Scream (1996)

A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a new killer, who targets the girl and her friends by using horror films as part of a deadly game.

Director:

Wes Craven

Writer:

Kevin Williamson

Stars:

Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette

11 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Drew Barrymore	...	Casey
Roger Jackson	...	Phone Voice (voice)
Kevin Patrick Walls	...	Steve
David Booth	...	Casey's Father
Carla Hatley	...	Casey's Mother
Neve Campbell	...	Sidney
Skeet Ulrich	...	Billy
Lawrence Hecht	...	Mr. Prescott
Courteney Cox	...	Gale Weathers
W. Earl Brown	...	Kenny
Rose McGowan	...	Tatum
Lois Saunders	...	Mrs. Tate
David Arquette	...	Deputy Dewey
Joseph Whipp	...	Sheriff Burke
Matthew Lillard	...	Stuart

Storyline

A year after her mother's death, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her friends started experiencing some strange phone calls. They later learned the calls were coming from a crazed serial killer, in a white faced mask and a large black robe, looking for revenge. His phone calls usually consist of many questions, the main one being: What's your favorite scary movie? Along with much scary movie trivia, ending with bloody pieces of innocent lives scattered around the small town of Woodsboro.

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Plot Keywords:

serial killer | slasher | masked killer | female protagonist | mystery killer | 

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Taglines:

Someone's Taken Their Love Of Scary Movies One Step Too Far!

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong graphic horror violence and gore, and for language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Reese Witherspoon turned down the lead role.

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Goofs

(at around 32 mins) When Tatum arrives at Sidney's house after the first failed attempt on Sidney's life, Tatum is clearly wearing white pantyhose. But later when she arrives at the police station to meet Sidney, she is still wearing the same outfit but without the pantyhose. Theoretically, she could've gone home or somewhere else off camera and took them off, but we see Tatum get into her car at Sidney's house to presumably follow right behind Dewey's patrol car to the station.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Casey: Hello?
Phone Voice: Hello.
Casey: Yes?
Phone Voice: Who is this?
Casey: Who are you trying to reach?
Phone Voice: What number is this?
Casey: Well, what number are you trying to reach?
Phone Voice: I don't know.
Casey: I think you have the wrong number.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Right before the credits roll, there is a quick flash of the killer's face (Ghostface), so quick, it causes the viewer to doubt they actually saw it.

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Alternate Versions

The US LaserDisc version contains the director's cut with ca. 20 seconds of restored footage that was originally cut to avoid being slapped with the NC-17 by the MPAA. It also has commentary by director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson. In the commentary, Craven notes five places where his cut differs from the theatrical release:

• Steve's guts are shown pouring out of him as Casey looks on. In the released version, the very last few moments of this are shown.
• Casey hanging from the tree was time compressed in the film release (it is at normal speed here).
• When Tatum meets her death by garage door, her head is shown, very briefly being flattened.
• After Kenny the cameraman's throat is cut, he stares at the blood on his hand after touching his neck, and then looks up at the killer.
• Billy clearly loses control as he delivers his final cuts to Stuart.
• After Billy and Stuart have finished stabbing each other, there is a shot of Stu's hand dripping blood into a puddle, with Sidney's father looking on.

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Connections

Featured in There's Something About Movies: Episode #1.4 (2019)

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Soundtracks

I Don't Care
Performed by Dillon Dixon, Marco Beltrami & Steve Carnelli
Written by Marco Beltrami

User Reviews

Scary, funny and clever – the best Scream movie by miles

Almost a year after someone raped and killed Sidney Prescott's mother in the small town of Woodsboro, someone is killing teenagers. When Sidney herself becomes a target, the link is apparent and her missing father is a suspect. However, as with all good scary movies, everyone is a suspect.

The film that sparked the revival of horror movies (Halloween H2O, I know what you did last summer, Urban Legend etc all followed…..thanks a lot!). This stands out from all those (and it's lackluster sequels) by being really good and clever. The story is nothing more than the standard slasher plot – but it avoids the cliches quite well. In fact it uses the cliches as references and makes plenty of jokey references to other movies and the supposed rules of horror movies – we even have a quick flash of a caretaker dressed in Freddy's jumper and hat!

That doesn't mean it's not scary – it is! From the tragically horrible opening 10 minutes through each gory killing the tension is high and the shocks are real. The plot twists nicely and the ending is much better than most slasher movies (including the absurd endings of 2 and 3). This manages to be fresh, clever and scary – getting by any sticking moments with it's tongue in it's cheek.

The cats are good – Campbell is a believable virgin, scarred by what happened to her mother – before she starts turning into Buffy the vampire slayer in parts 2 and 3. Cox is excellent playing against type and David Arquette is funny as the Deputy Sheriff. Kennedy as Randy is also funny as the movie geek – in fact he remains the highlight of the next 2 films. The cast being filled of up and coming faces (including Ulrich) makes it even more thrilling when the `wrong' people get killed, technically all the cast are `unknowns' who usually make up the body count, so really anyone can potentially get offed.

Overall funny black comedy, scary thrills and gory excitement. A rare treat – a really good teen horror movie

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 December 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Scary Movie

Filming Locations:

3871 Tomales Road, Tomales, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,354,586, 22 December 1996

Gross USA:

$103,046,663

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$173,046,663

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films, Woods Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1