Rating- * * (2/5)
One good thing about the Scream films is that they may have actually put an end to the genre of slasher movies for good. Before you protest, please realize that I’m not talking about horror movies in general or even violent horror movies. I am talking about that particular niche in the movie world called slasher films. These are movies where the plot makes only enough sense to provide some form of logic that allows for scene after scene of someone dying in a new and creatively tasteless way (and no, Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2 doesn’t count because it totally outdoes and satirizes every slasher movie). These films have no value whatsoever except to scare your girlfriend into burying her head into your shoulder. In the ‘80s, slasher films found their peak with several successful series taking hold on audiences like Friday the Thirteenth, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and to a lesser extent, Halloween. In the ‘90s, slashers got more stylish and hip with all the latest teen stars to join in the action, but the formula was pretty much the same. Thankfully, slashers are few and far between these days and when they are released, they don’t offer much in the way of creativity. This one is no exception except maybe for its special effects. The storyline, if it matters, is basically a rehash of the classic horror film by the same name but with a high tech spin: an evil genius captures 12 very angry ghosts and puts them in an elaborately designed house that is designed to release them one by one when the front door is first opened. Then just to be mean, he sends the key to the house to a hapless family who happily abides and walks right into the trap. As the movie progresses, the house releases progressively scarier ghosts who try to find and kill all the members of the family. The ghosts can only be seen by a special pair of goggles that the characters put on from time to time at which point a ghost usually ends up right in front of their face and scares the crap out of you. The movie also uses painfully loud screeches to scare you, which instead is just annoying. This movie is slightly better than the typical slasher movie because of the special effects in the ghost scenes and the impressive looking moving-wall house made entirely of glass and metal. Other than the visuals, there isn’t much to get out of this movie and I would much rather watch a good non-gory horror film like The Others any day of the week.