Scream

Starring: Drew Barrymore, Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, Jamie Kennedy, Rose McGowan, Liev Schreiber, Henry Winkler
Directed by: Wes Craven
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
1996

Times Seen:
Tim: 5

Summary: After a young high schooler (Drew Barrymore) is savagely murdered, the town goes crazy. The media descends out the town, including an ambitious reporter (Courtney Cox). Much of the town focuses on a young high school teenager (Neve Campbell), whose mother was raped and murdered almost a year ago. The cops (including David Arquette) are baffled as the murders continue to occur. Will the killer be caught before more innocent people are murdered?

Review:

Tim: Scream revitalized the horror genre. The problem with horror movies throughout the 1980s and 1990s is that they mostly followed the same familiar, tired formula. Audiences have seen the same horror movie over and over again, repackaged in different ways, but at the heart- the same. It is hard to feel scared when you've seen it all before. This film takes a unique approach. It is a horror movie that also features a running commentary about scary movies. It is this winking at the audience while at the same time proving more intelligent than the conventions of the genre that sets it apart. It's smart, witty, and keeps the audience wondering who will die next. It is what we want our horror movies to be.

Drew Barrymore makes the entire movie with the opening scene. She had originally been asked to star in the film, but instead, she chose to take a much smaller role, but one that sets the whole movie up. She is terrific in her small role, and it is unbelievably scary. It is one of the greatest horror movie opening sequences in recent memory.

At a time when the horror genre felt played out and slowly succumbing to a slow death, Scream changed the game. It proved that a horror movie could be intelligent. Scream is so great because it combines frightening horror and some decent comedy, while turning the conventions of the horror genre on its head. This is perhaps Wes Craven's best film.

To help explain the underlying intelligence, this dialogue shows how clever this film is-
Neve Campbell- "But this isn't a movie!"
Skeet Ulrich- "Sure it is. It's all just one big movie."

Another classic line is, "No Mr. Ghostman, don't kill me, I want to be in the sequel." Scream subverts the expectations of the genre while still delivering a classic horror movie.

While the later sequels proved to be somewhat unworthy, Scream remains one of my favorite horror movies of all time. The movie is entertaining, suspenseful, scary, funny, and chilling. It changed the horror genre and brought it back into mainstream acceptance. I love this movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 9



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scary Movie, Scary Movie 2