Scream (1996)

Rating: 8/10 (24 April 2012)

80/100. The movie that begun the silver age of slasher films in the mid to late 1990's. Although Wes Craven's horror filmography is glowing with other culturally significant trips to the macabre ( A Nightmare on Elm Street, Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes) I consider 'Scream' to be his greatest achievement. Not only was the timing for the film perfect, but Kevin Williamson's simple yet brilliant script and an almost perfect cast help hail this movie as one of the best horror movies of the 1990's. Neve Campbell as the film's sexually repressed or 'final girl' character, if you will, rivals that of the original scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis. David Arquette as Dewey Riley steals the spotlight every scene he's in, Courtney Cox proves her acting talent by playing a stuck up, malevolent news reporter whose passion and slight hint of selflessness makes her character hard to not love, while Jamie Kennedy helps channel the audience's thoughts and concerns to everyone on screen. Even minor characters such as Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich, and even Henry Winkler all have memorable roles. Drew Barrymore's opening scene although perhaps a little over-the-top, is both memorable and nostalgic to horror movie lore. This strongly meta influenced film is one of the few to get the concept right and the laugh to scare ratio is perfect. The final act is a wild ride that should make everyone shudder at how plausible it would be for someone to put on a Halloween costume and start butchering inebriated teenagers.