SCREAM QUEENS

The latest offering from Gwyneth Paltrow’s boyfriend kicked off with a bang, or more precisely, a scream.  Or multiple screams to be exact.

It’s witty, sarcastic, over the top in its criticism of American pop culture, and brings so much fun back to the horror genre.

The cast are super talented, led by Emma Roberts as Chanel Number 1 and Jamie Lee Curtis as the Dean.  Chanel Number 1 runs the horridly discriminating and mean sorority house of Kappa Kappa Tau.  She’s the alpha bitch of the most racist, sexest, homophobic, politically correct house on campus.  She is basically a narcissistic rich bitch, and boy is she great to watch.

I love the speed of the show, its deliciously ridiculous dialogue and strange situation. And the way Chanel No. 2 dies is pretty awesome when it comes to making a mockery of teens and young adults in today’s social media obsessed society.

There’s a serial killer on campus, and yet, the pledges of KKT, who are at the centre of all the murders, don’t seem to really care much for their safety.

This is a warped reality, and the cast is filled with cliché characters who will find in every college horror movie ever made:

• Bitch Queen Bee – check;
• Savvy newcomer who shakes up the establishment – check;
• Mean Dean – check, and taken to another level of resentment;
• Queen Bee’s minions – check;
• Hero dorky boyfriend type to savvy newcomer, who’s had some kind of history with Queen Bee – check;
• Queen Bee’s asshole cheating boyfriend – check, with explanation as to why it is acceptable that he’s a douchebag;
• Sorority house that’s way too beautiful and kind of lacks proper pledges to fill it – check, at least in the first 2 episodes, we only have a maximum of 4 Chanels;
• Single over protective father who conveniently gets a job at the college – check;
• Random black people who add no value to the cast getting killed off – check;
• Token black person who says black things – check;
• Token Asian person who doesn’t embody Asian stereotypes (because that’s racist) – check;
• Mysterious death mystery from 20 years ago – check;
• Mysteriously disappearing dead bodies – check;
• Idiots not caring about their own safety when a serial killer is about – check;
• Super dorky pledge who is basically so weird that you’d want to lock them up – check;
• A secret locked room with secrets – check;
• A warning to mind your own business – check, it was literally provided in written form;
• Accomplice who has been killed off – check;
• Asshole jock boyfriend’s gay best friend – check;
• Virgin – yet to be provided.

Scream Queens does not take itself overly serious, the cast deliver their lines with such innocent conviction, that it’s funny, not in a laugh out loud kind of way, but in a smile as you watch it way.

The constant evolution of the show means that it’s not stale and doesn’t linger too long on any one aspect.  Thankfully, it doesn’t have a Glee feel to it.  I hated the staleness and constant repetition of what Glee had become.

Fingers cross that Scream Queens doesn’t become formulaic.  It’s a surprising show with a lot of promise for an adult audience who are a little twisted in their sense of humour.  Gwenyth’s boyfriend and his colleagues have done a great job with this show.  I look forward to the coming season.

Hopefully, the show runners don’t get caught up with trying to make the show run for season after season, and turn it into a format which is similar to American Horror Story.  One season, one storyline, just tell a kickass story with a great script and wonderfully talented young actors.

The calibre of actors is definitely a plus to this show.  I look forward to seeing who gets killed off in the weeks to come.

Rating: 7/10, it’s a fun show, it’s fast paced and has a lot of promise.  The drama isn’t quite as addictive as I’d want it to be, but the premise, albeit, stale, is done in a refreshing way.

See it again: Yes, I look forward to seeing what kind of trouble The Chanels get up to, and how they explain Chanel No. 2’s demise, or lack of a body.

Worth my time: Yes, this show has a lot of promise, but I do doubt that any of my friends will watch it.  The 20 somethings will love this.

Talking points: who is the murderer?  And where are all the bodies being kept?

Annoyance factor: 2/10, Lea Michele is still playing a teenager, move on woman.