THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED,
From the 70s to the 80s, slashers became a staple to the genre of horror, due to being successful at the box office. However, the sub genre was at the brink of losing its touch due to repetitive sequels (no matter how entertaining they were). So when the 90s emerged, a new spark had to be lit. Although Candyman and The Silence of the Lambs were fascinating films that suit it, the comeback truly came about with Scream.
PLOT
The film takes place in the city of Woodsboro. Teenager Sidney Prescott lives with her father Neil (Lawrence Hecht) and is currently dating Billy Loomis. She is now living in fear with the news that fellow teens Casey Becker and Steve Orth (Kevin Patrick Walls) have been brutally murdered, just days before the one year anniversary of the murder of her mother Maureen. It only gets worse when reporter Gail Weathers is on the scene, as she made many theories that Maureen’s alleged killer Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber) could be innocent. One night, Sidney is chased by the same costumed killer that killed Casey & Steve, claiming to have killed her mother. She starts to theorize that Billy could be the one because when the killer flees, he appeared short after with a cellphone on him. As he gets arrested for being considered a suspect, she spends the night at the house of her friend Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan). However, the unknown killer taunts her by calling the house. Due to the recent events, school is suspended and Billy’s friend Stu Macher celebrates the news by throwing a party at his house. Billy is released when suspicion shifts towards Neil, since the calls were traced from his phone. Despite Sidney’s dislike towards Gale for exposing her mother’s infidelity, she does hear out her theory on Cotton’s innocence: They seem to agree that he couldn’t have killed Maureen as he was drunk when they had sex. This means that Sidney likely saw someone else with his coat before the incident occurred and whoever took it, planted it in his car to frame him. At a local video store, classmate Randy Meeks converses with Stu over the possibility on who could be the killer. Although he deeply believes Billy is responsible, he sticks with the theory that everyone is a suspect. Since Billy overheard him yell it aloud, he ends the argument by saying if that’s the case, than he is a suspect as well. Gale goes to Tatum’s brother, Deputy Dwight ‘Dewey’ Riley and asks for his help to sneak in cameras at Stu’s house, in hopes to find the killer. During the party, Randy watches Halloween with the partygoers and shares the unofficial rules of surviving a horror film: No sex, No drugs/alcohol, And don’t say “I’ll be right back”. In the garage, Tatum is killed by the masked killer when attempting to get some beer. The killer pulls it off by crushing her head with the garage door. Upstairs, Billy makes clear with Sidney that he is not responsible for what’s happening, before both decide to have sex. The partygoers except Randy leave when they find out Principal Himbry (Henry Winkler) has been murdered as well. They almost hit Dewey & Gale when they drive away quickly. After the two celebrate avoiding death by sharing a kiss, they find Neil’s car abandoned. After Sidney has sex with Billy, the masked killer attacks her boyfriend and she runs away again. As she does, Gale’s cameraman Kenny (W Earl Brown) is killed in the process. When Dewey gets there, he gets attacked and wounded as well. When Gale drives away, she unintentionally crashes. Sidney finds herself in the house and Billy finally reveals himself as the mastermind by shooting Randy in the right shoulder. Stu then reveals himself to be an accomplice, out of alleged peer pressure. Billy then explains his plot from beginning to end: He killed Maureen & framed Cotton out of anger when her affair with his father resulted in his mother leaving him. The plan is to kill Sidney and frame Neil for the murder spree, who they’ve held hostage all this time when he was supposed to go out of town for work. When Billy & Stu inflict wounds on each other to appear as victims, Gale returns and holds both at gunpoint. Little did she know that the gun had a safety mode on. As Billy knocks her out, this gives Sidney the chance to hide and get the jump on them both. First she jumps Billy from behind by stabbing him in the left shoulder with an umbrella. Before she could finish him off, she smashes Stu with a television set. Before Billy could get the upper hand, Gale gets back up, turns off the safety and shoots him in the right shoulder. Sidney finishes him off by shooting him in the head. While it is shown that Randy and Dewey have survived their wounds, the film ends with Gale making an impromptu report of what happened.
