Despite many horror fans claiming otherwise, Wes Craven’s Scream series is one of the most beloved four-pack of films in the genre. So much so that YouTube and Vimeo is riddled with fan films. That’s not surprising to me when looking at the television adaption on MTV, “Scream: The TV Series,” whose first two seasons and Halloween movie featured a character that barely resembled Ghostface and a cast and location with no connection to Woodsboro. That may not be the case if/when “Scream: The TV Series” returns for a third season, but right now – the cloaked killer is alive and well in Brandon Tobatto’s Scream fan film, Ghostface. A collaboration between Tobatto Entertainment Industries, Decomposing Pictures and Radley Records, Ghostface is a twenty minute short film that sees a new psychopath donning the iconic costume and the equally impressive Buck 120 blade while he searches for those who are helping to hide the whereabouts of the holy trinity that is Sidney Prescott, Gale Weathers and Dewey Riley. Six years after Jill and Charlie’s rampage and twenty years since the original murders, Ghostface is back with a vengeance and he wants a reboot that’s sure to eclipse all the old headlines. You. Better. Start. Running!
Obviously, I’m a big Scream fan, and I’ll give anything in the universe – cannon or unofficial – a chance as long as it’s produced well. In this case, producers Brandon Tobatto and Shanna Ammons ensured they had a worthwhile video. It trumps the majority of the short Scream fan films on YouTube and beats the pants off some of the feature lengths, too. I think what I like the most about Ghostface is that it took some artistic liberties with the style and mood of the story, opting for a more action oriented environment than straight up horror. There is a glorious, gory and sickening torture scene in the beginning, but the rest of the film focuses on the new killer’s quest for information and the somewhat dimwitted woman in charge of safekeeping Sidney, Gale and Dewey’s files. It’s almost like a more condensed version of the opening sequence in Halloween: H20. The action, suspense and drama is mirrored and highlighted by nods to the previous movies, DVD copies of the STAB movies, and the Ghostface mask, costume, and knife being the same as the ones used in the actual movies. A few fonts in the opening credits were accurate, too, so all this was missing was the original scores.
Directed and edited by Brandon Tobatto, Ghostface stars Shanna Ammons, William Butler, Stephen Huey, and Tobatto as the voice of Ghostface. Though he never appears on camera, Tobatto was easily the best performer out of the bunch. His voice was demented and sinister enough to survive on its own without copying the voice changer from the original movies. As far as fan films go, this one is pretty solid. The gore effects were hyper realistic. The camera work was clean. The only complaint I have is that it was perhaps a little too talky, even for a Scream film! It’s easy to tell that Ghostface was produced with love of the original films and the strong desire to see further ones go in a new direction. I don’t think this is a bad idea. As long as the story content doesn’t go backwards (aka Scream 3), I think Brandon gave horror fans a different look at the Scream universe and how a new film could come to life in the future. Think of how Resident Evil made the switch from hard horror to more action oriented content. Either way, Ghostface is hitting YouTube in the next few weeks. Be sure to check it out.
It’s scary, stylized, and faithful to the original series.
