“You can’t do a slasher movie as a TV series,” Noah Foster (John Karna), one of the pivotal members of the main cast in the hit summer series on MTV, “Scream,” said. However, it seems as though the producers of the new show completely went against Foster’s advice. Loosely based off of the movie franchise, “Scream” follows a group of teens in the small town of Lakewood, haunted by a killer who is bent on revenge. The series starts off with a bang, revealing a startling death within the first eight minutes of the pilot, before setting off the chain of murderous events that shake Lakewood’s residents.

Paying tribute to the original movie franchise, “Scream” follows a similar archetypical set of characters, including a Sidney Prescott character type with Emma Duvall (Willa Fitzgerald), the curious-yet-fame-driven reporter with Piper Shaw (Amelia Rose Blaire) and the sex object, Brooke Maddox (Carlson Young). In this series, every character has his or her own motive and agenda in mind. Everyone has reason to be the killer, and everyone has secrets to hide. The series reveals underlying plots and crucial character development that viewers miss in the standard cinema setting of slasher films. Jealousy, lies and betrayal are taken to the extreme as the teens of Lakewood determine who is truly their friend and who is just pretending.

“Scream” also includes various witty and snide remarks, helping to keep the show contemporary by using modern slang and references. Social media and technology are prevalent motifs that run throughout the series, along with the ever classic ominous phone call from the killer. Viral video scandals are ever foreboding, and, as Foster states, “It’s the age of Instagram, YouTube and Tumblr. I mean, we need to share the things we do or it’s like it never happened.”

Of course, viewers may still hold protests against the seemingly naive and foolish characters. Surely she would not have gone there alone, or he would not have tripped while he was running. But despite its rather cheesy acting and predictable outcomes found only within a slasher film, “Scream” offers a breath of fresh air to the MTV network. Quick turns of events and sudden deaths propel the series onwards, enough to keep viewers watching week after week.

In a series that seems ever centered in the feelings of the modern day, “Scream” provides the horror that we, as high school students, face everyday, both with technology and finding our place in society. The exaggerated escalation in murders reveals our greatest fears of a nightmare world. The thrilling uncertainty with its modern taste is what gives “Scream” the great potential to become the next horror series. So, be sure to lock your doors and have your phone close by when you tune in to watch. You never know if your own phone might soon get an unknown caller…