It is unfortunate that this movie redefined the modern slasher film and spawned so many bad imitators, but I can't fault the source...

Rating: Null/10 (3 June 2003)

(***1/2 out of *****)
I guess most `true' slasher fans are supposed to hate this movie, because it was almost solely responsible for taking the once-controversial (and generally condemned) slasher genre and making it wildly popular with the teen crowd by cramming it with the latest teeny-bopper stars and making the dialogue pop-culturally hip and winkingly self-referential. Well, I agree that this series has influenced a slew of lame imitators ("I Know What You Did Last Summer," "Valentine,' 'Urban Legend,' etc., etc., etc.), but I'm sorry, Craven and writer Kevin Williamson make a good team -- I enjoyed this movie. It's clever, it's funny, the actors are mostly likable, and -- in spite of all the cutesy, tongue-in-cheek dialogue -- there are a few suspenseful (and quite violent) scenes to boot. And rather than out-right spoofing slasher movies (like the seriously UNfunny "Scary Movie" series), Craven and Williamson pay homage to this 70s/80s genre (they reference everything from "Halloween" to 1974's "Black Christmas" to even lesser-known stuff, like the 1981 slasher "Happy Birthday to Me.") It is unfortunate that this series has seriously changed the ways in which slasher/horror films are made today, but, honestly, has the genre really been going anywhere since, like, the late 80s? David Arquette, Courtney Cox, and Jamie Kennedy are the most fun to watch here, and also in the cast are Neve Campbell, Johnny Depp--er--I mean Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, Drew Barrymore, and Rose McGowan.
HIGHLIGHT: The opening murder scene -- with Barrymore, telephone in hand, being stabbed and gutted on her front lawn, just a few feet away from her parents -- disturbs me every time I watch it.