Scream

Of all the slasher films that started their own endless franchises, Scream is perhaps the best of all of them. With its self-aware storytelling that cleverly mixes humor and terror, it leads to no surprise that the movie’s original title was going to be, "Scary Movie.” Its plot revolves around a bunch of teenagers who love scary movies and ultimately are forced to face the very scenarios from the genre they claim to know so much about, and on the way, every cliché of the slasher genre is addressed. In fact, the script is so self-aware that director Wes Craven even includes critical references to himself and the movies he’s directed!
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Yet this film also works as an excellent showcase of generating fear, as established by the famous opening scene where Drew Barrymore’s character is the victim of a tense phone call. The rest of the cast was full of actors who were well-known on television until starring in this movie helped launch their careers on the big screen. But the real star of this genre-defining piece of entertainment is its chilling soundtrack, which kicks up the adrenaline as it turns the suburban setting into a massive house of horror. It’s hard to think of anyone who wouldn’t get the creeps from watching Wes Craven’s masterpiece, a movie that made future slasher films lean more toward the real world instead of the supernatural.

R (DLSV)
Horror/Thriller
1 hr. 51 min.

Watch it for FUN.
Watch it to feel HAPPY.
​Watch it to feel AFRAID.