Why, Quentin, WHY?
One of our favorite scary movies of all time (1996’s Scream) and this year’s fan favorite horror film (It Follows) received a serious diss from legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino this week. During an interview with Vulture to promote his upcoming film THE HATEFUL EIGHT, the director voices his dissatisfaction with Wes Craven’s direction of Scream and the flaws of David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows.
When asked if there were any franchises he’d want to direct, Tarantino replies:
“I could have imagined doing the first Scream. The Weinsteins were trying to get Robert Rodriguez to do it. I don’t even think they thought I would be interested. I actually didn’t care for Wes Craven’s direction of it. I thought he was the iron chain attached to its ankle that kept it earthbound and stopped it from going to the moon.” (Source: Vulture.)
Ouch. As mega fans of Scream and Wes Craven’s other films (1972’s The Last House on the Left, 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street), Quentin’s comment stung. In my opinion, with Kevin Williamson’s script, Craven weaves in scares and humor while perfectly capturing the style of the 1990’s MTV-loving generation. It’s undeniable that Craven’s Scream rejuvenated the genre for the masses and influenced countless films that came after. Although I wouldn’t change a thing, I’m still curious to know what Tarantino would have done differently.
When questioned about his favorite movies of the year, he says, “… I really liked It Follows.” Then he digs into the film’s flaws:
“What did you like about it?
It was the best premise I’ve seen in a horror film in a long, long, long time. It’s one of those movies that’s so good you get mad at it for not being great.
How could it have been great?
He could have kept his mythology straight. He broke his mythology left, right, and center.” (Source: Vulture.)
In an extended cut of the interview, he goes into more depth:
“The movie keeps on doing things like that, not holding on to the rules that it sets up. Like, okay, you can shoot the bad guys in the head, but that just works for ten seconds? Well, that doesn’t make any fucking sense.”
To find out how Tarantino would do it better, check out the whole article at Vulture.
As a filmmaker icon, Quentin is entitled to voice his opinion. The guy directed classics like Pulp Fiction and the Kill Bill films, so his judgement is merited. My personal QT favorite was his addition to 2007’s Grindhouse, Death Proof. It was suspenseful, had great music, and of course, was infused with that signature Tarantino style. I may be alone listing this as one of my favorites though. In a director’s roundtable with The Hollywood Reporter, the director said, “Death Proof has got to be the worst movie I ever [made], and for a left-handed movie, that wasn’t so bad, all right?.
So, now that we’ve established that my opinion differs from QT’s, I’ll go out on a limb and say that I really enjoyed It Follows as well. Though I’ll admit I haven’t seen the film enough to deconstruct and analyze it fully. I did enjoy Mitchell’s response to Quentin on Twitter:
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If anything, this proves that everyone’s point of view is different, and we all have the right to share our own unique perspective. What are your thoughts on Scream, It Follows, and Quentin’s ideas? Share with us below!