Scream Queens - "Pilot"

The melding of horror and comedy is always a tricky situation. Typically it falls farther onto one side of the coin where the horror takes over in all its bloody glory, or the horrific elements go too far and become slapstick comedy. However, there are the stand outs that work such as Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead II. Ryan Murphy, creator of Glee and American Horror Story, has worked in both realms of the comedy and horror genres. With Glee ending and the American Horror Story train continually gaining speed, there seems to have been room in Murphy's creative arena for a new concept. Scream Queens is the love child of goofy father figure Glee who just wants everyone to get along, and the tyrannical but always wise American Horror Story momma. The real question is if this new series is a true yin and yang of horror and comedy. The answer is a clear no. However, while it does rely heavily on comedy, it honors and references horror in such an out of this world manner that it becomes Murphy's Army of Darkness. Not scary, but goodness is it fun and full of over the top horror. 

The premiere episode was a jam packed two hour introduction to Wallace University, and of course the main sorority house of Kappa. The show begins in a flashback to 1995, a time when the horror scene was losing its beloved slasher genre due to too many sequels and not enough material to cover them all. A party at the Kappa House gets even crazier when a sorority sister has her baby in a bathtub right before the most epic playlist hits the dance floor. Of course, the girls can't handle the drama of the 90's version of the nativity scene and leave the girl to deal with it on her own. When they return, the girl is dead cold and now the baby is truly on its own. Flash forwarding to present day 2015, the Kappa House is run by the creatively sadistic Chanel (Emma Roberts) with her cloned minions at her bidding, Chanel #5 (Abigail Breslin) and Chanel #3 (Billie Lourd). With the beginning of a new school year at hand, the dean of the university Cathy Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis) has finally had it with the antagonistic and downright politically incorrect ways of Kappa House. She decides to shut down the sorority, that is until she is pursuaded by Gigi Caldwell (Nasim Pedrad) to just change the rules of who can join Kappa House. Now with the sorority accepting anyone who wants to join, Chanel feels her world begin to crumble, but she is struck by a moment of inspiration. She devises a prank to scare the girls away that would show off her hardcore edge and complete lack of empathy; two traits that any college student would want to avoid. Of course, the prank goes wrong and she burns off the face of the maid of the house. Suddenly the bloody ball begins to roll and a mysterious killer dressed as the Red Devil mascot of the school starts killing off members of the sorority. 

The immediate interesting note on Scream Queens is that it has a divisive tone. Some people will love it, and some people will hate it. That is to say, at least at first. It was a tricky decision to make the premiere episode last as long as two episodes since on one hand it really puts the viewer into the quriky world of Kappa House, but it also can feel like too much and overload the first time watcher. It will take a few more episodes down the pipe to really see the trajectory of the series, but the tone is set here. What does immediately work is the casting and horror knowledge. Starting with the original "Scream Queen", Jamie Lee Curtis is phenomenal. The beacon of hope for all final girls, Laurie Strode from Halloween truly is the inspiration for this show and for Murphy. Getting Curtis to star as a snarky and almost sadistic dean is perfect casting and is a true treat for any horror fan. Fan boy status aside, Curtis shows her acting chops right off the bat and delivers a character that is going to be a joy to watch. Her delivery of a monologue about the social media obsessed world is delivered with an edge of annoyance but also a large dose of wisdom. The other star, Emma Roberts, is also a pure stand out. She eats up every scene which works extremely well in Murphy's over the top college world. As a character, Chanel has a main goal of becoming a Good Morning America anchor; a dream that fits perfectly with her outwardly bubbly disposition that covers up a troubled young woman. When her friends die around her, the focus of the drama for her becomes how it effects her future dream of being like Kathy Lee. Of course this ties directly back into Dean Munsch's speech on narcissicism in the collegiate world. 

The supporting cast is also dynamic and worth the time for B and C plots. Chanel's egotistically idiotic man boy Chad Radwell (Glen Powell) is just as over the top as Chanel. He has a fascination with death to the point that its a sexual fetish. In fact, the two things that turn him on are his own body or the lifeless body of someone else. It's such a sick and twisted character that it reaches comedic levels and works extremely well. Two surprise stand outs were Boone (Nick Jonas) and Chanel #2 (Ariana Grande) due to their real world singing talents. Grande's death scene, for example, is pure comedy and is one of the best moments in the episode. Her texting response of "Wait, whaaaaat?" to the killer's message was so sickly sweet that it helped push this crazy world. Jonas's understated portayal of a gay man really lends credit to his ability to become someone other than just "Nick Jonas trying to act". Murphy seems to see this too as Boone becomes the main crux of the cliffhanger of the episode. The remaining Kappa's, new and old, are all fantastic. Special recognition to Whitney Meyer who portrays a deaf girl obsessed with Taylor Swift. It's a choice that will clearly offend many, but fits perfectly into Murphy's no apologies sorority. 

 

While the show is nowhere near "scary", it delivers a brand of horror that will satisfy most lovers of the genre. This is especially true for those that love the slashers of the 80's and 90's and are able to poke fun at how ridiculous they became. Murphy clearly loves them too and wants to honor and give them new life for a new generation.

Evan Slead

Staff Writer

Evan is a Film & Media Studies major in Boston and the host of PodSlash podcast. He loves writing novels and screenplays, and also all things Real Housewives. Don't hate.