On Second Thought

Rating: Null/10 (17 July 2000)

In an earlier comment on Scream I was way too negative about this Wes Craven/Kevin Williamson joint venture. After seeing Scream 2, which I found very entertaining, I went to the store to buy Scream. I had to if I wanted to see it again, for I had erased my first copy.
Seeing it for the second time I appreciated it much more. Although the opening scenes with Drew Barrymore are not really my kind of potato, for -call me old-fashioned- I don't like long-stretched brutality and yes I do think this qualifies as such, the film on the whole is good. Not nice, but good. I am particularly impressed by Neve Campbell's charismatic acting. Jamie Kennedy's humorous role is essential to this film. The story is not constructed in a bad way, as I claimed in my first comment, but in fact it really stimulates viewers to eagerly try and find out the killer's identity. In this sense Williamson has done a great job and the way he almost lets his story run out of control only to make it all fit in the end in a remarkable and highly entertaining way is praiseworthy.
The scenes I like most is where Campbell hears two girls talking about her in school; the one where Kennedy becomes ecstatic in the video store; the principal (Henry Winkler, uncredited for some reason) apologizing to the janitor; and Campbell impersonating the voice on the phone ("Wanna play a game? It's called: Guess Who Called the Police..."). So on second thought, Scream is not that bad at all and Wes Craven deserves a little more credit than I first gave him.