Carnage Candy

Growing up I loved slasher films. For a while it was pretty much the only genre I was interested in. The first Scream film was released right at the height of my fascination. It had it all... gore, scares, mystery and most refreshingly a post-modern understanding of the context in which it was produced. I loved everything about the film, from the biggest star being killed within the first half hour to the knowledge of horror displayed reflecting this love of my own. I could recite the script from start to finish, backwards and forwards, and I'm surely not the only one. Not only did Scream draw a line under what came before it, it also gave the slasher film a fresh start; a new product for copy and how the copies did flow. You could rhyme off hundreds of them but that only proves the quality of the film and it's influence on modern horror.

Welcome home, Sidney. You're a survivor, aren't you, Sidney? What good is it to be a survivor when everyone close to you is dead? You can't save them. All you can do... is watch.

Scream 4 comes eleven years after the third and almost a full 15 years after the first in the series. It doesn't take long, in fact no time at all, for the killings to begin and with Sidney Prescott's return to Woodsboro we are quickly back into the flow of the series. The introduction, and I'm trying not to give too much away, is predictable but fulfilling and amusing. Scream has always revelled in its portrayal of the expected and gleefully enjoys the frights it manages to derive from it. In terms of writing and direction, as a fan of the first, I couldn't have asked for more with Craven and Williamson returning to the series for the first time since Scream 2.  I won't go into the plot in too much detail but it is very much in the vain of it's predecessors. Again the reliance upon sex and nudity, so required by it's peers, is an acknowledged no-show which, although frustrating to the teenage male viewer, is important to the Scream series. The performances from the cast are strong and the film is separated from its the initial trilogy by ensuring that almost no character comes out of the film unscathed. In fact, I can't think of any. That shouldn't ruin anything for you but should be enough to get the heart beating a little faster if you haven't seen the film already.

I enjoyed  Scream 4 from start to finish apart from a five minute section in the 'third-act'. It relates specifically to the killers motive and I found it to be slightly disconnected from the youth of today (not that I can claim to be plugged-in). I understand the comment that was being made but it was a bit over-the-top for me. Get on with the killing. The only other thing missing for me was the iconic theme songs - Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds particularly.

Reportedly the first of a new trilogy, Scream 4 is strangely refreshing. With the recent influx of horror, and specifically slasher films, the genre has become somewhat saturated; exactly as it was prior to the release of the first film. I understand that people will disagree with me but I don't accept the reviews that have commented on the films reliance upon obvious cliches. For me this misses the point. The film is exploitative of the genre cliches and the beauty is that Scream 4 is so good dangling the obvious in front of the audience, removing it long enough for you to believe it isn't coming, before delivering right at the point when you have settled back into your chair for maximum impact. It is the same formula that has been so successful in the past and if it isn't broke I don't expect Craven to go about trying to fix it. As a huge fan of the original it would have been easy for this latest edition to be disappointing for me but I really enjoyed it. It is everything a good slasher film should be providing fun, frights, suspicions and enjoyment but, and this may sound obvious, if you didn't enjoy the first Scream movie the chances of you enjoying Scream 4 are slim. If however you, like me, still have the teenage horror fan bursting from your skin I can't recommend it enough.

Official Site - http://www.scream-4.com/

Enjoy the Silence

The Silent House, or La Casa Muda to quote the actual title, is reportedly based on a real-life occurrence in a small Uruguayan village during the 1940's. The real-life occurrence, as far as I can gather, is that bodies were found near photographs. It's a bit like saying The Wizard of Oz is based on true events because an eccentric old couple painted their cobbled path yellow in 19th century London.

The Silent House tells the not so coherent story of a father-daughter combo who arrive at a creepy old house in the woods apparently to carry out some routine maintenance. Inexplicably they enter and immediately set about going to sleep before the noises upstairs begin. Now a problem I often find with films is that it is important to me that I can trace at least a strand of logic through the proceedings. Even if it is just implied. The problem with The Silent House is that there is no logic to the story. I am not going to get into the specifics of the plot too much because it makes no difference to your level (or lack) of enjoyment. There are many more questions than answers come the closing credits. In fact, I may be being too kind, it is more of a bewilderment and a wish for director Gustavo Hernández to greet me in the lobby to hand back the hour and twenty minutes I have spent. This ranks up there with the clocks going forward in terms of blatant theft. In the last few weeks I have lost two hours and twenty minutes to British Summer Time and The Silent House. I can't say I am too impressed. 

I don't know how much we can say that The Silent House has drawn from its influences and how much it has actually stolen, or derived to be polite. The book of cliches wasn't so much thrown at the audience as it was launched directly at our noses.

• Creepy little girls - Check. 
• Children's toys (musical of course) - Check. 
• Doll - Check.
• Polaroids - Check.
• Escaping only to find a saviour who takes you back to the place of misery - Check. 
• Plot twist (was it a twist..? Who knows) - Check.

There are others but you get the point.

I appreciate the craftsmanship in undertaking a feature length in one shot. In these terms the film is successful... no motion sickness at all. The few camera tricks that were employed were repeated continually and quickly became tiresome. I'm not sure how convinced I am that this was in fact one shot but it doesn't make a huge difference either way. Lets not miss the point here, the one-shot gimmick is there to direct our attention away from the poor narrative and generic scares. What was gained by this 'innovation' was quickly lost as it became clear why this technique is not frequented by the masters of the genre. The problem is that horror is effective when tension is built before the valve is released and the pressure allowed to build again. This can't happen to the required extent here as we are constantly in the face of the main character throughout. Instead of putting us in the shoes of the protagonist which could have been interesting (a first-person perspective for example) we get the feeling instead that we are in the same room; a voyeur more than a participant.

Two blogs, two films about strange houses. Quite apt considering I am in the process of moving home. The Silent House appeals to me as a name for my new house but I intend to enforce the silence much more strictly that the cast of the film. When the people who have snuck into the screen without paying start complaining about the quality on offer you know there is a problem. Just in case I haven't made it clear... don't visit The Silent House.

Official Site - http://www.lacasamuda.com/