There’s the simple categorizing of shuffling through a record store’s genres to find our comfort musicians. The light shoulder squiggling of pop belongs to Harry Styles, and that’s not just the buzzword used in ‘Cinema’ à la “I bring the pop, you pop” but also slots in Ariana Grande’s whistle tones. Sometimes genres crossover, too, but that’s another story. However, when it gets a little more complicated, we become imaginative. Like, have you ever thought about what movie genre your said comfort musician would fit into?
More specifically, what about Demi Lovato? We’re not talking about the Disney version of them, either. Instead, the latest. The one where sparklers fire out of electric guitars, and we’re drowning ourselves in enough black from the jagged edges of their hair strands to the trenchcoats in every TikTok frame. What movie genre does that Demi belong to?
She perhaps answered the question themself when deciding to create a song for the upcoming Scream VI movie, a franchise that’s been making popcorn fly out onto our seats with every startled jump since 1996. Although the song, titled ‘Still Alive,’ is an absolute banger, it truly only makes sense that Demi eventually made their foray into the horror genre. They so obviously belong there that we’ve cooked up some reasons for why we believe so, along with exploring the track and where else they could venture out to.
A Spooky Fit
Horror is by far my favorite film genre, but what I specifically love about this franchise is the element of tongue-in-cheek humor. And they always have the best cameos!
Demi Lovato for Vogue
Not only is Demi a walking advertisement for goth core these days—there’s literally no room for walking down a flower petal aisle in a wedding dress getup to ‘Tell Me You Love Me.’ In fact, we’d rather tell ourselves!—but they’ve simultaneously shown off horror references in the looks. One of which is a Carrie reference, the bloody prom queen popping up as a graphic image on fitted, vinyl pants that show that latex would be entirely in if there ever would be a modern remake. The outfit was for the ‘Skin of My Teeth’ single launch in Times Square back in June.
Another is, more recently, for the Scream VI premiere, she rocked up in a cheeky wink to Ghostface, a sleek black gown found in the Petite Robe’s fall 2023 collection. Take the callbacks to iconic moments in horror, and Demi’s makeup is a perfect spooky statement. It’s within the smokey eyeshadow that cat-lines around their entire eye and the bold red lips, which we wonder is really lipstick or secretly from their latest kill.
That all, of course, channels from the HOLY FVCK era. Demi toured the album back in August, ending around November, and came stocked with mullets, red leather, and tights, and although the fashion is worth noting, more importantly, it’s all about its sound. A complete drum punching, screaming raw emotions into every capitalized title flipside to the delicate ‘Easy’ on Dancing With The Devil… The Art of Starting Over. Yet not so lost on us that Demi’s punkiness was consistently there, making us nostalgic for a tamer Don’t Forget. It shows that the horror genre was always calling Demi back home.
Joining A Horror Lineage
As for ‘Still Alive,’ produced by Mike Shinoda and written by him and Laura Veltz alongside Demi, it’s very much within the ballpark of HOLY FVCK. We wouldn’t be surprised if it were an unreleased track that just simply didn’t make the cut, for if we swapped it with another song on the record, then it would still be in perfect cohesion. The ‘Still Alive’ lyrics also echo Demi’s struggle with their own inner demons.
The eye-catcher, though, is the ‘Still Alive’ music video directed by Jensen Noen. Once again clad in their favorite color, black, Demi and a group of pals enter a pretty snazzy establishment where they have their own concierge, and it’s not long before we realize it’s a movie night held by some elite system. The whole music video’s cross-stitched with scenes from the movie, and then, if that’s not enough immersion, Ghostface jumps through the projector to strangle Demi. It’s all very meta. At one point, we wonder if Demi’s sinister grin means she was the bad guy all along. Additionally, the blue color grade of the music video works perfectly!
The Next Jump Scare
Calling back to earlier roles that quickly made them a household name, doesn’t it make all the more sense for Demi to have been acting in these horror films rather than just showing off their mind-blowing vocal range through ‘Still Alive?’ Surprisingly, though, she hasn’t done even a cameo, giving us more drive to call it into the universe. It wouldn’t be out of nowhere and, in fact, would be the perfect next step in case she wants to get back into that world.
Demi even trodded along to Scream’s press tour with the other cast, including Wednesday’s Jenna Ortega, that the opportunity was right there for the taking, but alas. As for roles, we want the big guns, them being the ones to cause the havoc, whether that’s blowing up stadiums The Dark Knight Rises Bane-style or simply getting into our heads for some good ole’ psychological torture. We’d honestly say thank you for the nightmares at this stage.
Cinema 666
What would you like to see Demi do next within the horror genre? Let the elevator pitch begin by tagging them and us on Twitter @thehoneypop, and just maybe, if we cause enough buzz, they’d be something else in the works to provide us with a squeal very soon. In the meantime, Scream VI comes out on March 10, so make sure to check your local cinema for viewing times, and hit repeat on ‘Still Alive’ on any musical platform.
Additionally, explore other genres, movie or music related, through our Instagram and Facebook!
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