Scream – The Giallo Cut

Having completed his Noir Crime Trilogy, Neglify has since turned his attention to Horror - A genre that he is clearly in love with! First, we had Neg's take on Scream 4. Without doubt, that edit improved on the original, and showed a brilliant and completely out of left field understanding of where the Scream franchise could have gone if the creators had been brave enough to go there...

This time around, Neglify has turned his attention to the original 90's slasher classic and given it a makeover the likes of which you would never have expected. In Scream: The Giallo Cut, Neglify has combined his great love of classic Italian horror with his favourite modern example of the horror genre, in one of the most successfull mashup fanmix edits yet to appear on fanedit.org.

Embracing the VHS style completely (the film has been edited from a worn copy of the original VHS home video release), the whole film has a nostalgic quality that took me right back to what it felt like to watch scary movies as a kid/teenager. It's a gimmick for sure, but it works so effectively here, and really helps sell the style/tone/feel that Neglify was shooting for.

The music replacement works a treat, and is genuinly creepy! I've had Goblin's music stuck in my head for days, and was surprised at how organically it fit the material.

I was really enthralled by this edit from beginning to end, and know that fans of the Scream series are going to absolutely love this thing. The addition of the flashbacks/ flashed boobs and sex scene was also hilarious, expertly integrated into the movie.

As far as the technical aspects go, full marks to Neglify for committing to converting the original VHS into a digital format. It's obviously not intended to look perfect, it's intended to look shitty. And on that basis, I give the audio/visual quality 10/10, as the VHS stylings really added to the experience overall. The editing is top notch (those who have tried mashups know how difficult and frustrating it can be), and enjoyment-wise, it was one of the most fun edits I have had the pleasure of watching.

If you only watch one Italian Horror/Scream movie mashup this year, make sure it's this one.

well done Neglify
10/10

Overview - Groundbreaking and fresh when first released, Scream has now been copied and parodied so much that return viewings now seem stale and predictable. Neglify drags a rather scrubbed and polished film straight into grindhouse hell. And the result is so much the better.

Video - Awful, by design. Cropped to 4.3 to resemble the VHS experience. The top of the screen suffers pronounced curling and distortion. Noise appears at random times, as does flutter. Then there are surprise, inserted scenes. Colour does not match, nor does brightness or focus. That said, the video itself did not suffer from over used damaging.

Audio - Pretty good here. I warble frequently about not being able to transition from deafening explosions to whispered dialogue, but no problem here. Sound mix excellent.

Narrative - The additional sequences, a few seconds here and there, actually improve the story. Adding a flashback element to the main character’s (Sidney’s) intimacy issues and obvious weird dreams. The narrative does not lose coherence due to trims.

Enjoyment - Watched this Halloween night and enjoyed it a lot. I have not watched the original in years, in fact, I’m tired of it and the boatload of sequels. This will be the version that plays at Halloween parties from now on, if only to hear someone wonder aloud if this is the unrated, European version.

Definitely one for Gaillo fans - even if you’d only watched one or two Argento or Fulci. Be aware this ain’t your daddy’s Scream, though. It looks like something Frantic Canadian picked up at the pawn shop for loose coins.

Brilliantly executed.

I love Scream and this is one of the movies I remember actually owning on VHS. However I'm not really familiar with Giallo. The opening scene rescored was excellent as were the opening credits and font style.

Overall the rescoring of the film worked well. Although I must admit, I missed not having the cover of "Don't Fear the Reaper" in the movie. But my disappointment was balanced out by the "sort of" inclusion of "Red Right Hand". Nice boob shot :P and 58:22 was a nice touch!

In the age of HD and big screens etc., suprisingly, the VHS style did not bother me. I very quickly adjusted to it and I was able to just enjoy the fanedit.

*Also, watch all the way to the end of the credits people!*

Scream. Goblin. VHS. Tits. Neglify. Need I say more?

Of course not, saying "tits" might actually be enough for a lot of you, but I'll say more nonetheless: I appreciated the cutting back of the meta/self-aware stuff a LOT. For a lot of people that's what made this movie and saga stand out, but for me it overstayed its welcome real fast, even in the original. If anything, I wish some more of it would have been cut, maybe some lines from the video store scene, and definitely that "last scare resurrection" I've always hated.

Video/audio is of course crap, meaning it's perfect. I do agree about the music levels being too loud in detriment of the dialog, but I suppose it's the price one has to pay for working from a 2.0 source without isolated dialog. There's a high-pitched beeping sound in the background all along that initially worried me, but I was able to forget about it quite soon.

On, and in case I haven't mentioned it... TITS.

Really better than what I had expected.