Destined To Become A Genre Classic.

Rating: 10/10 (22 March 2005)

"Scream" is an above-average slasher film from Wes Craven, who some consider "the modern master of horror", and deservedly so - he's accomplished quite a bit. The film centers around Sidney Prescott, a teenage girl who is trying to survive high-school, while balancing all of her problems, including her boyfriend and the memories of the savage murder of her mother a year earlier. After a student and her boyfriend are found brutally stabbed to death late one night, the entire town goes into a frenzy, with zany news reporters questioning everybody, and a frantic police department trying to solve the murders. Sidney seems to be all caught up in the middle of it, and as people begin to die all around her, her boyfriend (among others) becomes a suspect.
Probably the best slasher film of the '90s, "Scream" is nothing short of a horror classic. I've always liked Wes Craven's work (particularly his earlier stuff), and while this film is much more light-hearted (for lack of a better term) than "Last House On The Left" or "The Hills Have Eyes", it's very stylish and thrilling. The engaging storyline never lets up and keeps the viewer's attention the whole way through. Dashed with lots of dark humor and countless references to other horror classics (even some references to Craven's films himself), this makes for some fun for seasoned fans of the genre. At times the film almost seems as if it's poking fun at some common elements in the genre, but manages to be taken seriously at the same time. Suspense is pushed quite a bit, and there are some spectacularly scary scenes. The opening scene will more than likely go down as one of the most memorable openings in horror history - very well acted by Drew Barrymore (surprising to see her in this film), and just plain scary to boot. Watch the film and you'll understand what I'm talking about.
Our cast is led by the wonderful Neve Campbell, the innocent protagonist who is caught up in the middle of a town in hysteria. David Arquette plays a quirky police deputy, and Rose McGowan as his popular sister. And Courtney Cox plays a nosy reporter who will do anything to get a good story. I liked the fact that this film really focused on the actual community and it's reaction to the murders, and how the town became a hysteric mess over what was happening. I also liked the fact that the killer wasn't superhuman - those who find themselves in the track of the killer fight back and give the villain quite a beating, and the villain actually runs (the alternative being taking a slowly-paced stroll while trying to pursue a victim, something that has always kind of bothered me about many slasher films).There's plenty of gore, mostly brutal stabbings and such, so all those gore hounds will be pleased. But besides that, this film has a good story going for it led by a very good cast. The ending was a shocker, and was half of what I was expecting, so I was pleasantly surprised.
Bottom line is, "Scream" is one of the superior modern slashers of the 1990s, and can't be missed by horror fans. While the two sequels that it spawned were good, they were nothing like the original, as in most cases. Craven really hit the mark on this one, and it's destined to become a classic of the genre. 10/10.