Scream (1996): Directed by horror movie OG Wes Craven, Scream follows a girl named Sydney Prescott who is still mourning the murder of her mother. Years later, a serial killer in a ghostface costume appears, slaying teens across town, and building a considerable body count before he is unmasked.
Scream is one of the very first horror films to set up the convention of being punished for breaking any of the horror movie commandments: Have sex and you die, don’t be a hero, etc. Even Sydney’s group of friends slight horror movie obsession helps to offer commentary and set up for what the rules are.
Also, essentially, if you are an adult you are guaranteed to be useless. David Arquette’s deputy character is at the forefront to cement the bumbling authority figure trope. While a lot of commercial movies have moved towards the paranormal and away from slasher thrillers, there is no denying that this film’s impact on pop culture can still be seen today.
Shaun of the Dead (2004): One of actor Simon Pegg’s many ridiculous buddy comedies, Shaun of the Dead is another movie about the undead but mostly it’s about “The Planâ€.
Shaun, with the help of his best friend Ed, is on a quest to win back his ex-girlfriend and rescue his mother (sorry Philip) all while trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. While it can be slow, the entertainment mostly comes from the main characters’ blundering nature .
Obviously you wouldn’t expect just anyone to handle a terrifying pandemic with ease but the way in which they approach their obstacles is frustrating. The characters are oblivious by design and their oversight usually has disastrous consequences. Of course, their contingency plan is not as foolproof as they hoped it would be, resulting in a satisfying horror comedy of errors.
Zombieland (2009) : Starring Woody Harrelson and Jessie Eisenberg. Eisenberg plays Columbus, a stuttering perpetually nervous reluctant hero, the very type of character you would not expect to live long enough to be one of the very few humans inhabiting Earth in the mists of a Zombie Apocalypse.
Like any obsessive character that watches way too many movies, Columbus has a plan. In order to play it safe he has a set of rules that need to be followed, illustrating a survival manual of sorts for viewers during the opening sequence of the movie.
He later meets gun savvy, slick talking Tallahassee (Harrelson) who has a love for Twinkies, a penchant for one-liners, and, according to Columbus, has zombie slaying skills that are comparable to art. The climax lives up to the implications of the movie title, delivering a final, at times emotional, showdown in an amusement park overrun with zombies.
Cabin in the Woods (2012): The plot centers around a group of friends who take a trip out to a cabin in the middle of nowhere because, well, reasons. Insert terrible decision making, poor acting and cliche characters and you have yourself some typical slasher movie fare.
How is this movie self-aware you say? The audience later finds out that the five friends are actually being manipulated by puppeteers that encourage them to make terrible decisions that feed the horror movie dragon.
These people are business suits working for a large operation, the end goal of why they are messing with the teens is actually a major spoiler which I will not disclose. Ultimately, Cabin in the Woods is an absolutely bizarre, twisted and ridiculous attempt at spoofing not just the cardboard cutout characters (The Athlete, The Brain, the Virgin, The Promiscuous One, The Fool) it also deals with the conventions that come with them as well.
I love movies like this because it doesn’t just borrow from the 90s chest of toys or reboot a successful franchise. Even if the film is a flop, at the very least it was trying to do something inventive, opening the door for other films that might handle the ideas with more nuance.
Scream Queens (2015): While it is not a movie, this television show takes the satirizing of Horror Movie Commandments even farther than Cabin in the Woods. It only seems natural that if you are going to parody a genre a stale as slasher-horror you go in all the way at 200%.
The first episode, it seemed, had a number of viewers confused about the lack of suspense and depth of character. However, it is the theatrics that makes it so enjoyable, what makes it brilliant. The stereotypes and red herrings are all part of the charm.
You have your foolish rich kids, your inept authority figures, and your misfits and brains who are obsessed with unmasking the killer. As for the suspense, wanting to know who the Red Devil is is only half of it. Scream Queens is clearly the love child of American Horror Story and Glee.
If you haven’t seen either of those shows you might be confused about the tone. Even if you have seen them you will still probably be confused. Either way you will be confused. Cabin in the Woods and Scream Queens are more comparable to the Scary Movie franchise which itself was played out and contrived at the end of its run.
Zhana Johnson
Senior Features Editor
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