Scream [MA]

Just when life seems to be getting back to normal for the citizens of Woodsboro, a serial killer once again plagues the town. Not a year ago, Sidney Prescott’s mother was raped and brutally murdered and just when it seems that she is getting over the worst of the trauma, horrible and brutal murders are happening again, beginning with two of Sidney’s schoolmates. Soon, Sidney becomes the next victim of this murderous fanatic who is taking their love of horror movies a little bit too far. It begins with a phone call and then a game is played: if you answer the horror film trivia questions correctly you just might survive, if not, well you need to pay more attention to your scary movies. 

The name Wes Craven is one that is at the very top of the list when talking about scary movies and I do believe (keep in mind that I’ve not seen all that many horror films) that he really does hold his place in cinematic slasher history. After A Nightmare on Elm Street audiences perceived that Craven’s career was over, but then he shocked and silenced audiences all over the world by bringing to the screen one of history’s most celebrated modern slasher movies. Raking in over $103 million at the box office, Scream is a wonderful and thrilling film that keeps its audience completely rapt from the first scene: that most oft talked-about and intense ten-minute prologue that introduces us to a new face in the Killers Hall of Fame. It’s fantastic! 

Just when life seems to be getting back to normal for the citizens of Woodsboro, a serial killer once again plagues the town. Not a year ago, Sidney Prescott’s mother was raped and brutally murdered and just when it seems that she is getting over the worst of the trauma, horrible and brutal murders are happening again, beginning with two of Sidney’s schoolmates. Soon, Sidney becomes the next victim of this murderous fanatic who is taking their love of horror movies a little bit too far. It begins with a phone call and then a game is played: if you answer the horror film trivia questions correctly you just might survive, if not, well you need to pay more attention to your scary movies. 

What struck me as most wonderful about this movie is its balanced and well-founded structure. Scream is not a mere slasher movie with copious amounts of blood and gore and sadistic toying with the victims; the entire thing is wonderfully balanced and covers all areas of fear-inducement as well as character relations and even comedy. 

The horror aspect is successfully achieved through the violence, sinister phone calls, suspenseful lead-ups, and the modern and hard soundtrack filled with crescendos and thrilling silences. We then have a dramatic side to the story that comes in the form of the virginal lead heroine, Sidney, and her struggles with post-traumatic stress, grief, and growing up an adolescent in a broken home. And of course we have this wonderful comedic streak that runs all the way through and comes in the form of jokey references to other iconic scary movies including Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, Friday the 13^th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween. There is a great joke in there where the janitor is dressed in the sweater and hat of Freddy Krueger, which I found hugely funny and clever. 

Starring Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Courtney Cox, Jamie Kennedy, David Arquette, Drew Barrymore and Liv Schreiber, Scream is a fantastic scary movie packed with violence, suspense, drama, plot deception, and comedy. It’s very clever and an instant classic that, I’m sure, can be found on any horror fanatic’s movie shelf.