Scream Queens

This is a brilliantly written, directed and shot series. I was shocked and deeply disappointed when it was cancelled. I miss it still. The photography and set design...along with the costumes were superb. It fascinated and of course repelled me in the parts it was supposed to! It was hilarious and biting in its take on our superficial ways. Sigh. I don't supposed anyone would ever bring it back?

Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts) is the self-obsessed arrogant queen bee leading Kappa Kappa Tau at Wallace University. She can't bother to remember and names her minions all Chanel; Chanel #2 (Ariana Grande), Chanel #3 (Billie Lourd), and Chanel #5 (Abigail Breslin). Twenty years earlier, there was a surprise birth and death at the sorority. Cathy Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis) is the new dean. She tries to revoke the sorority but ends up opening pledging to all students. Various girls apply including Grace Gardner (Skyler Samuels) and Zayday Williams (Keke Palmer). As Chanel tries to drive out the new girls, somebody dressed as the Red Devil starts killing them. The second season has Munsch running a hospital which is haunted by new serial killer, the Green Meanie.

I love the Chanel on Chanel emotional violence. Emma Roberts' constant put down of Abigail Breslin is hilarious. The mystery part is less compelling. It becomes a series of killings without any rooting interest. Any investigation is just a bunch of random twists and dead ends. At its best, it's a fun skewering of the horror genre. At its worst, it's a boring meandering random murder mystery. Through it all, there is the irreverent Ryan Murphy brand of humor.

Scream Queens is a show that Iv'e held off on watching for the longest time as I truly didn't think it would be for me. After years of avoiding this show, I was pleasantly surprised when my girlfriend finally convinced me to watch it. Whether it was the low expectations or even the fsvtgoing in having no clue what I was about to watch but, I found this show to be very entertaining and fun. While this may not be the show for everyone as it is "over the top" I personally find its craziness to be its best feature given how intentional it was in order to poke fun at the horror/slasher genre. Speaking of how "over the top" this show can be, that aspect shines more than ever when referring to the characters themselves. Characters that would normally be ridiculous, or unbearable, are complimented by hilarious writing and incredible acting transforming those "unbearable" character into characters that are stupidly hilarious and fun to watch. This show manages to be an odd horror comedy while simultaneously being an interesting murder mystery. Long story short this show definitely left me wanting more and I was very bummed to find out that it had been canceled after only two seasons.

This is clearly a show that some will appreciate and others will not. After reading some of the other reviews, maybe I like this show so much because I have never watched GLEE.

I think some reviewers have missed a couple things. First, this is not just a parody/homage to great horror movies. It is a parody of bad horror movies. Second, you're not in the real world anymore. You're in Slasher Universe, a universe of 1-dimensional characters, bad dialog, silly plots, terrible decision-making, and all the other horror conventions we've come to know and love. That this series of events could not possibly occur in the real world is exactly the point. This universe, while superficially similar to ours, operates very differently. It is populated by dumb jocks, corrupt or incompetent authority figures, earnest if clueless parents, killers in grotesque costumes, and of course SCREAM QUEENS. This is a show about clichés and conventions. If you have watched 3 slasher films in your life, then most everything in this show will seem familiar to you. To me, the silliness of the humor makes it more enjoyable than some of the poorly acted and directed movies that it satirizes.

This series has the right balance for a comedy with some horror. It's less graphic than American Horror Story and less hectic than Glee. The horror isn't as sickening as AHS so a wider audience can watch it. The pace is less hectic and slapstick than Glee. The one liners are funnier and you have time to digest the jokes. It's more comedy than horror and I'm fine with that.

Emma Roberts is the queen bee of a sorority where murders are taking place. She is given a lot of the good lines and she delivers them quite well. You can see her learning to be a comedienne here. She looks prettier than in AHS. Abigail Breslin is a bit under utilized. Lea Michelle doesn't dominate the other cast and that's good.

Jamie Lee Curtis has a juicy role as Dean of the school. The guys seem a bit nondescript despite a Nick Jonas guest appearance.

Pleasantly surprised.