THOUGHTS
Coming from someone who grew up watching a lot of slasher films, I knew that I was bound to get around with this one. When I did during high school, I had nothing but a horrifying blast. Writer Kevin Williamson brought out the most creative perspective of a slasher film by giving a terrifying perspective of what it would look like if someone got inspired to become a slasher. And with the addition of director Wes Craven involved, it almost feels perfect to witness. The second that Drew Barrymore's Casey is killed off, you just know that we're gonna get through horrifying scenes that are indeed well staged. When we first focus on her with the aid of Mark Irwin's cinematography, you'll feel the impending doom on her and every victim from then on. This movie has remained effective for so long because they're showing that it is not the mask that scares the audience, it is the people behind the mask. When this is pointed out for the first time, I think this helps redefining and tributing the sub genre all at once respectively. For a standard slasher film, there is at least one person behind the mask, but this is not that kind of film. The fact that it was a pair of two made the story all the more unpredictable. Using this staple for the future of the eventual franchise made it stand out even more deservingly so. Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard fooled us good when going from somewhat sweet to downright psychotic in their respected roles of Billy & Stu. Although Stu simply enjoys being involved, Billy's actions come from personal neglect that broke him. He created the philosophy that if he couldn't have a mother, neither could Sidney, thus making her life a living hell not just for a year, but for the rest of her life as many choose to follow his schemes similarly. The coolest thing about the "Ghostface" killer is that there is always one voice the antagonists use with a voice changer to hide their identity. Roger Jackson is highly underrated for the voice role of Ghostface because his voice alone hits the right amount of sinister you think of when just by looking at the infamous costume. Knowing this, it satisfies me that his voice stuck around for the following sequels. With such memorable antagonists, there has to be protagonists to root for along the way. There have been many scream queens/final girls throughout the 20th century, but my personal favorite aside from Laurie Strode will always be Sidney Prescott. Neve Campbell forever makes this character an icon because in between the fear she is going through, she refuses to be a victim and stands her own against those who oppress her. The events that took place changed her life for the worst because now she has to be cautious on who to trust, but also for the better because she is even prepared for the horror of the world to come her way. Seeing her break the rules to survive shows how rules are meant to be broken. David Arquette easily makes Dewey a likable character for being the most caring and protective friend Sidney will ever have, as he pushes forward with investigating the murders when no other cop would. He may come off goofy, but he knows when to get serious when a task is at hand. Randy Meeks is another awesome character because Jamie Kennedy made him a guy that spoke for the audience. His knowledge towards horror films made him relatable because we wouldn't be watching this film anyway if we weren't this genre so much. Without him, I'm not sure how great this film would have been. Last but not least, Courteney Cox gives her best performance as Gale Weathers. She is easily the most complex character because her line of work makes her completely selfish, obsessed with having glory in her name. So seeing Sidney punch her for harassing her outside the station was without a doubt satisfying. But having a firsthand experience of the horror she reports, this becomes the first step of being a little bit caring. And honestly, she is a bit of a bad ass in her own right, choosing to confront the killers after surviving a car accident. I appreciate that the film ends with her impromptu report because from there, you know that she will try to be more thoughtful of what she tells. No matter how entertaining this film is, I won’t deny that this film is as flawed as any other horror film. Like for instance, I love the opening scene because it is indeed terrifying, but I do feel like Casey still should’ve called the cops whether or not it’d be too late. It does look like both Stu & Billy were involved with her murder since one had to tie up her boyfriend while the other had to do the calls. And off of that, if she called, they probably would’ve tried to rush their kill and it would’ve backfired if they tried chasing her inside the house. I really don’t want to pick on Casey, but she sounds ridiculous claiming to watch Friday the 13th 20 times and not know Mrs. Voorhees was the original killer. And I honestly am confused on how Stu wasn’t a bigger suspect when he used to date her anyway. A personal connection like that has to make him prime suspect. And god was it way too perfect timing for Gail to catch Sidney in the back exit of a police station. Imagine how awkward it’d be if she parked in front of it all night until Sid left the next day. You know I respect Principal Himbry for their soulless prank, but he is making himself a suspect when threatening to kill the kids. It does mean nothing anyway since he gets killed too, but that could’ve not happened. And again, I do not believe hanging his body would be done alone, considering that he was hung much higher than Casey. The most confusing part of the movie has to be where a Ghostface happens to be near the house during the day when Billy & Stu are at the video store? If that was a poser trying to go for the prank, that should’ve been more clear. I can buy that one had to follow Sid to the grocery store, but not the house. The weirdest thing during the climax was how neither Sid nor anyone was worried about Tatum when she disappeared. I mean she did go get beer in the garage and at a teenage party. And you’re telling me no one would’ve checked on the other for the sake of the alcohol? I don’t think so. And why didn’t Ghostface just stab Randy immediately? I mean there was no reason to wait him out since Billy shoots him later on. I also want to admit that Kenny’s 30 second delay of recorded footage makes the climax more intense, but he was pretty dumb leaving the van when he knows about the delay in the first place. Had he just waited and looked from a window, he’d probably have a better chance to survive the night. I’ve grown to love Dewey like everyone else, but why didn’t he bleed out from his wounds when Ghostface stabs him? It looked pretty deep when it happened. And lastly, how did Gail get the gun to shoot Billy? She was outside the door and the gun was in the hallway. Randy drops the gun, but I don’t think Sid kicked it far enough for the reporter to get it. If you can really ignore these issues, than you really do love horror. In conclusion, Scream brought back slashers with the genre’s most creative story yet. If you love this genre like anyone else, than this will be a fun one for you to see too.
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