Scream

I have been recently reading a lot of reviews of the latest film in this series, Scream 4. Now, for one reason or another I have never seen any of the 'Scream' films before… well not all the way through anyway. Time to change that I thought and so here we are with the first one, Scream. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, it doesn't take itself all that seriously and there's an awful lot more humour than I expected.

We open with a mysterious voice calling up a girl called Casey, who is home alone about to watch a scary movie. She tries to blow him off but he is persistent and eventually begins to creep her out. Things don't end too well for Casey, or her boyfriend, Steve, after a masked assailant has finished with them. We then switch to another girl, Sidney, her mother had been murdered almost a year ago and her father is about to leave on a business trip. All the talk the next day at school is about the murder and on returning home Sidney receives a call from a man with a mysterious voice. She isn't so easily scared, but still she is attacked by the same masked assailant. Having fought him off, her boyfriend, Billy turns up just before Deputy Dewey. Having found a cell phone on him, Dewey arrests Billy and Sidney goes to stay the night with Dewey's sister, Tatum. As time goes by the bodies begin to mount up and this attracts the media, particularly ambitious reporter, Gale Weathers. It's only a matter of time before Sidney is to be the next on the list, and anyway, there's a score to settle and an awful lot of suspects.

This made a refreshing change for me, a horror film that doesn't take itself too seriously but at the same time has all the scares and shocks of a more serious one. I liked it! Decent performances all round; Neve Campbell did a good job as Sidney, as did Skeet Ulrich as Billy. Also of note were Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers, David Arquette as Deputy Dewey and Matthew Lillard as Stuart. Also nice cameos from Drew Barrymore as Casey, Wes Craven very briefly appeared as Fred the Janitor and Henry Winkler as Principal Arthur Himbry.

There is a great soundtrack too, including an interesting acoustic rendition of 'Don't Fear the Reaper' when Sidney and Billy are first seen on screen together (very nicely done). I suspect, unfortunately, that the other films in the series may not live up to this rather good beginning, but we shall see… If you haven't seen it, it's definitely worth a viewing, even if you're not really a fan of teen horrors (like me)… Final verdict: Recommended.

My Score: 7.5/10

There's more than a few reasons to hate `Scream'; the main reason would be that the film single-handedly resurrected the teen-slasher genre, a movie category that had long been beaten to death. Because of the success of `Scream', witless horror crap like `I Know What You Did Last Summer' and `Urban Legend' got greenlighted, half the teenage casts of various WB television shows got summer acting jobs, and some awful scripts that should've been left dead and buried `Teaching Mrs. Tingle' got to see the light of day. `Scream' is responsible for a lot of garbage. But the truth of the matter is, `Scream' is also a phenomenal movie.

The plot of `Scream' is very simple: a masked knife-wielding maniac is busy stalking the students of High, killing them off one by one. The killer's inordinately obsessed with one girl, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), who of course gets involved in the quest to unmask the killer. The catch (in case you don't already know it), though, is brilliant. Everyone in the film is familiar with all the slasher film conventions. They know that you shouldn't walk in the woods alone at night. They know that having wild sex is an unwritten invitation to be hacked to pieces. They know not to say things to each other like `I'm going outside for a cigarette; I'll be right back.' -- such statements are virtual death warrants. One of the best examples (and best characters) of this is Randy (Jamie Kennedy), the film-obsessed nut of the film, who actually goes so far as to muse what `real' actors and actresses should play the other characters in the film, going so far as to joke about who gets to be Tori Spelling. All the dumb conventions of slasher films are pulled out of the shadows, exposed for what they really are . . . and then, some of them get used anyway, because the characters willingly choose to ignore those conventions. Some cliches are thrown away, while others are embraced. `Scream' really turned the horror/slasher film genre on its ear, becoming the first truly suspenseful and exciting slasher film in many, many years simply because it suddenly had a million new avenues to explore. The film's self-awareness allowed to move in brand-new directions . . . and suddenly, scenes that used to be predictable in other slasher films suddenly become incredibly intense in `Scream'.

Director Wes Craven was perfect for this film -- as director of slasher classics like `Nightmare On Elm Street', he easily sets the visual feels and style of film to perfect evoke all the slasher films of yore . . . and then, much like `Scream's' script, chooses to either faithfully follow the tried and true, or to go off in competely unexpected directions. Either way, Craven manages to create a lot of absolutely nail-biting, thrilling scenes. He also doesn't hold back with the gore, which is always a plus in great slasher films. The acting ranges from barely mediocre to good -- Neve Campbell's okay as Sidney; Courtney Cox is pretty good as tart-tongued reporter Gail Weathers; Jamie Kennedy rules as Randy the film geek; and David Arquette is utterly bland and forgettable as Deputy Dewey Riley, the sad-sack policeman. But casts in slasher films don't particularly matter anyway; the good ones are all about suspense, terror, and gore. And in `Scream', Wes Craven provides massive amounts of all three of those criteria.

