912. SCREAM (1996)

Running Time: 111 minutes
Directed By: Wes Craven
Written By: Kevin Williamson
Main Cast: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, David Arquette

ONE YEAR LATER

It was one year ago today, when I sat down at the computer to type up my review for " A Trip to the Moon". Today, as I sack out on my bed, I choose a movie that comes almost 100 years later, "Scream", a movie that I remember watching twice the day that it came out on VHS, which seems like so many years ago.

The film opens with Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore), sporting short, blonde hair and cooking some popcorn in preparation for a scary movie in front of the television. Casey, who is home alone, receives a phone call and the wheels of the movie are set into motion. The caller talks politely at first, despite his eerie voice and questions Casey about her movie choice and then goes on to talk about more scary movies, Halloween, Friday the 13th, etc. As Casey continues to hang up on the caller, he becomes more agitated and his true motives are eventually revealed. He has tied up Casey's boyfriend on her porch and he plans to kill them both before the night is over. Her only hope is if she can answer a question correctly: "Who was the killer in Friday the 13th?". She fails the pop quiz and quickly finds herself hanging from a tree, her insides on the outside. Following that, the rest of the cast is revealed, her high school classmates, as they're shocked to hear about the vicious murder of Casey.

The main character is Sidney Prescott (Campbell), a virginal young girl who's boyfriend Billy (Ulrich) wants nothing more than to stamp an "R" rating on their "PG-13" relationship. The school and town is rocked by the murder of Casey and her boyfriend Steve and Gail Weathers (Cox), a local news reporter wants nothing more than to expose the situation and make a name for herself, just as she did with the story of Sidney's mother, who was brutally raped and murdered almost one year prior to Casey's death. Eventually a curfew is set in place and more murders take place, including that of the high school principal, Sidney's best friend Tatum and nearly Sidney herself as the killer, wearing a ghost faced mask, tries the same routine on her, as he did with Casey Becker. However, Sidney is seemingly more resilient and continues to escape the murderous clutches of the slasher, a slasher who wants nothing more than to get his hands on Sidney. Toward the end, all signs point to Neil Prescott, Sidney's father, but in horror movies, nothing is as it seems.

I look fondly on this movie, as it was something that I specifically remember being hyped and being a big success at the box office. I also remember sitting with my brother and watching this movie for the first time and having a blast. With that being said, "Scream" has absolutely no right mingling with the movies that are contained in the pages of the "1001" book. Sure it's a fun film when you're a teenager, but when you grow up some of that fun begins to fade and you realize that it's just another cliche slasher flick, full of plot holes. Not to say that ALL of the fun has diminished, I still had a pretty good time reliving my childhood today and taking in "Scream" for the first time in ages. You would think that Wes Craven would want his big comeback horror flick to be a really quality one, that creeped you out, instead of an ode to old horror movies (many of them his own) that makes you laugh, just as much as it makes you jump. In the end, you realize that the best part of this movie came within the first five minutes, and the scene with Drew Barrymore, a really perfectly played out scene that really amps you up for what SHOULD follow, but instead is only the high part of a movie that goes downhill from there.

RATING: 4.5/10 If you've never seen it, then 'yes' I'd recommend seeing it once, but "Scream" is a movie that is no longer for me, as apparently me and my tastes have grown up.

MOVIES WATCHED: 141
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 860

September 11, 2010 3:20pm