Review: Scream (1996)

As Halloween steadily approaches, I thought it might be a good idea to review some of my favourite horror movies. Now, I do like a good scary movie, but there in lies my problem: most of them ain't good! In fact, most of them are downright awful. But there is the occasional diamond in the rough. One such gem is the sure to be horror classic, Scream.

When Scream first premiered in December 1996, audiences were less than enthusiastic at watching a horror movie during the Christmas Season... But, then the reviews started pouring in; positive reviews, and People started flocking to their local multiplex.

Scream follows the life of Sidney Prescott, a high school student, living in the fictional town of Woodsboro, still trying to come to terms with the death of her mother. As the one year anniversary of her mother's death approaches, gruesome murders begin to take place in Woodsboro, and Sidney appears to be the killer's main target. What follows is 100 minutes of blood, gore, cruelty, and violence. FANTASTIC!

"What's your favorite scary movie?"

Let me say this before I continue: I do not condone violence, nor do I enjoy watching others being harmed. However, when I'm watching a movie made for the sole purpose of entertaining the masses, my morals tend to go straight out the window, and I try to enjoy what I'm watching as much as the next person would. I do believe that some movies take this freedom of fiction too far (Perhaps a good topic for a blog...), but Scream does not do this. Scream uses just the right amount of violence coupled with a very good script. A very successful combination.

Within the first 20 minutes of the movie, you realize that anything can happen to any character within the film. No one is safe. No one. This leaves everyone open to a possible murder, and makes everybody and his father a possible suspect. Scream is clever. Very, very clever (Credit Kevin Williamson, who wrote the screenplay). You see, not only is Scream aware of common horror movie cliches, it actually states them within the film, making the movie entirely unpredictable, yet somewhat predictable at the same time. Confusing, eh? 

"There are certain RULES that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie"

As a serial killer, Ghostface is one of the less scary looking villains. What's terrifying about him is what lies behind the mask. Scream follows the classic whodunit formula, and upon first viewing, it is quite hard to figure out who the killer is. I have now seen this movie dozens of times, and find it interesting everytime I spot a new clue as to who is behind the Ghostface, but I won't spoil the movie by sharing them here. 

"Movies don't create psychos, movies make psychos more creative!"

The cast of Scream are all excellent in their roles, particularly Courtney Cox, who plays scheming bitch Gale Weathers to perfection. You love to hate her.

As you can probably tell, I love Scream. It's one of my favourite films, and I am eagerly anticipating the fourth installment to the series. "It's a scream, baby!" 10/10

Trivia: There are alot of references to other horror movies within Scream, including mentions of Halloween (1978), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984 - Directed by Wes Craven, who also directed Scream), Carrie (1975), Psycho (1960), Friday the 13th (1980), and The Exorcist (1973). Linda Blair (Regan from The Exorcist) even appears as a news reporter in the first half of the film.

- Vixtastr43