Marisa Coughlan is the MVP here because she has to stand there and be told she’s a bad actor by Helen Mirren like three different times and if that doesn’t kill a bitch she must be invincible tbh

I’ma go ahead and be the one of us (like, the only one out of all of us….on earth, apparently lmao) to give this a solid 3.5 stars and a heart. I think this kinda rules?? 

Only even watched it because, even tho I think he’s generally a hack who got lucky with the Scream franchise and coasted on Wes’ talents and the actors’ charms, I’m interested enough in late 90s teen cinema rn that I wanna see everything Kevin Williamson wrote for the big screen. 

And, of course, this is the lone movie he directed which immediately has one on the lookout for horrible first time mistakes / hack moves but honestly it was fairly well put together?? There’s, like, a moment where a closeup on Helen Mirren goes out of focus and that was the only amateur move I could spot and that’s not even his fault so ????? 

I agree with other peoples’ remarks that the pacing is a lil sleepy and at 93 mins it feels LONG (this could easily be an 80 minute movie), but otherwise the script is pretty standard Williamson fare and has some genuinely great beats and lines.

There’s a particular sequence of little note where Katie Holmes’ Leigh Ann first leaves Tingle’s house to go home and check on her mom, and the entire sequence was kinda breathtaking in a quiet way - powerful story subtext happening, it looked great, and it was maybe the best acting I’ve ever seen from Katie ??????? 

And Marisa Coughlan is genuinely FANTASTIC in this! There’s a sequence where she tortures Mrs. Tingle with a dramatic reenactment of moments from The Exorcist and it goes on waaaaaay too long and most people probably hate it, but I was LOVIN IT lmaooo. To know that she went on to be better known for starring in true low culture gutterpieces like Freddy Got Fingered and Super Troopers is kind of tragic…I wish more people could see her work in this. 

Helen Mirren makes the most of the role and it’s weird to think now that there was actually a time when she wasn’t a “prestige actor” and even tho she’s kind of always been willing to do anything, I can’t help but think they only got her for this because she was in her pre-prestige years. 

All in all, a fun time and pretty underrated. 

Why am I defending Kevin Williamson!!! This is not how things are supposed to go, people!!!