Say a prayer for the youth of America.

Rating: 9/10 (15 October 2009)

Sidney Prescott becomes the next target of a maniacal killer who has already killed two kids from her school. As tabloid babe Gale Weathers gets involved, and starts to dig deeper, it becomes apparent that the killer may be connected to the man who raped and killed Sidney's mother. Could it be that the wrong man is in in prison for the crime? If so? Just who is responsible for this new rein of terror?
Scream opens with what has now become 10/12 minutes of classic horror folklore, where director Wes Carpenter sets out the marker for the reinvigoration of the genre synonymous with his name. What follows is a full blooded exciting picture that is laced with genre references and bona fide pinging humour. Teaming up with hipster screenwriter Kevin Williamson, Craven has assembled a roll call of stock teen-slasher characters, filled the roles out with a cast list reading like the young, pretty and the restless, and embraced the genre he loves while also subverting it. Clever clever stuff indeed.
Retaining its "mystery who done it" core throughout, red herrings and misdirections come and go, Scream is also a truly scary {and violent} picture. As it makes the knowing genre faithful laugh, it also makes them jump, squirm and shout at the screen. Particularly during the last, excellently constructed quarter when the terror ups on poor Sidney and the reveal induces cries of "what the hell". Subsequent revisits to Scream has you spotting all the little pointers in the story that you missed on the first viewing, but even knowing the reveal fails to dim Scream's lasting appeal. Also of note is that the cast get a chance to act, something that is a rarity in the sub-genre that Scream is the flag bearer for. Neve Campbell, Jamie Kennedy and Courtney Cox benefiting the most from the sly and adroitly written script. Craven's film spawned two sequels, the first is equally dazzling and watchable, the second not so. While it was also responsible for a cascade of imitators and comedy spoofs that would follow. None however have captured the essence, the nous or the style of Scream. It remains the daddy and the bench mark in an often maligned and rarely realised teen-slasher genre. 9/10