Scream (1996)

Scream Reviews

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I'm going to keep this relatively spoiler-free, but it doesn't help that one of the things that made this movie so good means I have to spoil the opening entirely. However, seeing as this is now a 30-year-old film and widely considered a horror classic, that's one thing I can let slide with this review. If you still haven't seen it, though, and care enough, you might as well scroll down to my rating to avoid any potential spoilers. Otherwise, read on, because being the slasher classic that it is, there's much to discuss.

Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) sets things up by being the very first on-screen victim of the franchise. What was so great about this was the fact that at the time, we were all pretty damn sure Barrymore was going to be the "final girl" of this movie. As luck would have it, that was the original intention with her top-billing, but Barrymore, herself, chose to play Casey instead, as a means to pull the rug out from underneath the audience, and it worked. It's one of the best examples of a movie that makes one realize quickly that no one is necessarily safe, which is something I personally admire in horror.

This murder sets into motion a police investigation and media circus invasion of Woodsboro High School, somewhere in California, where we meet Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), who simply has too much to deal with throughout the film, including the first anniversary of her mother's violent murder at the alleged hands of Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber). On top of it, her boyfriend, Billy (Skeet Ulrich), wishes she could move on from her trauma for the sake of their relationship. Meanwhile, a tenacious reporter named Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), author of a book about Sidney's mother's murder, sees Cotton as innocent.

With everything going on, however, Sidney relies on her small friend group, which includes the eccentric Stuart (Matthew Lillard), Sidney's best friend, Tatum (Rose McGowan) and the movie-loving, movie-rule-establishing Randy (Jamie Kennedy), who tends to plays an integral part in these movies, giving characters (and the audience) hints, regarding what to expect in whatever volume of the film we're watching. Here, the rules to follow are about surviving a standard horror movie. The bare basics include things like "Don't do drugs!", "Don't have sex!", and never, ever say "I'll be right back!", because you won't be.

As events unfold (including the disappearance of Sidney's father) and murder suspects seem to surround the small town of Woodsboro, investigations continue, and we follow along with the somewhat bumbling Deputy Dewey (David Arquette). Gale ends up using him at first to try to get the inside scoop on things, but eventually, sparks fly, just like they did in real life at one time. But going back to Sidney, she soon finds herself in a bit of a whirlwind situation and becomes the main target of these attacks before long. Now she must try to survive while perhaps breaking a few of Randy's "rules."

At the time, it was fascinating to see a film break new ground by offering something of a farcical horror movie without being a comedy. To make it even better, horror legend Wes Craven sits in the director's seat, having fun with a film that quite literally pokes fun at his craft. Soon enough, it would kick off Craven's second significant horror creation, and it would be a massive accomplishment in the resurrection of the slasher horror genre. It also cleared a path for "teen horror," which often featured similar casting of "heartthrob" types and was rated PG-13 a little more often than R, but gave new fans of the genre a decent place to start.

Since it has been parodied so many times, the original 'Scream' may have lost some of its lustre by now. It's definitely "trapped" in the 90s, so it may be difficult for a newcomer to take it seriously; the clearest example being that cell phones at the time were not the everyday items we take for granted today. However, I still say that its overall execution is still a little something to be admired. It was interesting to see slashers resurrected through self-aware stereotypes. In many ways, even though 'Scream' is a farce on slasher horrors, it's also something of a love letter to the genre, and I still hold this movie in high regard.

4/5

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