Scream

Watching this film for the first time in the basement of a four story house, with no-one else in was the perfect setting for this film. From the very first scene I was gripped and I could not wait for the climax to discover the murderer and his motives. The script was extremely original, as they had purposely set out to parodie the typical slasher style movie.

It was written in a way that deceived and tricked and had you jumping out of your seats but also laughing at the paradoxical black humour. For anyone looking for a good horror film with a twist, you won't find a better one than Scream.

Overall I give it 9.5/10

I have been recently reading a lot of reviews of the latest film in this series, Scream 4. Now, for one reason or another I have never seen any of the 'Scream' films before… well not all the way through anyway. Time to change that I thought and so here we are with the first one, Scream. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, it doesn't take itself all that seriously and there's an awful lot more humour than I expected.

We open with a mysterious voice calling up a girl called Casey, who is home alone about to watch a scary movie. She tries to blow him off but he is persistent and eventually begins to creep her out. Things don't end too well for Casey, or her boyfriend, Steve, after a masked assailant has finished with them. We then switch to another girl, Sidney, her mother had been murdered almost a year ago and her father is about to leave on a business trip. All the talk the next day at school is about the murder and on returning home Sidney receives a call from a man with a mysterious voice. She isn't so easily scared, but still she is attacked by the same masked assailant. Having fought him off, her boyfriend, Billy turns up just before Deputy Dewey. Having found a cell phone on him, Dewey arrests Billy and Sidney goes to stay the night with Dewey's sister, Tatum. As time goes by the bodies begin to mount up and this attracts the media, particularly ambitious reporter, Gale Weathers. It's only a matter of time before Sidney is to be the next on the list, and anyway, there's a score to settle and an awful lot of suspects.

This made a refreshing change for me, a horror film that doesn't take itself too seriously but at the same time has all the scares and shocks of a more serious one. I liked it! Decent performances all round; Neve Campbell did a good job as Sidney, as did Skeet Ulrich as Billy. Also of note were Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers, David Arquette as Deputy Dewey and Matthew Lillard as Stuart. Also nice cameos from Drew Barrymore as Casey, Wes Craven very briefly appeared as Fred the Janitor and Henry Winkler as Principal Arthur Himbry.

There is a great soundtrack too, including an interesting acoustic rendition of 'Don't Fear the Reaper' when Sidney and Billy are first seen on screen together (very nicely done). I suspect, unfortunately, that the other films in the series may not live up to this rather good beginning, but we shall see… If you haven't seen it, it's definitely worth a viewing, even if you're not really a fan of teen horrors (like me)… Final verdict: Recommended.

My Score: 7.5/10

I've gone back and forth in my feelings about "Scream" both times I've seen it, almost 20 years ago when it opened, and just now There are times when its meta-parody- but–still-scary approach to teen slasher films works quite well, especially the ending which manages to be funny, scary, over the top, and socially witty all at the same time. Other times it's too self conscious to actually be scary, but not surprising enough in its humor to really be as much fun as it could be.

It's also a hard film to criticize, because the answer to almost every complaint (e.g. the actors playing high school kids all look like they're well into in their 20s) can always be 'but that's the whole point, it's always that way in these movies'. But one thing that does annoy me that isn't so easily shrugged off is that the cast seem to be in a number of different movies. Skeet Ulrich, for example, brings a surprising amount of realism and depth to his character, while Courtney Cox as an 'I'll do anything for a story' reporter plays a cartoon of a cartoon. This isn't of issue of 'good' versus 'bad' acting, but it does make figuring out just what the tone of the film is, more muddy than it needs to be.

Probably the best thing about 'Scream' is it knows when to BE best. The opening and closing 15 minutes are the two strongest sections of the film, so if the middle is a little all over the place and sometimes repetitive, and a little more obvious in it's humor, that's not what you walk away remembering.

I thoroughly enjoyed SCREAM. I haven't seen too many horror movies that struck me as great, especially since most of them are the same. I like THE SIXTH SENSE, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and SCREAM for the same reason, they are more original than the default horror flick.

Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is still mourning the death of her mother, who died nearly one year ago. She seems very distant, even from her best friend Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan) and her boyfriend Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich). She, and most everyone else, thought that the killer was already behind bars. But when people close to Sidney start to get killed, Sidney realizes the the killer is still at large. Deputy Dewey Riley (David Arquette) is there to protect Sidney and reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) is there to get the scoop.

I think the plot of this movie is very interesting and fun. The best part of it is that the killer does his murders in the style of horror movies. The rules of horror movies are often referred to and horror movies are even spoofed fairly often as well.

The actors do a very good job. Neve Campbell is excellent as the primary target/victim and main character of this movie. David Arquette does a fair job as the inexperienced cop (but not as good as in the sequel) and Courtney Cox does a great job as the bitch reporter. Drew Barrymore did very good in her very brief part as Casey Becker. Jamie Kennedy does an OK job as Randy Meeks, the movie expert (but again, not as good as in the sequel). Roger Jackson is the best possible choice for the phone voice and Henry Winkler had a great cameo.

The character development in this movie is good. You'll probably often yell "Look behind you, moron" or "Get out of the room, idiot" at your TV, which this movie is probably going for. Sidney is the most interesting character, with Dewey and and Gale at a close second.

I was surprised that I found Scream 2 to be even better than Scream was. But both are really good. Go out and buy them.

Almost a year after someone raped and killed Sidney Prescott's mother in the small town of Woodsboro, someone is killing teenagers. When Sidney herself becomes a target, the link is apparent and her missing father is a suspect. However, as with all good scary movies, everyone is a suspect.

The film that sparked the revival of horror movies (Halloween H2O, I know what you did last summer, Urban Legend etc all followed…..thanks a lot!). This stands out from all those (and it's lackluster sequels) by being really good and clever. The story is nothing more than the standard slasher plot – but it avoids the cliches quite well. In fact it uses the cliches as references and makes plenty of jokey references to other movies and the supposed rules of horror movies – we even have a quick flash of a caretaker dressed in Freddy's jumper and hat!

That doesn't mean it's not scary – it is! From the tragically horrible opening 10 minutes through each gory killing the tension is high and the shocks are real. The plot twists nicely and the ending is much better than most slasher movies (including the absurd endings of 2 and 3). This manages to be fresh, clever and scary – getting by any sticking moments with it's tongue in it's cheek.

The cats are good – Campbell is a believable virgin, scarred by what happened to her mother – before she starts turning into Buffy the vampire slayer in parts 2 and 3. Cox is excellent playing against type and David Arquette is funny as the Deputy Sheriff. Kennedy as Randy is also funny as the movie geek – in fact he remains the highlight of the next 2 films. The cast being filled of up and coming faces (including Ulrich) makes it even more thrilling when the `wrong' people get killed, technically all the cast are `unknowns' who usually make up the body count, so really anyone can potentially get offed.

Overall funny black comedy, scary thrills and gory excitement. A rare treat – a really good teen horror movie