The brilliant second coming of the slasher flicks

Rating: 8/10 (9 April 2010)

There is no doubt that Wes Craven's Scream gave a solid re-birth to the slasher genre. In an age when Friday the 13th, Halloween, and Nightmare on Elm Street sequels had left even the most avid fans like myself kind of drained Scream came along and somehow added its own special twist. Sure it had a lot of the same ingredients but instead it took to poking fun of the generic slasher while still creating a very real one and leaving the pieces everyone loved in tact. Another thing Scream does is that it adds a human element to the horror slasher genre. The killer isn't supernatural in any way and is in fact a serial killer with a motive, and a mystery to be unraveled with a "everybody's a suspect" type game being played. Despite the lack of supernatural "Ghostface" easily became synonymous with other legendary hacker greats. Scream also doesn't particularly go out of its way to showcase unique and strange deaths like say Friday the 13th where there has been so many that they need to have smart deaths, Scream is about "Ghostface" stabbing his way through everyone in his way. One thing was for sure...Scream was only the beginning.
Neve Campbell was in the height of her Party of Five days and was easily the next "It" girl although that never truly happened. Scream could also be nailed for bringing together a hot young Hollywood A-List or future A-List cast. Campbell is really the perfect scream queen lead role. She IS the embodiment of what Jamie Lee Curtis was for Halloween or Heather Langenkamp was for Nightmare on Elm Street. Sweet, smart, disturbed, haunted, a twisted past of sorts, Campbell is perfect. She is the girl next door but has a hero inside too. Courtney Cox Arquette (before she was Arquette) plays sleazy ambulance chasing reporter Gail Weathers, that really does have a heart of gold. This is almost a more serious role for Cox although her clumsy silly side shows through a little bit. David Arquette (her now husband) plays lovable loser Dewey. This is a great role for Arquette...defining in many ways. He is an everyman's hero, and despite his nerd like exterior, gets the girl, the bad guy, and goes out guns blazing. This is easily his best role but that isn't saying much really. Jamie Kennedy takes a step back from slapstick to play the smart, level headed movie buff Randy who pines for Sydney. I love Kennedy's character in this film and subsequent Scream films and I only wish he had a bigger role in the first installment. He is comedic relief but in a subtle way and a hero in other ways. Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich I put together as sort of second string supporting characters. Neither of them really have a lead role but their presence is well known in the cast. Both are decent although I felt like Lillard's character lost some credibility at his sort of silly outbursts towards the end. He was one comedian in the film that seemed to be unable to let go of his slapstick antics. Also worth mentioning is a great cameo however brief by Henry Winkler, and the iconic opening scene featuring Drew Barrymore who does an outstanding job being terrorized. They also introduce Liev Schrieber in a small role that will become far more significant in the future.
Wes Craven really single handedly brought the slasher genre back to reality. He put together an incredible cast with incredible chemistry that would hold together through 3 (soon to be 4? films.) The first Scream feels like an introduction to a bigger picture which as we know by the end of the trilogy is exactly true. Essentially especially for Campbell, Arquette and Cox Arquette he gave them what would be defining roles for them. Scream also coined defining iconic moments like Ghostface and "Do you like Scary Movies?" and "Hello Sydney." For horror buffs this is classic at its best. It is easily a must see film and is sure to delight, fright and even make you smile. 8.5/10