PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The slasher sub-genre is often among the favorite styles for the faithful horror audience. There’s something oddly soothing to slasher fans about turning their brains off and watching bodies pile up in a chase-and-survive location movie. Such is the case for the Tubi Original, Requiem For A Scream.
Requiem For A Scream is directed by Ben Meyerson (My Missing Sister 2022) and written by Andre Puca (GPS 2022) and Jordan Robinson (Trap House 2023). It stars Cassandra Scerbo (Sharknado 2013). The story follows the classic formula from the 1970s and 1980s, popularized by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (read our franchise ranking here) and Halloween. Put a bunch of teenagers (this time, young adults) in an isolated cabin for a celebration, and watch as the mysterious masked killer starts picking them off one-by-one. While it’s repetitive, it never fails to be a good time.
In the case of Requiem For A Scream, Scerbo’s character reunites with high school friends to spread her deceased sisters’ ashes. Scerbo has a lot of distinct final girl qualities, and she had the layers of family trauma and career changes to get the viewers to relate to her. The other characters didn’t feel quite as substantial, as they often just felt like thinly stereotyped pawns that were there mostly to argue with each other and drink/do drugs at very ill-conceived times.
But aside from Scerbo’s arc and acting, another positive comes from the look and the prose of the killer. The antagonist’s mask looks like something right out of The Town That Dreaded Sundown, and the idea of using their torture to produce a symphony of screams is pretty unique. Requiem For A Scream has all the trappings of a nostalgic slasher with enough freshness to make a mark, but the general characters and story execution feel a bit too bland to be fully remembered.
Requiem For A Scream is currently streaming on Tubi.
