 7, they are not just watching because of the franchise’s great mix of comedy and horror, along with all the other nuances that have brought such huge success; they are also watching because of nostalgia and a sense of real emotional connection. This is one of the reasons Scream has such a cult following.
The Scream franchise and Ghostface will definitely be on the list of most successful horror franchises of all time. Right up there with Halloween and Friday the 13th.
