A horror triumph that is also the last best ever in the genre.

Rating: 10/10 (17 March 2012)

Released in 1996, at a time when it seemed like horror and slasher movies were beginning to fade, this superb little gem of a film was released to an unexpected public who had lost interest in the genre. It had seemed that the slasher genre was dead because of a tired release of sequels from Friday The 13th, which did nothing but make the same film over again. I've always liked the Halloween sequels but even they were not making money. Along comes this hip screenwriter named Kevin Williamson. The same cliché in up and coming screenwriters was apparent here, he was struggling, didn't have money and living off of nothing but he always loved horror movies and was able to come up with his own concept for a script that would become his ultimate masterwork.
Then comes in Wes Craven, who was already a horror legend that at the time, it seemed like he could have gone in any direction he wanted to as a director, he even rejected the script at first, claiming that he shouldn't go down that road again. After noticing what a huge impact he had made with fans over the years and coming to see that he could do no wrong at coming back with another horror powerhouse, he decided, why not? Diminsion Films loved the script from the beginning and always had Wes in mind and now they had him on board, a great script and a director who is a genius at what he does, now all they needed was a cast that could make the story's movie within a movie concept believable. This time though and was unknown in the genre, the producers chose well known actors and hot up and coming talent to portray the characters in this quirky horror opus. Neve Campbell had already received recognition for the hit television drama Party Of Five and was the right choice to play the lead heroin Sydney Prescott. Then you had Courtney Cox from another popular show at the time Friends, had the right amount of personality to play Gale Weathers. The rest of the cast included the always lovely Drew Barrymore. To play a character that is killed off in the first scene, instead of casting some unknown, which is what you usually do especially to a character who is the victim, you had one of the biggest young actresses in the world, Wes even stated that he wasn't sure if the audience would ever forgive them but because Barrymore is so memorable in what is already a well crafted set up to the film, the audience loved it.
The shooting of the film seemed like a fun one when you watch the behind the scenes footage, Wes seems relaxed and confident and the cast is charming and excited to be a part of the production. Post production had a few problems, to get an R rating, a few gore effects had to be cut down to where you see less which I would say is the only flaw to the film but only the MPAA is to blame for that.
Released in December of 1996, the film had a decent run but after only a few weeks, it was the most talked about film. It was clear that this was a horror triumph and one that surely had an effect on younger audiences that they began to show interest in the genre again. Because of its smart concept and witty satire, the film was something special I think that it could not have been pulled off effectively again, so in that context, I think this may be the last great horror film. Of course, this is open for debate and I have seen a few decent horror films since the release of Scream but none as believable or intelligent. Urban Legend (1998) tried to be Scream and I thought that movie was good by the way but wasn't as successful. Over the years we have had a tired release of remakes and few films have paved the way for horror, although I thought that the 2002 film The Ring was the most interesting American horror movie I had seen since Scream but still not the best. The most well done horror films are coming from foreign countries right now that it seems that American horror is dead again but we can only hope that someone will come along and bring something new and fresh to the genre but because Scream did such a unique way at breaking rules and coming up with new ones, I will say it's the last great American horror film. Still, I really enjoyed the sequels, even the 2011 release of Scream 4. I also thought Halloween: H20 was one of the best sequels I had seen in slasher movies, even if it was in a way a response to Scream's success.
Good luck to up and coming directors and screenwriters, let's hope that the one with the interesting take on horror gets the attention of studio heads and producers and also becomes the next horror classic, we desperately need it.