Clever Horror Comedy is Craven's Best Work

Rating: 8/10 (4 January 2011)

Director Wes Craven delivers the best film of his career, based on a rather sly screenplay by Kevin Williamson, and boy did it pay off in 1996! "Scream" is the most sophisticated and well crafted work Craven has ever done, in terms of style, performances and, most of all, effective scares. The simple plot capitalizes on media influence to great effect, and the energetic script, not to mention the cast, brings what could have been a routine slasher to life with verve. A young girl (Neve Campbell of "Wild Things" and "Party of Five") named Sidney Prescott finds herself the main target of a psychotic slasher who appears to his victims wearing a Halloween ghost costume, tormenting them with sadistic phone calls before going in for the kill. Sidney, who has a tragic past involving the murder of her mother just a year before, is forced into a paranoid position of suspicion against everyone in her life. Aided by her best friend Tatum (Rose McGowan) and bumbling deputy Dewey (David Arquette), Sidney also has to deal with the likes of such shady characters as bitchy reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and affectionate boyfriend Billy (Skeet Ulrich). As her friends are picked off one by one, Sidney realizes the psycho killer in question has been inspired by a long slew of slasher films, and many are mentioned throughout the film.
"Scream" wisely draws upon the rules established by earlier entries in the genre including "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th", a clever gimmick to let the audience know that the film itself is aware of its place as a teen oriented horror film, therefore throwing the viewer off guard with a good dose of turning the expected clichés upside down and injecting some real character development, so that we actually care about these kids before they start dying. Self referential humor aside, "Scream" still manages to be dreadfully scary, especially the harrowing opening scene in which a young girl receives several calls that she first assumes are from a harmless prankster but gradually begins to realize she's not safe in her own home. The actors are wonderful, especially Neve Campbell as the smarter than average heroine and Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers. You want these people to live and it's all the more thrilling when they come face to face with the killer.
Williamson's script is chock full of references to other horror movies and unexpected twists, and Craven is at the top of his game, setting up the scares just right and keeping the mystery of who's behind the mask genuinely hard to solve until the surprise climax.