Saturday, 14 October 2017

Five reasons why "Scream" is Postmodern

1. Film's screenwriter Kevin Williamson, a big fan and an expert of horror films, tried to write a story that would acknowledge the legacy of its predecessors and bring this genre to new heights. He seized that very postmodern irony, he rethought clichés of the genre. "Scream" scenario is a real encyclopedia of slasher films. This film is a pastiche of horror genre.

2. Some directors thought that "Scream" is a parodical comedy. And at the end of the film it really looked like one. However, film’s humor did not cross out, but, quite the opposite, emphasized its horribleness, while also giving the audience time to rest between tense scenes.

3. "Scream" is not only full of references to its close relatives: ”Halloween”(1978), ”A Nightmare on Elm Street”(1984), ”Friday the 13th”(1980), but is also full of references to other different films: For example,  the scene where dead Casey is hanging on a tree is similar to one of the scenes in the beginning of Italian horror film "Suspiria".

4. On one hand, director of "Scream" takes what has already been done many times, but, on another hand, he flavours it a bit in his way. This points out to us that this film is postmodern avant-garde.

5. With numerous replicas of characters about various horror films, this film does not allow the viewers to forget that they are watching a film (about a film).

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