A first of it's kind.

Rating: 8/10 (3 September 2015)

Back in the 90's horror movies were dead. Scream revitalized that genre for it's meta and self-aware take. Since Scream most movie have tried that meta, self-aware angle, some have been successful, but a lot haven't. We can all thank Scream for that.
Give a lot of credit to Wes Craven's sense of direction, building scares and tension per each scene, and Kevin Williamson's original sharp script. He obviously had a brain child. It's also almost hard to even imagine Wes Craven almost passed on this movie. Killing off Drew Barrymore right from the beginning was a huge deal back then. Killing a big star like her meant no one was safe and that unpredictability was at massive play, keeping you guessing.
The cast is wonderful. Neve Campbell was my childhood crush. I watched this film when I was about twelve years old and since then I fell in love with her. Neve portrays her character Sidney Prescott very well, she's strong and she plays the victim role effortlessly. Couteney Cox is great at playing the bitchy reporter Gale Weathers, David Arquette gives the film some levity as a clumsy deputy Dewey Riley. Rose McGowan plays Sidney's spunk best friend Tatum with attitude. Skeet Ulrich plays it straight as Sidney's boyfriend Billy Loomis, almost all the time you can't help but wonder if he's a suspect or not. Matthew Lillard also provides some humor as Stu, as well as Jamie Kennedy who is the breakout character Randy Meeks, the film's go-to for anything comedic.
The Ghostface killer is so iconic now that it just doesn't seem scary at all, but the very first time we see that costume, and he's chasing Drew Barrymore, it is quite effective. Craven does such a good job with building up suspense. He makes Billy Loomis look guilty, but then innocent. You almost kind expect him to be the killer, but in the finale what don't you expect is Matthew Lillard end up being the second killer. It's a double whammy and you'd never expect someone like his character to end up being a killer. Williamson's writing allows you to take a breather from all the suspense and laugh once in while with solid dialog and jokes.
The only gripe in this near perfect film is when Ghostface is stalking both Sidney and Tatum in broad daylight. That is one moment where it just looses some credibility. Also some of the special effects are just a tad bit outdated. Not so much so that it takes you out of the film, but you can tell, especially Tatum's death by the garage door.
I grew up in the 90's, I'm only in my early twenties and Scream was definitely a part of my childhood. Thank you Wes Craven for not only giving me nightmares and making me afraid to go to sleep(another obvious iconic Wes Craven horror villain) and answering phone calls. You will be missed by many.
8.7/10