Scream

By the 1990s the Slasher genre was becoming stale, filled with clichés, countless sequels and very predictable and uninventive. Likely two men was able to play on this, Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven was able to play on this and made a really excellent take on Slashers.

In the small town of Woodsboro two teenagers (Drew Barrymore and Kevin Patrick Walls) are shockingly murdered, a year after a woman was raped and murdered in the town centre. Very quickly the town is thrown into turmoil, with the media reporting on it, but the teens do not seem to be worried. The killer, known as Ghost-face soon targets another Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), the daughter of a victim, who luckily escapes. But Ghost-face is going to rest and goes on a mission to take down Sidney and anyone who stands in his way.

Scream works because it is set in a world where horror movies do exist and teenagers know clichés. It is a self-aware horror film and has a lot of references to classic horror films like Halloween. Scream is forced to be inventive and Craven who is a master of the horror genre, so knew what he was doing with this film.

Even if Scream was not made with a post-modern, self-aware horror with a comic edge, it still would have been an excellent horror film and one of the best slashers around. Craven and Williamson made sure their characters were fully developed, likable or at least normal. Sidney is a character with a lot of a baggage because of her mother's death and afraid to get close to people. She is a likable because is a friendly, smart, decent girl who is also tough. Sidney's friend Tatum (Rose McGowan) was tough no-nonsense girl who could have easily been the clichéd slut role, but that was avoided because she was a good friend and competent. Courteney Cox plays a unpleasant journalist who cares more ratings and book sales more then safety of people and emotional harm. She is not a journalist who is looking to report the truth or for the public interest. But she does come good at the end. The characters of Randy (Jamie Kennedy) and Stuart (Matthew Lillard) offer a lot of comic relief particular because of their knowledge of horror films. And David Arquettte is solid as a competent police officer who has a typical brother-sister relationship with Tatum.

Cavern made sure Scream was exciting with a lot of action, violence and creative deaths. I particular like his technique of using the camera to follow the victims and move it around the house, adding excitement and intrigue. He knows how to build suspects and he does keep you guessing. I don't get scared watching horror films but you do care for Sidney and the idea of being home alone at night can make you more tense.

I do have a criticism. They does not seem to be much of a reaction at the school hearing about two of their peers being brutally murdered. Most people seem to be very causal about it and saw it as something fun, not worried about a serial killer being on the loose or just saw it as an excuse for a party. Come on, if they was a murder in a small town there would be more sadden, grief and worry. Personally I would have focused on this collective reaction, but I am a more serious person and possibly would have a thriller/a social piece.

Overall, Scream is certainly a worthy horror film, no manner what generation of horror fan you are.

Watching this film for the first time in the basement of a four story house, with no-one else in was the perfect setting for this film. From the very first scene I was gripped and I could not wait for the climax to discover the murderer and his motives. The script was extremely original, as they had purposely set out to parodie the typical slasher style movie.

It was written in a way that deceived and tricked and had you jumping out of your seats but also laughing at the paradoxical black humour. For anyone looking for a good horror film with a twist, you won't find a better one than Scream.

Overall I give it 9.5/10

Scream is the best teenage horror slasher film in the 90's and it is my all time personal favorite film in the horror genre. I love this film I always did and I love to death! It was really the first movie that introduced me in to "horror" genre slasher films. It was directed from my favorite horror master Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. It is a horror mystery like was Friday the 13th and April Fool's Day. Scream deserve legendary status. The movie spawned three sequels and the TV series that I did like. Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courteney Cox and Rose McGowan work for me. It is about a high school teenage student in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California, who becomes the target of a mysterious killer known as Ghostface who kills teens and who uses his obsession with scary movies. The first one is the best in the series and it is still one of the best horror films of all time.

Wes Craven borrowed and used Halloween, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street mostly scenes for this movie. It mentions a lot of cult classic horror movies and till it's day it is still praised by fans. I enjoy this film I always do. This is my movie and my personal opinion! Scream follows the teenage girl Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) who becomes targeted by a psychotic killer dressed in a ghostface mask who uses his obsession with scary movies. David Arquette plays police deputy, Dewey Riley who helps protect Sidney and Courtney Cox plays tabloid reporter, Gale Weathers. This is one of Craven's best along with "A Nightmare on Elm Street" that redefined the genre and Ghostface has become another popular slasher since. "What's Your Favorite Scary Movie?" Ghostface is one of the most popular and really scary character. The mask is so scary before new year on Halloween day I saw the mask putted on a front seat in the car and i was so scared, I thought it was the killer waiting on me but it was only a mask but a scary one.

The Story begins after two high school students are murdered by the serial killer. Sidney Prescott becomes next victim of intelligent serial killer, Gale Weathers reporter and journalist is shure that serial killer is the same person who murdered Sidney's mother one year ago and now he's terrorizing Sidney her self. Deputy Sheriff Dewey wants to investigate the murders by himself, but attractive Gale seduced and confused him, so it's up to Sidney to find the killer, before he kills again to find the truth, she will must kill. I love also the characters: Matthew Lillard as Stu Macher, Rose McGowan as Tatum Riley and Jamie Kennedy as Randy Meeks. Great story and great soundtracks. I watch this movie thirty times and is still the best, I watch with my mom as a teen good times. I love the script the dialogues in this movie, I love Drew Barrymore as Casey Becker in here.

10/10 Scream deserves a legendary status it is my personal favorite horror slasher film from Wes Craven in the franchise. I have the whole collection on Blu-ray discs and I have the first three movies on VHS tapes. I love this film to death I love it!

Making a brilliant, original horror film is pretty hard these days, since practically everything has already been told, and more than once. Using that premise, director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson came up with Scream, whose cleverness derives from the fact that it knows every single stereotype of the genre and satirizes them.

Take the opening sequence, for example: a young girl (Drew Barrymore) is making popcorn and waiting for her boyfriend when she suddenly receives a phone call. Normally, this would be a huge clichè, only this time the killer decides to play a little game (horror film quiz, naturally) with his victim. In fact, the only reason why he kills her is that she gave the wrong answer to one of his questions (those who haven't seen Friday 13th might want to skip that bit, as it spoils said movie's ending). That scene is both very scary (the murder is quite graphic and disturbing) and at the same time funny (it tests the characters', and the audience's, knowledge of the horror genre), and the rest of the film continues in the same vein: after the first killing, the masked psychopath starts disposing of other teenagers in the town of Woodsboro using the same technique. One of the targets is Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), whose mother was raped and killed the year before. This implies the killer might be the same, but who could it be? Sidney's distant father? Her mother's lover (Liev Schreiber)? Or some random guy, with no motive at all?

Fortunately, it is not the last category: this murderer has a motive and a plausible identity as well. But it isn't the payoff that makes Scream interesting; it's how Craven and Williamson get to it, by outlining the genre's conventions (some of which were actually invented by the director himself) and using them in a clever, if self-referential, way. The point of the movie is, the more you know of this kind of films (pay attention to the rules, stated by geeky film buff Randy), the more chances you have to survive (although you must take into account that the killer has seen the same movies). The in-jokes that would ruin other films are the very cause of Scream's success, with memorable scenes such as the villain mimicking the movie his victims are watching or Craven's unmissable cameo as a janitor wearing Freddy Krueger's outfit (not to mention priceless lines like "Movies don't create psychos, movies make psychos more creative!").

In other words, Scream is a smart, effective horror film, which manages to amuse and scare in equal measures. Definitely worth watching, even if the two sequels (especially Scream 3) don't really match the original's intelligence and, forgive the expression, originality.

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.