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THE COMPLETE SCREAM COLLECTION (1996, 1997, 2000, 2011, Blu-ray released October 4, 2011 – MSRP CDN$ 76.99)
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More often than not, we Canadians get the shaft. Some of you folks below the 49th have taken to referring to our country as “Can’t-ada”, which is actually not that far off the mark, considering how many film releases and services we miss out on, up here. But sometimes things actually work out in our favour. Like in the case of The Complete Scream Collection Blu-ray Disc set, which includes all four feature films along with an extra disc containing two feature-length docs. With the films split between US distributors down south, this is a package that can only happen way up here in the great white north!
A few weeks back, Lionsgate and Miramax released the Scream: Five Film Set in the US, a 4-disc Blu-ray set that includes the first three films in the series as well as a couple of docs. That’s right – the “Five Film Set” doesn’t include the latest film in the franchise, Scream 4, as it’s distributed by Anchor Bay and is only available on its own. Here in Canada, we have the good fortune of being able to get the whole kit-and-kaboodle in one 5-disc Blu-ray set from Alliance, that replicates the transfers and features from all of the available US discs and throws in a Ghostface mask for good measure!
I’ll be honest, until cracking into this bad boy, I was the furthest thing from a fan of these Wes Craven horror/comedy films as can be. I recall having seen the first one in the theatre way back in the day and recall having enjoyed it well enough. But the hype surrounding it and the onslaught of sequels wore down any goodwill or interest I had in the franchise and I managed to steer clear of all of it for the ensuing fifteen-years or so. Well, damn, if I’m not ecstatic to have had the opportunity to make up for lost time with this Blu-ray set. This is a truly wonderful series of films, from beginning to end, with very few egregious missteps along the way.
Scream, the original flavour, holds up as a smart, genre-transforming effort full of humour, gore and superstar performers. I could do with a whole lot less of over-the-top Matthew Lillard but what are you going to do. The sequel, Scream 2, is almost a miracle, in that it continues the A-plot from the original – eternal victim, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is at the heart of a mystery that involves a psycho killer with a knife and a lot of dead bodies – while further bending the genre in upon itself and commenting on horror films and Scream‘s effect on them. Incredible! These first two films form a flawless one-two punch that, fifteen years on maintains its power as a force to be reckoned with.
If the franchise were to have a black eye, though, it would be the very silly, tonally awkward and structurally challenged Scream 3. The film isn’t terrible, by any stretch of the imagination. It maintains the horror and the fun of the originals but adds a goofy Scooby Doo-like tone and a handful of wink-at-the-camera cameos that take the audience out of the picture. The biggest problem with the film, however, is the fact that the main protagonist is absent for a good deal of the run-time. Apparently, Neve Campbell was committed to a number of productions at the time and was only able to shoot Scream scenes for a few weeks, leaving the filmmakers to find a way to craft the story around her absence. And that difficulty is up there on screen, with co-stars Courtney Cox and David Arquette busily trying to distract the audience from the missing plot.
The latest film, Scream 4, which was released in theatres earlier this year, is something of a return to form, with original screenwriter Kevin Williamson back at the word processor, after skipping out on the doomed second sequel. 4 isn’t perfect either – the formula and the returning cast are all a bit tired now – but returning to the setting of the original film and focusing on teenagers and parties is certainly a move that will make the film appeal to a younger generation of movie-goers. And I challenge anyone to see the twist ending coming. There’s no way you’ll guess who is under that Ghostface mask this time!
The Blu-ray set is technically a mixed bag, which I’m sure comes as no surprise to you, seeing as how we’re talking about four films made over fifteen years here. But there’s nothing here that’s short of pretty great. Scream 4, of course, looks the best, afforded a pristine, damn near perfect, high-bitrate transfer on a dual layer disc. The previous three films are identical to the single disc releases from earlier in the year – all single layer discs encoded at a modest bitrate, looking slightly uneven but mostly great, considering the sources used. All soundtracks are presented in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and sound fantastic, across the board.
Supplements are plentiful when you take the whole 5-disc set into account but no single Blu-ray contains an overwhelming collection of extras. Each disc sports a commentary track featuring director Craven and various members of the cast and crew as well as deleted scenes and outtakes on all but the original Scream. The two new documentaries found on the fifth disc run around 90-minutes each and are, for the most part, exceptional and informative. Scream: The Inside Story, a doc created for the Biography Channel, tends to ignore the sequels and focus solely on the original while Still Screaming takes the whole series into account, giving each chapter its due. Both are presented in 1080p.
I really can’t say enough about this collection of discs. The films are fun, they all look and sound great on Blu-ray, there are enough supplements to keep you busy for days and, if you’re so inclined, you can watch the whole thing while wearing the authentic Ghostface mask included in the package.
Recommended!
Special features include:
Disc 1: Scream
- Audio commentary by director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson
- Production featurette
- Behind the Scenes:
- On the Scream set
- Drew Barrymore
- Q&A with the cast and crew
- Theatrical trailer
Disc 2: Scream 2
- Audio commentary by director Wes Craven, producer Marianne Maddalena and editor Patrick Lussier
- Deleted scenes with optional commentary by Craven, Maddalena and Lussier
- Outtakes
- Featurette
- Theatrical trailer
Disc 3: Scream 3
- Audio commentary with director Wes Craven, producer Marianne Maddalena and editor Patrick Lussier
- Deleted scenes and alternate ending with optional commentary by Craven, Maddalena and Lussier
- Outtakes
- Behind-the-scenes montage
- Theatrical trailer
Disc 4: Scream 4
- The Making of Scream 4: Featurette
- Alternate Opening
- Extended Ending
- Deleted/Extended Scenes
- Gag Reel
Disc 5
- Scream: The Inside Story
- Still Screaming
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