My Love/Hate Relationship With Scream

Rating: 8/10 (1 January 2005)

I grew up in the 70's and 80's with nothing but cheesy slashers. I hate the snappy and intellectual dialogue that slasher films have these days. "Scream" is an example of what I dislike about horror these days. Now don't get me wrong, Scream is refreshingly original. I only have a problem with it being a new "trend" that will live on forever and the slasher of yesterday will only be remembered as a passing fad. I hate it that they warn you about the "Rules you shouldn't break" or else you will die. How dare they know these rules. I want my teenagers to be dumb as hell and unsuspecting of the horror that lies ahead. I don't want them trying to follow the "rules". The teenagers of Scream (and other 90's/05 slashers) are portrayed as "smarter" than their 70's-80's counterparts. I want to go back to the days when twelve teenagers didn't realize anything strange was happening until only two of them are left, and the bodies of their girlfriends and buddies start falling out of trees, and out of closets.
Scream made me literally scream, even though I still sorta liked it. It's just that I don't want parody-slasher such as Scream becoming the norm.
The good times are gone. I'm an old-timer in my 30's. I guess the reason most youngsters are not in pain over this new breed of horror taking over is because there is not much nostalgia for the old. Nothing can compare to growing up in the 70's/80's and seeing the trailer for a Friday The 13th or The Howling or Slumber Party Massacre. I could actually deal with the way they make slashers these days if at least two or three directors would defect from the pack and start making slashers in true 70's/80's fashion. That way the playing field of slasher films would be even, and this new generation of slasher-fans can keep their "Dawson's Creek" dialogue and the "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" actors that they love so much, and we fans of old-school slashers can go back to the way a slasher was intended.
I long for the unknown actor who has never appeared on a sit-com or TV drama to star in a cheesy horror. A character who would never take notes from previous slasher movies in order to stay alive. I would love to re-visit that dumb blond who rejects the smart nerd for the dumb jock, only to get killed while in the missionary position. The old man with the dirty dog who warns the kids of danger. The Deputy who pays the teens a warning-visit at the beginning of the film but doesn't show up again until the bodies are cold. And finally, the bloody finger that twitches from the corpse with an ax in his back as the paramedics are zipping him up in a body-bag.
Those were the good old days.
I give Scream an 8/10
Yes, I'm sure my rating surprises you. I can't deny that Scream was a good movie. My anger lashes out only at this new trend that Scream has started. I just hope that it hasn't completely destroyed the slasher of old.