The irony is, `Scream' spawned dozens of imitators, and by spawning imitators, all the new avenues opened up by `Scream' quickly got old and boring once more. Still, purely on its own merit, it's an excellent film. The best slasher film of all time is still John Carpenter's `Halloween', without question, but `Scream' actually runs a close second. It's well worth watching. Grade: A-

Scream single-handedly revitalized the slasher genre, which was beyond dead as of 1996, and inspired countless spin-offs and attempted remakes in its wake. Wes Craven creates yet another horror masterpiece, and does so in an original and unique way. Add in the witty, self aware, reference-filled script by Kevin Williamson, which was rumored to have taken influence from Friday the 13th Pt 6, and you have one of the most iconic slashers ever made. Arguably the greatest opening scene to a horror movie ever, along with so many more iconic lines and scenes (Randy watching Halloween on the couch). The acting is next level by horror/slasher standards and has a very likable cast. Skeet Ulrich giving his best performance of his career, Matthew Lillard, Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Drew Barrymore ... do i need to go on? The influence and impact Scream had on the late 90's is undeniable, simply one of the best scary movies of all time.

Scream With the countless number of teen slasher movies doing the rounds, it is too easy to watch scream and see simply another school serial killer movie that has just rolled off the factory production line. However, it was Wes Craven's 'Scream' that started the whole revival of the horror genre and re-invented the teen horror. Through no fault of its own, but rather a succession of bland rip-offs, not to mention a very successful spoof (Scary Movie), Scream's original impact has been severely dulled. Were Scream released today it would no doubt be moderately successful but would be instantly forgettable. But back in 1996 the teen horror market was wide open. The teenagers of the 90s were bored of traditional horror movies featuring haunted houses, vampires or deformed monsters. They had seen them all. So Wes Craven, having reinvigorated the horror genre once before with 'Nightmare on Elm Street', set out to do it again. This time, along with Kevin Williamson, who would go on to be creator of Dawson's Creek, created a new kind of horror – one that you could laugh at as well as scream at.

What made Scream so successful is that it was never patronising, and displayed a strong sense of ironic self-awareness. It took every horror cliché in the book and turned them upside down. For the kids that had seen too many movies, there was now a movie for them. The characters did not follow the clichés, but in fact talked about them, and talked about what would happen if they were in a movie. This sense of irony may seem tired now, but when Scream came out it was new and exciting. There was rarely a need to scream 'don't go upstairs' or suchlike in Scream, because the characters themselves were saying that! The idea of the killer being amongst the students adds a fresh dimension to the film, as fear gives way to paranoia at not being able to trust anyone. The subversions of the accepted horror clichés, in particular in the opening ten minutes (I'm not going to give anything away for those who have not seen it) also contribute to making Scream a truly shocking movie. It was this sense of innovation that made Scream such a breath of fresh air for the horror genre, and it is only a shame that Craven's genius has been ripped off so many times that his work has dated far too quickly. Craven and Williamson have also created a new horror star – but it was not a particular character but just a costume with an iconic mask. The Scream mask has become just as symbolic, perhaps even more so, than that of Michael Myers or Jason Vorhees.

For any serious horror movie fans, Scream is essential viewing, if only to witness the film that started it all. The 'movie within a movie' idea was terrific, and would be taken even further in the sequel. The frequent references to classic horror movies, and reversals of accepted horror clichés, especially in the opening ten minutes) are also fun to watch out for. There is even a wonderful moment where one boy climbs in the bedroom window of his girlfriend – a scene that would be taken and used as one of the foundation for Williamson's successful teen series Dawson's Creek.

The iconic mask, the one-liners, and the unique self-awareness when it comes to horror clichés make Scream a true original – accept no imitations.

I thoroughly enjoyed SCREAM. I haven't seen too many horror movies that struck me as great, especially since most of them are the same. I like THE SIXTH SENSE, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and SCREAM for the same reason, they are more original than the default horror flick.

Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is still mourning the death of her mother, who died nearly one year ago. She seems very distant, even from her best friend Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan) and her boyfriend Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich). She, and most everyone else, thought that the killer was already behind bars. But when people close to Sidney start to get killed, Sidney realizes the the killer is still at large. Deputy Dewey Riley (David Arquette) is there to protect Sidney and reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) is there to get the scoop.

I think the plot of this movie is very interesting and fun. The best part of it is that the killer does his murders in the style of horror movies. The rules of horror movies are often referred to and horror movies are even spoofed fairly often as well.

The actors do a very good job. Neve Campbell is excellent as the primary target/victim and main character of this movie. David Arquette does a fair job as the inexperienced cop (but not as good as in the sequel) and Courtney Cox does a great job as the bitch reporter. Drew Barrymore did very good in her very brief part as Casey Becker. Jamie Kennedy does an OK job as Randy Meeks, the movie expert (but again, not as good as in the sequel). Roger Jackson is the best possible choice for the phone voice and Henry Winkler had a great cameo.

The character development in this movie is good. You'll probably often yell "Look behind you, moron" or "Get out of the room, idiot" at your TV, which this movie is probably going for. Sidney is the most interesting character, with Dewey and and Gale at a close second.

I was surprised that I found Scream 2 to be even better than Scream was. But both are really good. Go out and buy them.