Stu:Did you really call the cops? Sidney:You bet I did. Stu:My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!
One reason people enjoyed watching Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino's movies when they first came out was because the characters were so self-aware that they constantly made pop culture references within the film itself. Sooner or later, a screenplay was bound to come along that elevated its characters to the point of self-appointed, knowledgeable professionals in the genre of the movie they themselves appear in. Enter Scream, a 1996 project where the teenaged characters have seen all the classic horror movies before. They critique Jamie Lee Curtis from Hallowe'en for running up the stairs when she should be running out of the house. Or characters who innocently say they'll "be right back", and of course they never really do. And who could forget the adage that no virgin ever dies -- only "sinful" teens get the ax in these pictures.
Director Wes Craven is no stranger to horror films, but this time, the focus isn't on the supernatural or the monstrous Freddie Kruegers of the world. It's about a mysterious local figure who wears a Father Death mask, and who carves up everyone from Drew Barrymore to the Fonz. His primary target is the troubled Sidney (Neve Campbell), whose mother was killed -- gasp! -- exactly one year ago. She attends one of those high schools where, based on the casting, it appears you have to be 26 years old in real life. Anyway, more pieces of the puzzle start to fall together as more cadavers start to pile up, and the final 45 minutes of the movie are by far the most fun. I particularly love one scene where a nearby TV cameraman is watching a direct feed placed inside a party house, but has to view everything on a 30-second time delay. It results in one of the most exciting sequences in all of horror movies.
The cast works well here because they do what is required, which is act like possible suspects. Some of them appear in the franchise sequels and some don't, so I'll just leave it at that. Craven himself appears in a cameo as "Fred" the high school janitor, and Linda Blair shows up briefly too.
Not all of Scream is, well, a scream. Sometimes it tries to be a bit too flippant or coy when it should really be trying for suspense and mood (most of the scenes take place either in houses or schools). Still, there's lots of startling shocks and it more than transcends most other films in its often anemic category.
