powerpint of comparisons and explanations of how scream 4 and cabin in the woods are postmodern, with clips

1. Postmodernism
in Horror

2. Scream 4 VS Cabin in the Woods
Director: Wes Craven
Budget: $40million
Box Office: $97.1million
Distributed by: Dimension Films
Starring: David Arquette, Neve
Campbell, Courtney Cox, Emma
Roberts and Hayden Panettiere
Plot: Many years since the
Ghostface Killer (and last film).
Sidney Prescott returns to
Woodsboro for her book tour,
coming across old and new faces
along the way. However, Sidney's
arrival also sparks the return of
Ghostface, putting Sidney and
everyone she loves in danger.
TRAILER:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=UlaZfOiGaCU
Director: Drew Goddard
Budget: $30million
Box Office: $66.5million
Distributed by:
Starring: Kristen Connolly, Chris
Hemsworth, Jesse Williams, Fran
Kranz and Anna Hutchison
Plot: Five college friends visit a
remote cabin where one by one,
they fall victim to the various
horrors that await there. However
unknown to them, two scientists
are manipulating the goings-on
and ultimately sending the teens to
their graves for their own gain.
TRAILER:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=NsIilFNNmkY

3. How is Scream 4 Postmodern?
• The opening: a film within a film, within a film. (LINK)
• Starring (for less than ten minutes): Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars), Shanae
Grimes (90210), Anna Paquin (True Blood), Kristen Bell (Vernica Mars),
Aimee Teegarden (Friday night Lights) and Britt Robertson (Secret
Circle).
• IRONY AND SELF AWARENESS
• References made of a fifth movie; ‘Stab 5’ including time travel – an
idea Wes Craven put forward for the fourth ‘Nightmare on Elm Street ‘
but it was rejected.
• The characters visit the set of the ‘Stab’ films where a dummy of Tatum
stuck in the doggy door is visible at the "Stabathon". There are also
audience members dressed as Dewey and Gale which emphasises how
self aware the character are.
• Every new main characters is an archetype for one of the characters
from the original Scream: Jill (Sidney), Kirby and Olivia (Tatum), Trevor
(Billy), Charlie (Stu), and Robbie (Randy).

4. Every new main characters is an archetype for one of the characters from the original Scream: Jill (Sidney),
Kirby and Olivia (Tatum), Trevor (Billy), Charlie (Stu), and Robbie (Randy).
Similarly as shown in Charlie and Stu’s screenshot, they both
play the crazed killer without a personal motive of killing
Sidney and so in Scream 4, Charlie mimics a lot of Stu’s
behaviourisms and actions. This is especially noticeable
towards the end as the final ‘reveal’ scene plays out a lot like
the first one in the original Scream.

5. Self awareness and archetypes;
the scholar, the whore, the fool,
the athlete and the virgin. Each
main character is referred to as
their stereotype by the scientists;
why they were ‘chosen’
How is The Cabin in the Woods Postmodern?
Even though each character is defined by their
‘title’ some defy various aspects of it:
The Athlete; expected to be dumb, has a degree
in quantum physics
The Virgin; not actually a virgin, just innocent
The Fool; portrayed as incompetent but figures
out the whole plot and what they’re all doing
there.
The ‘Fool’ Marty also gives away clues on how
the situation their in is ’unreal’ saying ‘I’m on a
reality TV show’ and references how much the
circumstances that they’re in is ‘like a horror film.
The doing behind this is to create meaning and
make the characters more dimensional, to create a
connection with the characters and the audience.

6. • The film acknowledges the
traditions of the horror genre
whilst simultaneously
undermining them.
• Taglines include; ‘You think
you know the story’ and ‘If
you hear a strange noise
outside… have sex’
The film emphasises on the typical conventions of horror films; abandoned
cabin in the middle of nowhere, an attractive main cast, secret basement and
cliché lines – with an added twist.
• https://youtu.be/u51EZ_7P5qY?t=7s
• https://youtu.be/xja_5iv4n_4?t=2m28s

7. • Whilst both films fall into the horror genre, both portray elements of comedy
• In Cabin in the Woods most of the comedy stems from ‘The Fool’ – Marty, as shown in this clip, he
brings a lot of humour to the film likely due to the amount of weed he smokes on screen.
• https://youtu.be/xwN0ZIe-cG8
• There is more humour bought across through the characters succumbing to their archetypes:
• Dana: Me? The virgin?
• The Director: We work with what we have.
• The Director: Whatever he's been smoking has been immunizing him to all our shit – when realising
what Marty’s been smoking has been protecting him from dying.
• However in Scream 4, a lot of the comedy aspects are from reference to other horror films and
mentioning the other films in the Scream series
• https://youtu.be/oAOxfIJDfX0?t=30s
• https://youtu.be/Bdmu1_IwUdA?t=50s
• The film even references that it displays aspects of the comedy genre as ‘Ghostface’ says; ‘This isn't a
comedy, it's a horror film. People live, people die and you'd better start running.’

8. Bibliography
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1262416/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlaZfOiGaCU
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsIilFNNmkY
• https://prezi.com/sq7nh2ig6eg5/the-cabin-in-the-woods-as-a-postmodern-text/