Scream (1996) – Film Review

After a series of mysterious deaths befalls their small town, an offbeat group of friends led by Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell) becomes the target of a masked killer. As the body count begins to rise, Sydney and her friends find themselves contemplating the “Rules” of horror films as they find themselves living in a real-life one.

What’s your favorite scary movie? Perhaps it’s John Carpenter‘s classic, original Halloween film from 1978. Perhaps it’s any of the Candyman movies. Or, perhaps it’s Wes Craven‘s Scream released in 1996, which quite literally changed how slashers were going forward. This was really the first time any horror filmmaker dared to even poke fun at the genre in this way, and boy did it ever work.

But what’s so great about Craven’s commentary on horror movie tropes here is the fact that it’s all done with so much love. His sense of humor in Scream never comes across as condescending or mean-spirited – he understands a lot of the hilarious, tired movie tropes and finds clever yet loving ways to make fun of them a bit. There’s one amazing scene in the third act that’s honestly genius in every way possible.

The film’s script – written by Kevin Williamson – is full of life, love, humor, and scares, which creates one heck of a recipe for greatness. There’s a legitimate reason why the first Scream movie is hailed by many as one of the greatest horror films of all time. One needs to just watch the film and experience the beautifully rich characters, storyline, and sense of humor to find out for themselves.

It also brought us one of the best final girl characters in horror movie history in the form of Sidney Prescott, portrayed masterfully by Neve Campbell. It may sound weird to hear someone call a final girl performance “masterful”, but that’s exactly what Campbell is in this film. She sells every single scene, delivering one of the best performances in horror film history here. David Arquette is also terrific here, as is Matthew Lillard who I genuinely wish was in more movies these days.

Scream is also an oddly comforting movie on a visual stand front. Mark Irwin’s cinematography is both vibrant and cold. Ominous yet inviting. In one scene we may feel cozy and warm, following the lives of these students and their day-to-day lives and then, the next, we feel creeped out and intimidated. You’d think this would make for a strange and jarring movie but that’s not how Scream comes across at all.

Simply put, without Scream, the horror genre would not be where it’s at today and we can all thank Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson for crafting one of the most important and crucial horror films ever made.