The Forgotten Horror Movie Reality Show Hosted By James Gunn

Back in 2008 — when torture movies were still riding high — VH1 had a brilliant idea. Well, they had a "brilliant" idea. Tapping into the successes of both the "Saw" movies and reality shows like "America's Next Top Model," the network produced "Scream Queens," a competition show that gathered together 10 hopeful actresses and had them undergo a series of auditions and acting challenges, arranged in an elimination tourney structure, with each getting help from professional acting coach John Homa. The grand prize would be a small role in "Saw VI."

It might come as a surprise to you that this series was directed by James Gunn, who also served as one of the show's main judges. He was joined on the judge's panel by Shawnee Smith, who played the role of Amanda Young in "Saw," "Saw II," "Saw III," "Saw VI," and "Saw X." This was at a time when Gunn was better known for horror films like "Slither," and before he became known for his sentimental superhero movies like "Guardians of the Galaxy." 

"Scream Queens" boasted very of-the-time music video editing and reeked of sexism. One can find clips online, and the series feels less like an audition and more like a beauty pageant combined with an episode of "Fear Factor." The actresses were all required to enact weird torture scenarios, perform stunts, get splattered with blood, and, of course, scream. Gunn would direct the actresses in short horror scenes, giving them character instructions. Several of the scenes required them to wear bikinis or revealing outfits. 

For the website Flicks, author Eliza Janssen points out just how gross the show was. The judges weren't just looking for great actresses who were capable of performing stunts and willing to film blood-splattered scenes but wilting, sexualized "final girls." No matter the motivation, it's hard to watch a reality show wherein a hopeful actress is tied up with rope while wearing a bikini and instructed to cry. 

Unfortunately, even Gunn got in on the questionable shenanigans, declaring in the first episode, "Nothing is hotter than a badass scream queen." One of the challenges was to eat a piece of fruit "as seductively" as possible. They are told that a good scream queen needs to be "vivacious, vulnerable, feminine, and bold." Whoever came up with those parameters hasn't necessarily seen a lot of horror movies, and a dozen examples of Final Girls (a term for the last ingénue standing in a slasher movie) who do not fit those descriptors immediately come to mind. The actresses were trained to thwack stuntmen with shovels, cry over fake corpses, and scream, scream, scream.

On top of all the acting/stunt/beauty challenges — because this was a VH1 reality show — a lot of drama was manufactured from the fact that the competing actresses all had to room together for the duration of the shoot. No doubt the contestants played up their loathing for one another in an attempt to manufacture good TV. 

In her Flicks article, Janssen noted the worst stunt of the series was when the contestants were encouraged to take a break and go have drinks and a bar, not knowing they would have to undergo additional acting challenges when they were intoxicated. The nature of the show's prize — an actual employment opportunity — caused the contestants to snipe especially hard at one another. This wasn't for a mere cash prize but an actual potential livelihood. The stakes were higher than on your average competition show.

Some reports, as on PopCulture.com, noted that Shawnee Smith, perhaps bafflingly, told one of the contestants that she wasn't pretty enough to win, even if she was a good actress. 

Gunn, one should remember, got his start with shocking movies like "Tromeo & Juliet," and he allows some of his baser instincts to run wild on "Scream Queens." He brings in Michael Rooker and Sean Gunn to play heavies opposite the contestants but then dresses the actresses as vulnerable schoolgirls. Homa was also mean, talking about how he tends to make women cry. 

For the second and final season, the procedure was repeated, again with Homa, but this time joined by actress Jamie King (from the remake of "My Bloody Valentine") and director Tim Sullivan (director of "2001 Maniacs") as the judges. The prize for the second season was a small role in "Saw 3D," then considered to be the final chapter in the series (there have since been four more).

The first season winner was Tenedra Howard, who played the character Simone in "Saw VI." She's the one who had a contraption bolted to her head and had to sever her own arm with a hunting knife. The winner of the second season was Gabby West, who was cast as a character named Kara. The second place winner of season 2 was Jaina Lee Ortiz, who would go on to star in all 44 episodes of "Rosewood" and play the lead in all 105 episodes of "Station 19." At least someone was able to salvage a proper career out of this. 

"Scream Queens" is available online via Prime Video. It's a fascinating window into where pop culture was in the late 2000s, and how sexism and shock humor was still prevalent.