The late and great Wes Craven will forever be known as the father of Freddy Krueger. But that wasn’t all he accomplished. A horror mainstay, no question, but also a commercial pioneer (not once, but twice) who triggered a renaissance for cold genres. Not only did he put New Line Cinema on the map with A Nightmare on Elm Street, Craven also reignited the overdone and faded slasher film in the mid to late nineties.
Kevin Williamson (the hot shit writer behind Dawson’s Creek) had written a very unique slasher called Scary Movie on spec and went on to great heights of fame and fortune when it was picked up. It was self-aware, knowing the minutia and cliches of slasher films and toying with the audience by manipulating those cliches. Scream would set the box office on fire and sprung a mass of film series, with seemingly evergreen sequels that continue into the 2020s.
No small feat for these two.
Now we’re in what will likely be the final incarnation of home media, and it comes as no surprise that this mega hit (and its sequels) has come to 4K. As with all of these ‘box sets’, I’ll cover each movie briefly and get down to the nitty gritty: the transfers and sound. The 4K discs have no special features. None. The included blu-rays have previously released legacy features, so I’m not bothering with write ups for them.
SCREAM (1996)
The first movie of its kind and, no shocker, it’s the best. A story that knows its audience, its genre, the pitfalls and the possibilities and manipulates it, twists it and executes it all brilliantly. This was meta before we knew what meta was. Bitingly satirical without descending into mockery, the first Scream delivers compelling characters, avatars in essence for the audience’s preconceptions and turns them on their head—to shockingly graphic ends.
Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), whose mother was infamously murdered, finds her fellow classmates at the mercy of a masked serial killer. As the quite community reels from violent death of some of their own, it becomes quickly apparent that the killer is just warming up. As they pontificate over suspects, and the hapless local law enforcement fail to catch him, more and more youngens fall prey to the vicious murderer. When Sidney is attacked, it becomes apparent the killer may be involved somehow to her. The question is, will she find out who and why this person is fixated on her before it’s too late?
After a dearth of late 80s and early 90s slashers gave us cardboard cutout characters to the slaughter to ever diminishing effect, Scream delivered contemporary teens, with advanced vocabularies and agency. While most of their fates mirrored that of the cookie cutter, brain dead victims of yore, Ghostface had to earn his kills. Campbell’s Sidney Prescott is a solidly developed lead, with an aspirational arc that delivers a satisfying resolution. The support characters are memorable. The derivative big kill of Drew Barrymore’s character plays to the Psycho trick from 1960 but does so to great effect. Barrymore, having a massive career resurgence around that time, was genius casting. This is just a solid production all around. A true 90s classic, it stands apart, much like Craven’s other horror classic, in spite of the mass of sequels it would spawn.
SCREAM (1996)
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital 4K
Home Video Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Available on Blu-ray - October 3, 2023
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Norwegian, Russian, Swedish
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0French: Dolby Digital 2.0; Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0; Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0; Russian: Dolby Digital 2.0
Discs: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc; Eight-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray locked to Region A
VIDEO
These discs were released by Paramount, who have (let’s try and forget the Planes, Trains and Automobiles scan) some stellar restorations in the last few years. This disc is a slam dunk! Faithful to the original colour palette, its careful use of HDR (offered in DOLBY Vision/HDR10) heightens blacks, lushes up greens and deftly handles all the night scenes, adding dimension and unseen quality to the picture. Look at the 90s clothes, the warm backgrounds, the hairdos—you’re immersed back in the 90s. Stellar job!
AUDIO
This sounds to me like a reuse of the impressive DTS-HD 5.1 mix from previous releases. It’s solid and immersive and there’s no complaints here. However, with a 4K disc, and a big hit horror movie such as the original Scream, there was room for a new ATMOS 7.1 mix to go with the awesome new picture
Supplements:
Commentary:
- Audio Commentary by Director Wes Craven and Writer Kevin Williamson
Special Features:
- Production Featurette
- Behind the Scenes Q&A with Cast and Crew
- Trailers
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SCREAM 2 (1997)
Unlike the Elm Street movies, Craven actually came back to direct the first couple of sequels to his new mega-hit. This film was the first film forced to do rewrites on the fly after the original script was leaked online, spoiling the ending (that pesky interweb!). This one included another crammed cast of then and future stars, including Timothy Olyphant in his first starring role, Laurie Metcalf (right after the end of Roseanne) and Jerry O’Connell as Sidney’s new love interest.
In this one, survivor Sidney (Campbell) has left Woodsboro to start college. The infamous events of what happened follow and torture Sidney in the guise of a horror movie, Stab, being released country wide. At the premier of Stab, a new Ghostface murders a couple of attendees, sparking a new wave of terror, centred around our hero. Once again, the killer (or killers?) has a personal connection to Sidney and it is up to her to find out why before it’s too late.
