Scream Descent – Survival Has No Rules

Sponsored Feature: A63 Pictures and Dark Forest Productions

SCREAM DESCENT is a new fan film written by Cole Tatham and directed by Kameron Gaxiola, the team behind HALLOWEEN AFTERMATH.

Preview here:

The brutal murder of a young girl shatters a small quiet town, leaving a group of friends desperate for answers. But as they chase the truth, they stumble into a deadly game tied to secrets buried long before their time. With a relentless killer closing in, survival has no rules.

A Q&A with writer Cole Tatham

Welcome, Cole! Thanks for joining us to discuss your new fan film SCREAM DESCENT. What drew you to the Scream universe and made you want to create a fan film that puts a fresh spin on the franchise?

We always knew, long before Halloween Aftermath‘s release, that we wanted to tackle Scream next with the same levels of ambition, if not greater. We also felt we were in such a unique position of BEING a fan film set in a very meta self-referential world. Allowing for lots of fun dialogue and plays on the formula.

Having worked on HALLOWEEN AFTERMATH, what lessons or insights are you bringing to the table for SCREAM DESCENT?

The biggest one, the elephant in the room, the runtime. We’re very conscious, myself doubly so, that people were not fans of a 2h15m Halloween fan film, and we can appreciate that. We’ve taken that onboard, and I personally took that to heart in writing the script this go around. No more slow romance story at the core. Just a straight sleek slasher whodunnit with a constant flow to keep the pace going. That’s our aim this go around. And I feel we’ve succeeded based on what we’ve shot so far!

We also wish to play with Steadicams more this go around, whereas Halloween Aftermath was much more static and dolly based to fall in line with David Gordon Green’s style in HALLOWEEN ENDS.

Kameron, the director, has taken a ton of inspiration from the first two Scream films in terms of style and shot composition, working close with our DP Aries Fung to ensure we hit a similar style of shot composition. This has also resulted in a much more free-flow feeling to production, which is felt across the board.

Ghostface is such an iconic horror villain – are there specific traits or characteristics you aim to capture in SCREAM DESCENT?

Our Ghostface isn’t clumsy. He doesn’t need to “stop drinking” (IYKYK). He’s ruthless, mean and cuts straight to the point. Pun intended. With a very clear mission and mandate. I’d say his brutality and swiftness to the “mission” is comparable to that of SCREAM 4.

What makes SCREAM DESCENT stand out from other Scream fan films?

We’re an ambitious, cinematic high quality fan film that’s set during Christmas-time whilst also being feature-length. Our team thrives on a no-compromise approach to our projects. We will always try our best to put quality first and won’t rush to make a deadline. We feel that is something rarely found in this niche landscape of “fan films”.

I’d say his brutality and swiftness to the “mission” is comparable to that of SCREAM 4.

The Scream franchise is known for its self-aware, meta approach. Will SCREAM DESCENT follow in those footsteps?

Absolutely. But we won’t be bashing people over the head with it. We have tons of fun pokes and prods at the current film landscape, including fan films themselves.

Will there be connections or mentions of characters from the Scream universe or is this a completely new story?

Completely fresh story that takes place in the greater world of Scream. It’s stand alone but is very much in a world where Sidney Prescott exists out there somewhere. We just don’t outright rely on references to legacy characters. The core narrative ties we have to those films that we do have though, is the opening girl, Layla. She is the distant niece of Scream 2‘s Ghostface: Mickey Altierei. Upon her tragic demise during the opening moments, which you can watch online now for free, her core friend group takes it upon themselves to find out who was responsible and why due to a lack of faith in their small-town Sheriff’s dept, playing with paranoia similar to films like THE THING wherein it’s always someone in the same room as you.

You have a funding campaign currently running for the film. What kind of perks and rewards can horror fans expect if they support SCREAM DESCENT?

We have a ton of Perks available on our Ko-Fi fund site, from Thank You Credits, Blu-Rays, Screen-Used Props, and Producer Perks of various kinds with their own levels of access and rewards. We’re also continuously revising and listening to demand, so if there are any awesome additions between now and the film’s release, we’ll just have to see!

Support SCREAM DESCENT here and visit the film’s IMDb page to learn more.

Watch Halloween Aftermath here.

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