A great piece of innovative horror film thinking!

Rating: Null/10 (18 February 2000)

"Scream" is one of the first horror movies I have seen that has ever managed to scare me and delight me at the same time. It it fun and enjoyable because it's scary, yet it pokes fun at the very genre it's categorized under. It makes fun of horror movies, and it's scary as hell at other times. That unique combination is what really delighted me about "Scream". It's a horror film that doesn't really take itself seriously. The film begins with an ingenious sequence where Drew Barrymore is in her house by herself(great setup), and receives a phone call from an unknown stranger. She assumes it's some sort of prank, and continues to on the phone, which develops into a conversation about what her favorite scary movies are. Then, fantasy seems to turn into reality as the person she is talking to lets her know he's watching her, she sees her boyfriend tied up and killed, and then she too is attacked and killed by the intruder. Never have I been so scared by a beginning of a film! Sadly, the rest of the film which was also quite scary, never lived up to the fear the opening sequence produced in me. Throughout the movie, the characters talk endlessly about sci-fi/horror films, and constantly compare the murders and incidents to how they happened in horror films. This was where the real genius of the film came into view, because now the audience doesn't know whether to be scared or to simply laugh it off. We don't quite know where "Scream" is going, and that makes it all the more fun. My only true disappointment in the film was when the killer's identity was revealed. I know it was something that had to be done, but I always found it scarier when the killer's identity was kept a mystery. The costume the killer wears is great, and it reminded me very much of the movie "Halloween". However, "Halloween" was a different kind of movie, because it was a serious horror film, and "Scream" is not. I just wish that the sequel could've been better.