A good slasher, but still a bad movie...

Rating: 5/10 (17 February 2000)

I think slashers are boring. They are neither funny, nor frightening, but this one is almost an exception to this rule. Why "almost"? Because its not frightening. It's funny, mainly because of Randy. Randy and Dewey are the only characters that I didn't hate in this movie. Randy is funny and Dewey is pretty friendly. The others are all jerks that you hope will get killed in the most horrible way and never be heard of anymore, and that INCLUDES Neve Campbell. I have to admit it's hard to like a movie when you hate the hero. But the most annoying character is the one played by Rose McGowan. She is incredibly stupid. A real walking stereotype. The kind of character I absolutely hate. So, it's even harder to love a movie when you hate both the hero and her best friend... Annoying characters are bad in slasher, since you are supposed to like the characters being hunted down and fear for them, not hope they get killed, chopped down in pieces and die in the most horrible way you can imagine. Well, that is the way I felt during the whole movie, except when Dewey and Randy were in trouble. Some jokes about the "rules" when you are in a slasher are funny(and pretty realistic). But, I never screamed... It's not frightening! THIS IS NOT AN HORROR MOVIE!!! THIS IS A SLASHER!!! Horror movies leave a strange feeling, gives you the creep, have a lasting effect. Slashers go for cheap surprises(killer coming out of the closet, jumping from the roof, etc...). Maybe Scream is, in a way, an horror comedy, since it makes fun of slashers. But if it is, then it could never compete with the kings of horror comedies: Dead Alive(a.k.a. Braindead) and Evil Dead 2. So let's just say it is the king of cheap teen slashers. It is the best of the collection of bad movies that can be found in this category, but that doesn't make it a good movie. It's also better than the horrible sequels that followed, or any of the movies that where "inspired" by its success. If you love slashers, you will probably love this movie. One last thing: I guessed who the killer was in no time.
5 out of 10. A good slasher, but that doesn't make it a good movie...