Scream (1996)

Scream

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

(Loved It!)

Netflix* Synopsis: Horror maven Wes Craven -- paying homage to teen horror classics such as Halloween and Prom Night -- turns the genre on its head with this tale of a murderer who terrorizes hapless high schooler Sidney Prescott by offing everyone she knows.

The Peeps: Wes Craven (director); Kevin Williamson (writer); Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Mathew Lillard, Jamie Kennedy, Rose McGowan

Quick Run Down: Fresh, Inventive, Fun, Great One-Liners, Fast-Paced, Clever

Worth The Watch?: Yes!

I'm gonna throw a disclaimer out there before I even begin this review.  I'm young.  More specifically, I was 13 when Scream came out.  I remember my best friend's Mom said she would take us to see it at the local theater if we'd do certain chores around the house, and, of course, we said "Hell yeah!"  After getting slapped for cursing, we did those chores then went to the movie that night.  In one sentence - it freaked me the hell out!  I didn't know or understand horror films then, had only seen Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Exorcist once, in the day time, with all the lights on, with nothing hanging over the edge of the couch because I didn't want Leatherface or Lucifer to reach out and saw off slash possess my freaking foot.  But what Scream did for me was more than entertain and terrify.  It showed me that there's a method to all of the madness that is fear and blood and guts in horror films.  I was pretty much sold after that.

Scream opens with one of the best, if not THE best, hook for any horror movie.  In the first 12 minutes, we get everything we need - the voice, the challenge, the face, the viciousness. the intestines.  The audience is drawn in by questions, superficially easy until Ghost Face wises up and says, you think you're smart?  I KNOW horror movies; you don't know shit!  And we don't.  The script starts throwing us curve balls, red herrings, scares, and original, fresh, interactive metafictional play that is fun when it's dull, frightening when it's spot on.  Williamson, the writer, took the frame of a horror movie and made it into a plot, but let's not get into that sort of talk.  Technicalities can make or break a film, critically, but sheer entertainment is what sells.  And Scream is entertaining.  Save Ulrich, who just looks as angst and greasy as a mid-20's guy could, the acting is good for a bunch of 90's teens, and their chemistry works.  Personally, I think Lillard chews the frame up with spontaneous bursts of energy; Jamie Kennedy kills with dialogue and insight; and Rose McGowen has the most wonderful chest a horror movie has ever seen.  And that's just eye candy.  There is some really killer dialogue being thrown around, some awesome cameos, and just an arrange of "funness" making the whole goddamn thing SO MUCH FUN!  I don't know if you've gathered this yet, but I really like a fun horror movies and, for the 90's, this tops the list.  It's not overtly serious, it's tongue in cheek, it's mysterious, and... well... it's FUN!  There, I said it again.  I'm sorry, I really am.  I just really thing it's a cool fucking movie.

The scares are good; the dialogue is really good; there are good gore shots; and there are some really good sequences in the film that build to a tense climax.  The finale doesn't lack by any means, and Lillard, by his lonesome self, brings drama and comedy (oh, the one liners!) as things come to a bloody conclusion.  I can mostly take or leave the rest of the franchise, but I dig this one and I think it is ABSOLUTELY worth the watch.

So, if you want to see something that is original, fresh, entertaining, and... who wooda guessed it?!... FUN!, check out Scream. It's a killer(!) slasher flick and well worth the watch.  Plus, it's on Netflix!!

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