My overarching feeling in the first handful of scenes from Sam Pezzullo and Christopher Bouckums’ musical-within-a-film-parody was that a musical about Scream would be hilarious.
The premise initially is for director, and all-round control freak Sam to make a musical of the Wes Craven slasher classic Scream.
From here it becomes a calamity of errors, with a cast who may not have the director’s best interests in mind, plus a myriad of production issues.
None of this is helped by Sam being a complete fool, who also has an ego the size of Times Square.
You can clearly tell the reverence the director’s have for Craven’s material, with the satire being as sharp as ghostface’s knife.
The song titles are hilarious, including ‘I think you have the wrong number’ and ‘what’s your favourite scary movie?’.
Sam’s explanation of casting an older lady as Maureen Prescott’s ghost had this reviewer howling with laughter, as he unsuccessfully navigates ageism while explaining the absurdity of the idea.
He is determined though, even trying to sell Scream-themed CBD oil to help make his film a reality. The central performance from Pezzullo is truly excellent, as he fully embraces the Michael Scott-ness of the role, never fully realising he might be the villain in his own story.
The car crash of a production is so funny, with Sam even competing with the death of the Queen in England to get his film to the screen.
The Premiere is a bonkers caper with a truly excellent script, which plays on the universe Scream created plus the nuisances of meta cinema, making a deeply loveable and funny film that will have Ghostface fans howling with laughter.
The Premiere screened as part of Sohome Horror Pride 2025.
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