As follow ups go, this isn’t too bad at all. Especially in the exploration of Sidney’s struggles with PTSD, trust, and trying to move on from the terror of her past. Hard to do when a self-aware killer wants to explore the tropes of sequels for real. Writer Williamson leans heavily into what would become cliches of his style. The characters wax lyrically over the frameworks and rules of sequels. This one has a vicious edge to it in the kills, bordering on hyperbole. The support characters in this one have some great potential, especially in their utility to serve Sidney’s arc, but only Metcalf’s really lands. There is also the choice of killing off one of the original survivors that divided fans of the series. I am on the camp that applauds this—it gave the film real threat and a worthy emotional beat.
Because this is a Sidney Prescott centric sequel, Scream 2 is more character-based and it elevates itself above the ho-hum production line of horror sequels from the past. What it doesn’t do is escape the derivative elements of all sequels, relying heavily on the formula of what worked the first time. Commercially smart? Absolutely. Inspiringly brave or original? Nope. Not even close.
SCREAM 2 (1997)
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital 4K
Home Video Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Available on Blu-ray - October 3, 2023
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Norwegian, Russian, Swedish
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0French: Dolby Digital 2.0; Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0; Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0; Russian: Dolby Digital 2.0
Discs: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc; Eight-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray locked to Region A
VIDEO
Night and day difference between the old crappy blu-ray transfer and this 2160p remaster. Gorgeous, pristine, filmic print that eliminates the washed out, artefact filled mistakes from the past. Rich blacks and off the chart highlights give faithful yet new dimension to the images. Colours boldly come into their own, with greens and reds again benefiting massively. Perfect and an immediate recommendation to upgrade from me.
AUDIO
Again, Paramount skimp on 7.1 to deliver the awesome, punchy and lossless DTS-HD 5.1 mix. It’s definitely a solid mix, no question, but whiny bitch that I am, I want more!
Supplements:
Commentary:
- Director Wes Craven, Producer Marianne Maddalena, and Editor Patrick Lussier
Special Features:
- Deleted Scenes
- Outtakes
- Featurette
- Music Videos
- Theatrical Trailer
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SCREAM 3 (2000)
Writer Kevin Williamson was by 2000 (and previously mentioned) hot shit, and a very in demand man. As a result, he was not available to write a third film, although he had provided copious notes. This one would see Craven return to complete a trilogy (as it was originally intended to be) and he brought on screenwriter Ehren Kruger. Again, there was a mix of Hollywood mainstays: Lance Henriksen, Kevin Smith, even Carrie Fisher! And there were TV stars plucked out to do a feature like Felicity star Scott Foley and Patrick Dempsey. Countless rewrites, reshoots, a diminished role for Neve Campbell, due to her busy schedule. It made for a lesser soup.
Sidney (Campbell), having survived two psychopathic teams connected to her, has escaped the world and works from home, now a damaged, isolated hermit. But the world’s fascination for what happened to her hasn’t waned one bit. The insipid Stab movies are going strong, a third currently in production with Dewey (David Arquette), no less, on board as a consultant. A new Ghostface appears and starts killing cast members, of course luring the survivors out to throw down once more. Sidney will, again, be forced to discover what connects this new killer (killers?) to her and survive the bloody rampage.
This one leaned far too much into comedic for my taste. It’s self-aware piss-taking of Hollywood culture gets old very fast, and the characters descend into cliché and lose all efficacy. It definitely throws a few twists and turns in (kudos for that) but reducing Sidney’s involvement in this one reduces my care factor. It diminishes it considerably to me. I liked Ghostface’s connection to Sidney in this one, but it was executed as gimmick more than character study, so ultimately disappointed. All in all, this is a dud and perplexing to me: a dulled horror movie with Wes Craven at the helm? No dice!
SCREAM 3 (2000)
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital 4K
Home Video Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Available on Blu-ray - October 3, 2023
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Norwegian, Russian, Swedish
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0French: Dolby Digital 2.0; Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0; Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0; Russian: Dolby Digital 2.0
Discs: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc; Eight-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray locked to Region A
VIDEO
Unlike the story, this transfer is SHARP! Like the other two, the DOLBY Vision/HDR10 is off the charts good! Rendering the film in faithful colour timing but amping up contrast, dimension, consistent filmic grain and bold highlights to present a perfect 2160p remaster. No artefacts, no crush, no print dirt or speckles. Absolutely stunning picture.
AUDIO
Guess what? Same story here: lossless and very good 5.1 DTS-HD mix from previous release. Good but could have been great.
Supplements:
Commentary:
- Director Wes Craven, Producer Marianne Maddalena, and Editor Patrick Lussier
Special Features:
- Deleted Scenes
- Alternate Ending
- Outtakes
- Behind-the-Scenes
- Montage Music Video: Creed 'What If'
- Theatrical Trailer
- International Trailer
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