Spooky Season 2023: Suburban Screams Review

The following is a spoiler-free review of John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams, now available to stream on Peacock in the U.S.. The first episode premieres Wednesday at 10pm EST on Showcase and will be available to stream on STACKTV the next day in Canada

The credentials of John Carpenter when it comes to world of horror are without question therefore whenever he attaches his name to any project, it comes with instant credibility. Writer and director of countless classics, his last stop in the director’s chair was for 2010’s The Ward. Now he returns for John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams, a horror anthology docuseries whose 6 episodes explore true (but it should be in quotes) stories taking place within the seemingly safe confines of suburbia. Each episode takes a deeper dive into these stories by talking to those directly involved and combines it with archival footage and dramatic reenactments of their accounts of their experiences. While those reenactments definitely have production value, for the most part, they succumb to the conventions of reenactments. Succeeding when the play it straight, once the writing and direction clearly try too hard to spruce up others, they become incredibly silly and put into question the validity of the so-called true stories that inspire each episode. That being said, those successes are few and far between as the result is underwhelming and silly more than it is scary. Directing only one out of six episodes, Carpenter truly makes his mark through his work as a composer of the series’ music.

Featuring stories spanning several decades across the United States and Canada, Suburban Screams offers viewers a little bit of everything from spirits, to dangerous stalkers, urban legends, haunted houses, serial killers, and cursed woods. Starting with a cold open and the focal point of the episode’s story to set the stage, the series turns to reenactments to tell their stories as guided by their subjects’ recollections. Where the series lacks in scares, it does somewhat make up for in tension but the more the episodes move away from their subjects and try to spruce up the stories, the sillier they become. Relying on so many tropes and cliches to get by, the essence of the stories get lost and they don’t feel as true as they were made out to be. Purely snowballing from there, the direction and acting followed suit. Perhaps handcuffed by the format of the series and the perspective of its subjects, each were not very good with the exception of episode five.

Though Suburban Screams may be a narrative misfire, it does have some redeeming qualities technically. John Carpenter and co.’s score and music is a highlight and the interview segments are well done but the reenactments themselves are more akin to straight-to-video or Lifetime type movies. In the end, the balance between wanting to do each episode’s subject justice and the dramatizing of their stories just wasn’t quite there. If it had committed more to one or the other, though under a different format, it would surely have fared better. Despite all of that, the pieces are there, however, they just never came together in a satisfying enough way. Ultimately, its unscripted nature was the main reason for its downfall as the acting and direction needed something to go off of.

At the end of the day, John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams sounds good on paper but the lack of a unifying script prevents it from any success.

still courtesy of NBCUniversal

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.