Scream: A Parody Of The Slasher Film

Rating: 7/10 (18 September 2008)

Scream is always wrongfully called a horror movie. To be 100% truthful, Scream isn't a horror film by any means. Some Contemparary horror audiences might find Scream to be terrifying, but true horror fans can find the gimmicks and little laughs to make the film entertaining. Scream is not entertaining by the horror standard at all. I first seen Scream when I was fairly new to the horror genre, and I didn't find it to be suspenseful or scary by any means. It didn't even get to the graphic scenes until the very end. I couldn't exactly appreciate what this film was until I searched further in the horror genre, then I re-watched Scream, and found all of the parody moments.
Scream was directed by Wes Craven, who is mainly known for directed A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and several exploitation films from the 70s (Last House on the Left (1972); Hills Have Eyes (1976)). However, Wes directed Scream several years after directed A New Nightmare, which would be the final installment in the Nightmare on Elm Street series. A New Nightmare basically took place in the real world outside the movies with the actors playing themselves. Scream basically works in the same way. It parodies the films that inspired it. For me, this film is a first rate comedy. I'm sure that some people will find this film to be absolutely terrifying in the last half an hour, but others will just find it to be guilty fun. Which category do you fall into? Well, when I referenced Last House on the Left (1972), did you know what film I was talking about? If so, this will seem like a pure comedy to you.
While Scream IS a comedy, it still supplies some fun graphic scenes near the end of the film as well as some decent performances by the cast. The twist at the end was expected looking at the rest of the film, but was still nice to see.