Scream (1996)

Hilarious Reminders of the 90s:

- Neve Campbell
- Indigo Girls poster
- GIANT cell phones.
- “As if!”
- A 14-year-old Jamie Kennedy.
- Video stores with video tapes in them.
- TV news reporters.


Just Cold Reviewin':

Wow, "Scream",right? Everyone saw this like 13 years ago. I’m sure you remember the first time you saw it. Fall of 1996, you had just purchased “If You’re Feeling Sinister” on CD, while wearing Doc Martens, and you were like, “Hey, let’s go see that Wes Craven horror movie parody that all those ‘Party of Five’ actors are in!” So you went to see “Scream”, which was supposed to be our generation’s “Halloween.”

“Scream” was a big hit at the time because it featured “edgy” and “clever” writing by Kevin Williamson, the man who brought you Dawson’s Creek. Then Joss Whedon and Judd Apatow” came along and made Kevin Williamson look wildly obsolete. And unemployed.

Even though the dialogue was what passed for witty and satirical in the 90s, the film itself did revitalize the slasher film, much like what “Halloween” did in 1978. “Scream” essentially plays like a 90s version of the original “Halloween,” except much worse. At least John Carpenter knew how to direct a movie, using lighting and long takes to create a suspenseful atmosphere. Plus, Michael Meyers was actually incredibly creepy. The killer in “Scream” isn’t frightening at all—in fact he’s as scary as the killer in “Scary Movie”—basically just a dude in a black robe with a goofy mask. In fact, Matthew Lillard’s acting is probably the scariest part of "Scream."

The movie opens with Drew Barrymore getting stabbed to death. This was a “comeback” for her, as she’d basically been in Hollywood limbo even since she starred in E.T., drank for 10 years, then starred in Poison Ivy. The plot centers around a group of high school kids trying to cope with the murder of their friend Drew Barrymore, the alcoholic. “Scream” does that hilarious horror movie cliché (and it was one by 1996) that people keep suspiciously showing up and disappearing—right when the killer either comes or goes—so naturally everyone’s a suspect.

Throughout “Scream,” there are numerous references to other horror films, which was seen as clever at the time, because hey, cultural references! The writer saw other movies, people! The characters all think they’re too smart to be killed by some horror movie killer, because they’ve seen “Halloween,” so they know how it works. Except that they all get stabbed anyways. Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox finally just have enough and start shooting everyone and dropping TVs on people’s heads until the killers are stopped.

Highlights? Eh, well, Fonzie is the high school principal, and it’s great to see him in an angrier role in his pre-Barry Zuckercorn days. Also David “Courtney Cox” Arquette is pretty entertaining in this as a bumbling cop. But overall, “Scream” pales in comparison to suspenseful, eerie slasher films like the original “Halloween,” and it’s pretty tame on all fronts by today’s standards—it’s not scary, it’s not funny, it’s not clever, and it has Matthew Lillard in it.