In 1984, Wes Craven helped establish the template for the modern slasher movie with A Nightmare on Elm Street, and with 1996's Scream he added a strain of snarky, self-referential jokiness to the grisly mix, which spawned inferior sequels and numerous imitators. Glee creator Ryan Murphy takes Craven's approach to new heights in this Fox series, a campy spoof of the genre centering on a bevy of ultra-mean sorority girls who are threatened by a masked serial killer called the Red Devil. Unlike Murphy's American Horror Story, which is genuinely scary despite some ghoulish humor, not a moment of the ridiculously convoluted events in Scream Queens can be taken seriously. Unfortunately, however, the absurdist tone fails to generate many laughs, and the cartoonish performances are often more irritating than amusing. Emma Roberts stars as Chanel, the nasty sorority president, but the breakout turn here comes from Glen Powell as Chad, the obtuse head of the affiliated fraternity who is her on-and-off boyfriend. Presumably the presence of Jamie Lee Curtis, who was the damsel-in-distress in the Halloween franchise, was designed to give the series some genre credibility (here she plays a dean), but even devoted slasher movie fans are likely to balk at this gaudy send-up. Compiling all 13 episodes from the 2015 debut season, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes. Optional. (F. Swietek)
Scream Queens: The Complete First Season
Fox, 4 discs, 570 min., not rated, DVD: $29.99 Volume 32, Issue 2
Scream Queens: The Complete First Season
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