Scream
Remember those cheesy slasher movies of the 70's and 80's? Remember how stupid the characters in those movies were? "Some stupid killer chases some blond with big breasts who can't act, and she runs up the stairs when she should be running out the door." This line comes from Wes Craven's new horror/slasher movie, Scream, which takes all those old movies, such as Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and others, and puts a twist on them. The characters in Scream are self-aware and realize that they are in a horror movie. It almost reminds me of New Nightmare, another Wes Craven flick, where the stars of the first "Nightmare" movie are terrorized by the fictional character, Freddy Krueger.
The difference between New Nightmare and this movie is simple: We care about the characters. It might be the cast, because this movie has an outstanding cast, or it might be the plot, which is very tricky and full of twists. Many of the twists are just to trick us into thinking one of the characters is the murderer, and let me tell you, it works. I never actually did guess which character was the murderer, and it was a big surprise when I found out. The script keeps you guessing until the very end and just when you think you know who the killer is, that person is eliminated, one way or another.
The movie starts out with one of the scariest moments in movie history. It almost reminds me of the opening of the terrifying When A Stranger Calls. Casey Becker (played terrificly by Drew Barrymore; who knew? She can act!) is alone at her house getting ready to watch a scary movie. She gets a phone call from a mysterious guy and he asks her what her name is. They have a short conversation and she hangs up. As you have seen in the previews, he tells her he can see her. This moment is terrifying and what follows is even more scary. I'm not going to tell you what happens, because the scene is truly horrific and would be spoiled by revealing the ending.
We are then introduced to Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell, The Craft) whose mother had been killed, wouldn't you know it, a year ago. That night, Sidney begins to get phone calls, the same as Casey Becker did. The killer is foiled when trying to kill Sidney by her boyfriend (Skeet Ulrich) showing up. Of course, he just happens to have a cellular phone with him and they find the costume that the killer wears on the front porch. The boyfriend is taken to jail, but of course, the phone calls come again.
The plot is too complex to be explaining anything, so just go see the movie. I haven't been this scared in a movie since A Nightmare on Elm Street. But what makes this movie so much better than all those other cheesy slasher movies is that the characters talk about horror movies. They discuss them openly, talking about the stupid cliches that they use (never say "I'll be right back," because that character won't be right back), and ten seconds later, the movie uses that cliche and one of the characters is killed. The movie is very creative and ingenious, making you believe one thing but it just ends up a dead end. In fact, at one point or another, I thought the killer was every character in the movie (not at once of course), except Neve Campbell's character. And just when you think you've got it figured out, the screenwriters throw another twist at you and you realize you're wrong.
As I said before, this movie has a terrific cast, although I do think one character should have been played by someone else. Neve Campbell is superb although her character is a little boring. Drew Barrymore steals the entire movie even though she doesn't have a very big part. Skeet Ulrich, who was in The Craft with Campbell, is a Johnny Depp-look alike but he does provide some chemistry betweem him and Campbell. Courtney Cox, who plays a tabloid reporter, is very good. David Arquette plays a nerdy cop who eats ice cream instead of donuts. Matthew Lillard is the only one out of place. He is dorky and should have been replaced by someone more serious. Rose McGowan is very good (she's the "big breasts" girl in the preview). Henry Winkler is the principal and he is dorky too, but he does a good job. Jamie Kennedy is the horror film fanatic who explains the rules to survive a scary movie.
Scream is rated R and boy, should it be. There was, for me, an unexpected amount of blood and gore. I thought this was a horror film, but it's a slasher movie as well, and the insides of a couple characters are turned outside. However, the gore is bearable because most people should realize that they are almost spoofing many horror movies. People that don't realize it will be horrified. There is a sex scene but it doesn't show any nudity. And of course, as with almost every movie made, there is profanity and vulgarity. Despite the R rating, the movie is superb to almost every horror movie ever made. Wes Craven keeps the pacing up, and provides some comic relief (although sometimes it gets too comical) in between the horrifying sequences. After all, you don't want to see two people get killed without something to break the tension in between. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a horror movie.
Note: Here are my rules of Horror Movies: