Movie review of Scream

Horrorphile

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Scream

May 7th 2007 04:13

I’ve never been a big fan of Wes Craven’s movies. Last House on the Left (1972) was too depressing and aesthetically displeasing. The Hills Have Eyes (1977) was effective, but dare I say it, I prefer the remake. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) is easily his best work.

When Craven made Scream (1996), originally titled Scary Movie, the buzz on the horror circuit was immense. Kevin Williamson’s screenplay toyed with the stalk'n'slash genre like a mongoose toys with a snake. Scream boasted more horror movie references and sly in-jokes than a horror convention. But in the ten years since it was released the movie hasn’t dated all that well.

In a cracked nutshell Scream isn’t nearly as slick or smart as it thinks it is. It leans more towards the smug and silly. And a smug horror movie really rubs me up the wrong way. Scream is self conscious to the point of parody. The satirical comedy Scary Movie took the original title and ran with it making oodles of silly money at the box office.

Billy (Skeet Urlich), Sidney (Neve Campbell), Stu (Matthew Lillard), Tatum (Rose McGowan) and Randy (Jamie Kennedy)

A year after high school student Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell)’s mother was brutally murdered a killer is on the loose again. Sidney’s school mate Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) is terrorised via a phone call from the killer. Her boyfriend is gutted. Casey is eventually discovered by her parents gutted and hanging from the garden tree.

Sidney and Tatum and another one of those damn phone calls from the killer

Sidney’s boyfriend Billy Loomis (Skeet Urlich) is arrested as a suspect, but is let go when there isn’t enough evidence. Meanwhile arrogant and ambitious reporter Gale Weathers (Courteny Cox) is trying to get the hot low down on the whole affair. She’s assisted in part by plucky deputy Dewey Riley (David Arquette). A party is thrown and further murders occur culminating in the reveal of the killers and the motive of sorts; “It’s the millennium, motives are incidental.”

Scream moves swiftly enough, but the ghostface killer just isn’t scary. Not once. The design of the mask is loosely based on the Edward Munch painting “The Scream”, but is specifically influenced by John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) of which the movie is heavily referenced throughout the entire movie. At the party a group are watching Halloween on video (Scream came out before DVDs had been properly launched, and when cell phones – as Americans like to call them – were still a luxury item, thus the sheriff asks Billy “What are you doing with a cell phone?”, Billy replies “Everyone has them these days …”)

Sidney’s best friend Tatum (Rose McGowan) at one point accuses Sidney of “starting to sound like some Wes Carpenter flick”, which is annoyingly presumptuous that horror fans would liken Craven’s work to Carpenter’s. Carpenter pisses all over Craven. Halloween's seminal electronic music score (arguably the scariest score ever composed) is used in several scenes. The music is coming from the video playing in the living room of the party, however Craven utilises the score to underpin several scenes, which is cunning, but still blatantly derivative.

WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS!

There's an uncut version of Scream, which has a more graphic depiction of Casey’s boyfriend being eviscerated. A couple of seconds of his guts spilling out. Still, the murder’s are decidedly un-horrific, especially the death scene of Tatum via the garage door. That was to be the silliest death scene ever. Tatum teases the ghostface killer, taunting him not to kill her so she can return in the sequel, then she laughs asking if this is meant to be I Spit on your Garage. These oh-so-clever movie references abound.

Tatum finds she needs to lose a few more pounds!

Prom Night, Terror Train, Carrie, Norman Bates, Hannibal Lector, Frankenstein, The Howling, The Fog … the reference list goes on and on. And then there’s Randy (Jamie Kennedy)’s list of Horror Movie Don’ts: 1. You can never have sex, sex equals death, 2. You can never drink or do drugs, it’s a sin, an extension of number 1, and 3. Never, ever, ever under any circumstances so “I’ll be right back”, you won’t be back.

Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), Randy and Sidney ... scream!

Randy is the video store geek who knows his horror movies. He’s one of the only genuinely likable characters in the movie. Matthew Lillard who plays Billy’s partner in crime Stu has to be one of the most obnoxious and irritating characters ever in a horror movie. Neve Campbell at one point tells the killer on the phone that she hates horror movies because they always feature some bimbo with big breasts who can’t act, running up the stairs when she should be running out the door. She finds it insulting. Hmmm, another one of Williamson’s oh-so-clever pisstakes at the horror genre. It had me in stitches.

Call me old fashioned, but I just don’t dig the whole post-modern horror thing. Scream might’ve seemed full of playful ingenuity at the time of its release, but even then I remember being annoyed at the whole idea. I just don’t dig my horror being toyed with in this fashion.

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Comments

10 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Damo

May 7th 2007 07:07

Ouch
I have never seen this movie, started to watch Scream 2 but got a little bored and went to bed. No nightmare that night.

I did enjoy Elm street 1 but I a later one was just plane unscary. A whoopie cussion would be scarier. Hence my love of Uncle WES has faded with time.

Excellent review.

Comment by Damo

May 7th 2007 08:53

Comment by Nickoftime's Sanity Corner

May 7th 2007 18:03

Damo,

excellent review...loved the first movie..

Haven't seen the 2nd one yet but may have to check it out...

Great post,

Take care,

Nick

Comment by Bryn

May 8th 2007 05:11

Horrorphile

Cheers guys,
hey Nick, are you referring to Damo mentioning A Nightmare on Elm Street? Or Scream... ?

Comment by Peeker

May 8th 2007 12:08

filmpeek

I always see Scream as a satire rather than a serious horror. I mean it's hilariously dumb!

Nice overview Bryn!

Comment by Nickoftime's Sanity Corner

May 8th 2007 19:41

Bry,

was referring to Scream..sorry mate!

Take care,

Nick

Comment by Bryn

May 8th 2007 23:13

Horrorphile

Peeker, haven't seen you here in awhile, welcome back! Of course it's meant to be a satire, I just don't think it's a particularly clever one at the end of the day, when it first came out there hadn't been one like it so everyone thought it was rather cool, but watching it now, its dated something chronic (I never really warmed to it the first time around anyhoo) ... Guess I just don't warm to horrors that play smug like this one does in spades ... (and they got even worse with the sequels!)

Nick,
you scare me!

Comment by JohnDoe

May 10th 2007 04:43

Film & TV on DVD

You and I are in complete agreement on this one, but you already knew that.

Not a bad comedy the first time around, but loses its zing quickly...the only thing worst than a horror parody with no thrills is a redundant parody of that parody, Scary Movie.

Comment by Bryn

May 10th 2007 07:38

Horrorphile

cheers dude ... *clink* to that one!

Comment by Morgan Bell

April 24th 2008 08:51

Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train

ahhh haha NOW i see why you dont like Sceam, youve taken it as a personal insult to the genre because youre such a long-time fan . . . now for me pre-Scream horror i had seen very little, and none i enjoyed

i think Scream was a homage which brought a whole new generation to a genre that had been previously banished to the back section of the video store

the writing is clever because it really was the first of its type, the characters are critiquing the genre while they are IN the genre so the humour is more like "i know i shouldnt be doing this but im IN a horror movie so for some reason i find myself doing it" like Rose McGowan saying ill be right back and never coming back or Neve Campbell not getting attacked until after she has sex

i laughed and laughed at what you said about Matthew Lillard . . . the typical 90s zany ADHD kid whos so outrageous and so out of control, i think someone like that has been a standard insert in every teen movie since scream haha

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