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Movie SpookFest Speical Part 2: Scream Teens

© Angelique Thomas

Towards the end of the 1990s, slasher teen movies have become a big hit among the younger generation. Sporting prominent names, these movies have often made a huge impact on the box-office and it's no wonder if you have Jennifer Love Hewitt or Joshua Jackson running for their lives from a crazed killer. In Part II of our Movie SpookFest Special, we'll be taking a look at some of the people and movies that have together made up their own genre of Teen Horror Flicks.

It all began in 1979 with John Carpenter's Halloween that was basically about a babysitter killer as you might remember from last week's Movie SpookFest Special: Part I. The indie movie set off a string of movies that would be modeled after the box-office breakthrough. Many teen flicks followed after but the biggest 90s breakthrough came in 1996, Scream. The movie was categorized as Horror but was extrememly on the contrary. Scream was dark but in fact, it made fun of horror. Naturally, it was a big hit and put Neve Campbell, Drew Barrymore and other on the map to Amercian teen faves.

What is it that makes the slasher/teen/don't look behind you genre so popular among teenagers and Generation X'ers? The answer is simple. If you've ever been bored on a Saturday night and decided that hitting the mall with no cash would be no fun, eating out would just gain more pounds to your already hefty figure or all your friends had plans for that particular weekend, catching a glimpse of that highly talked about film at your local Cineplex didn't seem like a bad idea. Many teens often flock to movie theaters in large numbers because ticket prices are highly affordable, it's a huge hangout (besides the mall, amusement park and other exciting places) and best of all a wide range of movies can be chosen from what's viewing.

So why Teen Slasher Flicks? Teens relate to teens. Well, that's pretty understandable. You wouldn't turn to your eighty year old grandmother if you were having a boyfriend/girlfriend crisis. Hollywood hotshots know who America's teens can relate to and who they actually want to see parade in a movie. Some of the notables include Katie Holmes, Usher, Michelle Williams, Drew Barrymore, Freddie Prinze, Jr. and many others. Now these people have just slipped out of their teen years but many adolescents relate to the teen characters they have played whether on the big or small screen.