Scream: The Inside Story

Scream: The Inside Story (2011)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Nice, detailed look at the making of Wes Craven's SCREAM features interview with the director himself as well as writer Kevin Williamson and actors Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Robert Englund, Matthew Lillard, Jamie Kennedy, Rose McGowan, Bob Weinstein, Skeet Ulrich and Eli Roth. The documentary goes into great detail the various pre-production issues that happened with the film including how Craven kept turning the project down while others like George Romero did the same. There's also a great deal talked about how Drew Barrymore signed up to play the lead only to then change her mind weeks before shooting. Stuff like the casting is discussed in detail as well as the eventual controversy including a local school refusing them permission to shoot there. There's also quite a bit of talk about the film getting an NC-17 rating and how they eventually got an R-rating. If you're a fan of the film then pretty much anything you want to know is going to be answered here. The cast and crew are very open about where they were in their careers at this time and what impact this movie had on them. Craven is always great to listen to and once again he shares some great stories and well as his thoughts about the film once it became a hit. Those wanting to hear about the sequels will probably be disappointed because the only one really mentioned is part four and this was due to this documentary coming up just shortly before that film was released theatrically. The documentary certainly gives the film all the credit for it changing horror history but it does fail to mention a few earlier films that used the laughs and the terror.

It's remarkable that in 2011 the Scream franchise got not one but two documentaries. What is even more remarkable is that they are both quite good, especially when I don't consider the Scream movies particularly entertaining.

With great interviews, archive footage and taking a different approach than the same years Still Screaming (2011) this focuses entirely on the first movie as opposed to them all and lightly hypes the fourth part.

Telling the story of the movies creation, all the set backs, it's origins and explaining just how close it came to never happening this is a decent effort.

Between the two I'd say it's an even contest, for the original movie this is stronger but for the franchise go with Still Screaming.

The Good:

Great interviews

The Bad:

Shadowed by the Still Screaming (2011)

Things I Learnt From This Documentary:

Janeane Garofalo should have been Gail Weathers

We need to dig a nice big hole fill it with censors and drown them in camel pee