MTV’s Scream series is almost here and thanks to some comments from the producers, we now have a bit more information about what the show will be. It turns out, Scream will have a lot in common with Friday Night Lights and Twin Peaks.
In an extensive interview at Buzzfeed, Scream executive producer Jaime Paglia says that the way to turn a slasher movie into a TV series is to make the viewer care about the characters. While the show will have a body count, it’s going to be more methodical with the kills than a traditional horror film, so that fans will feel the pain when they lose a character:
So if you were to watch this as a regular teen soap, you would be engaged with them and care about them and the stakes would be there. We do end up having Friday Night Lights with life-and-death stakes.
The more methodical pace also lends itself to delving into the deeper mysteries of the show, like who the killer is, and what the motives are, as well as dealing with the shockwaves that having a serial killer in town can cause. According to executive producer Jill E. Blotevogel:
”It’s kind of like the way Twin Peaks used the death of Laura Palmer to set off this chain reaction of looking deep into the underbelly of that small town. We’re kind of using that format more than the Scream movies ever did.
So, it’s going to be Broadchurch with a higher body count? That... could work actually.
Ultimately it's the themes and the self referential humor that should make Scream The horror series feel like Scream the movie. The producers also promised they are including “easter eggs” that will reference the film so fans of the feature series will have something to look out for.
Scream has been in development for quite some time. While we already knew that the series was going to be...different. Other than the director of the pilot, and perhaps one scene, we haven’t really known much about what the show was really going to be. The iconic ghost-face mask won’t be the same. Even the cast has seen a substantial change.
So, do you like scary... TV shows? Check out the trailer for Scream below...
Scream: The TV Series hits MTV June 30th.
