Wes Craven Has Made A Brilliant Horror/Comedy

Rating: 9/10 (25 September 2005)

Wes Craven (Nightmare On Elm Street and Last House On The Left) has done a great job with this horror. The horror genre became crap at around the time of the 80's. All we got were crappy rip-offs or sequel after sequel. Friday the 13th has 10 and Halloween has 8. It was about time for someone to come along and save the horror genre.
The plot here isn't hard to follow at all. A killer in a ghost mask is killing of teens in Woodsboro High School. The story follows Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her life that is practically ruined. A year ago her mother was raped and butchered and her boyfriend Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) is pressuring her for a better relationship. All she needs is a killer that appears to be targeting her and her friends which include Tatum (Rose McGowan), Randy (Jamie Kennedy), Stu (Matthew Lillard) and Dewey (David Arquette). Also included in the bunch is Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), a reporter who reported on Sidney's mother's death.
This horror/comedy is really one of the only great horrors of the 90's. It has tried to be duplicated but never bettered. The acting is great in this, the music chilling and the directing fine. The other great thing is this doesn't take itself seriously. This is a parody of the horror movies in the 70's and 80's. It has typical clichéd situations and many horror fans will recognise references to Halloween, NOES, Friday the 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
The movie is filled with plenty of scares, especially the first 12 minutes, and is filled with plenty of gore. The climax is well played out and the killers identities are unexpected.
4½/5