Not nearly as textbook as the lengthy speech about horror clichés would have you believe

Rating: 8/10 (20 July 2009)

Despite the running joke throughout this film about how predictable and formulaic horror films are, this modest little thriller gave the genre a much-needed shot in the arm in the mid-90's. Though it would spawn scores of mediocre imitators, and eventually open the door for the dreadful "torture porn" phenomenon a decade later, we can hardly blame Scream for the untalented auteurs who attempted to follow in its footsteps. Taken on its own, and not considering the largely unnecessary sequels that followed, Scream is aging extremely well, and remains a solid, classy, and dense thriller that works on multiple levels.
Scream delivers actual scares, humor that doesn't detract from the horror elements, and a twist ending that I defy anyone to honestly claim they saw coming when they first saw it. The script is sharp-witted and sharp-fanged, balancing the base horror components with a sophistication that one doesn't find in too many teen-targeting genre offerings. Additionally, the film functions as an homage to horror itself, deftly lampooning and referencing key moments from many genre classics while simultaneously out-performing most of the films it references.
The cast is a superb ensemble, and even actors like Jamie Kennedy and David Arquette, who are responsible between them for some of the most idiotic and useless films of all time, shine with this material. It's a testament to the strength of the writing that even the most annoying actors to ever soil a screen are genuinely likable here.
Surely, some of the best horror films of all time employ a full-throttle assault of terror, and this approach is largely the most effective way of presenting the genre. But Scream succeeds simply because it's such a fun movie to watch. By presenting this film as somewhat of a goofy teen romp (even though it's not all that goofy), the film-makers keep the viewer off-guard through much of the proceedings, and the air of satire the film never leaves behind gives the genuine scares that much more impact.
Of course, most people who only know the film peripherally will undoubtedly remember Scream as "the one with the rules in it". Anyone who doesn't immediately tear holes through the logic presented in this famous monologue clearly hasn't seen many horror films, but it remains a great bit, especially since Scream, itself, so stridently defies many of the most harrowing clichés in the genre. My favorite touch: until Scream, never had a killer routinely endured so much abuse at the hands of their intended victims. The ghost-masked assassin here literally gets the crap kicked out of them in every scene they're in, and even though we know we're watching a film that obviously isn't trying to take itself too seriously, this note of realism adds a great dimension to the happenings. Our victims-to-be fighting back enhances the tension in each death scene, and the film presents polished and exciting sequences that are ultimately much more memorable than the rote stalk-and-kill we usually get in the less imaginative offerings of splatter's hallowed past.
This film was highly original when it came out, and none of its imitators have even come close to matching the magical combination of non-formula elements that make Scream so special. We'll see how this film is regarded once it's further relegated to horror's history, but its hard not to notice that this film was pivotal in changing the genre's climate in the same way that Nirvana's Nevermind changed the landscape of popular rock music a few years before. I'm certainly not directly comparing these two works, but in terms of impact, it's safe to say that the analogy applies here. And, ultimately, if Scream is the Nevermind of scary movies, that's not all that bad a distinction to have.