Scream (1996) *

 This is probably my first ever review or write-up of "Scream" (1996), which is shocking to me because you'd think a horror blog ongoing since 2009 I would have written extensively on it. Funnily enough, I was always of the mentality: I'll wait until that right time. Octobers have come and gone, the perfect season, the Halloween season, for this franchise, and nothing much about the films have been discussed that much on my blog. Well, in 2021, I plan to rectify that. I watched "Scream" tonight and there were lots of thoughts on the mind, for sure. What I was considering was what to write about fresh off the top.

My relationship with this specific film goes back to its release. My wife was my girlfriend back when we went and seen "Scream". It wasn't the big hit then as it would become. I don't think at its very first release, those behind the production of "Scream" realized how big a hit it would become. Not just a hit, but a 90s iconic IP that reawakened a genre that was producing the likes of "Ticks" and "Hellraiser: Bloodline" (two films I have an affinity for, mind you, but these titles weren't exactly hallmarks for the decade). 

I want to say that during the early and mid 90s I was catching up on a lot of 80s horror films, though. I was a teenager in the 90s so I wasn't able to rent a lot of R-rated films in the 80s because I was a kid. The franchise other than "Scream" and three years later with "The Blair Witch Project" that had any real presence was the Child's Play series of films that benefited from a clever "Bride of Chucky" after the third film didn't go over so well upon its release. The slasher franchises, although remaining popular up to today, had at the end of the 80s and early 90s left a gaping hole in the horror genre. Although a slasher film itself, "Scream" wisely tried a different approach. And that approach obviously led to a genre resurgence. All this is well documented and has been written about throughout 25 years.

I'll tell you: being in the audience in 1997, when Drew Barrymore, as Casey with a blonde wig, is running for her life as a cloaked figure in Ghostface mask (I believe the sheriff had a grim reaper costume set in his hand when talking to Dewey) with a sharp, shiny knife buries it in her, it left everyone in awe. Even though, it is a classic "shock the audience with a death of a star" setup, seeing Drew knocked off at the beginning was quite startling for every person in the theater. It was quite masterful. She keeps picking up the phone and answering instead of calling the police. Each ring of the phone almost lures Drew to pick up...she cannot seem not to answer the phone. The scene, too, is so well staged because the camera is so active. The entire house (and its grounds) is used. Drew is all over that area and the camera follows. But the camera also looks out windows and doors. It's shot, edited, and scored to superior effect. It really is about setting up that prologue. This is what others will have to deal with.

I have read a lot about how those behind the Ghostface costume fall, trip, clumsily endure pratfalls, and endure plenty of abuse. Sort of like Hillbilly Jason in "Friday the 13th: Part 2", Billy and Stu, when under that costume of Ghostface, do suffer a ton of defense from Sidney and Tatum. I actually like that addition to this slasher franchise because they are basically just teens orchestrating a movie-trivia, horror film-inspired tag team of psychotic cat-and-mouse games. Sure they have their altered voice box and phone call taunting, and develop the tactic of surprise-and-startle attack strategy, but they still seem to have setbacks. And it does seem that despite all the planning--even with successfully toying with Sidney and Billy even being the one she gives up her virginity to--they seem to fail to realize how resilient Sidney is. And not killing Gail (or Randy, for that matter) when Billy had the chance was a serious miscalculation. But despite killing Sidney's mother, Billy and Stu not taking care of Sidney (and her dad) before stabbing each other--and stabbing each other too much--reveals how imperfect their plans were. I like this, though. It doesn't go according to plan. The killers fumble and fall because they are teenagers not quite adept at shoring up any possible deterrents to their plans.

It was quite wild to see how this one film set off such a genre explosion of imitations. Just recently "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (1997) was added to HBO Max, and I did tell my wife that I thought about revisiting all of these slasher films that followed "Scream". I was 20 when the film came out, and I grew up on all those slashers Randy spoke so fondly of (if a bit too passionately for many in the video store when he lifted his voice to Stu about why Billy made for a perfect candidate to be the Ghostface killer). I can see why this film was so popular and why people my age--my generation--filled theaters for each and every slasher film that hoped for a similar pay window. "Scream" did usher in such a craze. I knew when I went and seen "I Know What You Did Last Summer" not long after that "Scream" struck a chord. I can't really blame Hollywood for striking while the iron was hot. But much like the 80s with all the Friday the 13ths, Nightmare on Elm Streets, and Halloweens (and eventually Hellraisers and Children of the Corns), the well was eventually drained of every single drop. The heart seemed incapable of pumping much more blood by the time "Urban Legend: Final Cut" came out in theaters. But, I have noticed that on podcasts there seems to be an interest in returning to the late 90s and early 2000s so I'm sure "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and that ilk following "Scream" will remain fairly popular. Nostalgia, as I can attest to, is significant to a lot of horror fans.

I put a * on this review because I have a whole lot of thoughts I might share when I return to "Scream" in the summer (and maybe October, during Halloween season). 2021 will be Scream-centric, if all goes according to plan.

I know that the film isn't as big a deal with some of the horror community, perhaps because of the success and over-saturation. I still love the film, though you see how this formula has been applied to so many horror films afterward. I guess I rate it 4/5.