Halloween Countdown: #1 Scream
For the last time, I'll say SPOILER ALERT!
Well, here we are - Numero Uno! Yes, my ultimate favourite horror film is Scream (1996). I really don't even know where to begin with this film, I just love everything about it; the story, the script, the characters, the soundtrack, the satire and pop culture references, all of it! I popped my horror cherry with Scream, so it's like a first love and nothing can replace it. To this day, I can pretty much recite the entire script, that's how much I immersed myself in it. Just like with The Shining, I was bursting to tell all my friends how cool Scream was and how they just had to see it. My gushing paid of with one friend, I showed it to him and it kick-started his interest in horror films. Of course once I'd found someone my age to talk about it with (I was 14 so, once again, bypassed the rating) I couldn't stop. We obsessed about it for weeks and weeks and there's no way that kind of impact can ever be forgotten.
Scream has been cited as the modern day slasher flick that gave a much needed shot in the arm into the horror genre as a whole. It's spawned sequels (Four up to now, a fifth and sixth one in the pipeline) but none of them can top this; although Scream 2 was actually a good film. But, like I say, you can beat the first and I think it's safe to say that no horror film in general can knock it from my No.1 spot.
The plot is, again, not too taxing, but there is a bit of back-story that is established throughout the film. The gist of the story is: Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is stalked by masked killer (Ghostface) around the anniversary of her mother's death, a year ago. I'd just like to mention how cool the Ghostface mask is, in fact I'm the proud owner of one myself. There were so many crappy replicas out though, so I made sure that I got one that's as close to the real thing as possible. It's served me well over many Halloweens! Anyway, I digress...
The opening scene of the film is just fantastic as it doesn't take long for the action to kick off. What starts out as a presumed wrong number, ends up as a matter of life and death. Ghostface's initial tactic of working through phone calls, as opposed to just turning up and stabbing his victim, is interesting. Ghostface's phone calls to Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) start out in a flirtatious vein, with Casey entering into a conversation about her favourite scary movie. As an aside, this is the first instance of pop culture being referenced (Halloween being her favourite scary movie) and also an in-joke about Nightmare On Elm Street being the only scary film while the rest of the franchise "sucked". I love this line because director Wes Craven only directed the first NOES, none of the others; so we've got a Craven film being talked about within another Craven film. This isn't the only time Nightmare... is alluded to either. When Billy visits Sidney and crawls through her bedroom window, the scene is almost replicating Glen climbing through Nancy's window. Also, the high school in Scream has a janitor called Fred (also played by Wes Craven) who's outfit includes a stripey jumper and trilby hat! It's little references like this that makes Scream so enjoyable to watch.
The opening also takes a Psycho-esq direction as it kills off a character that we assume is going to be there until the end. Drew Barrymore was a big name for the film, so for her to die in the opening of the film is a real shocker. It's a captivating opening though as Casey is drawn into a lethal Q&A game with Ghostface as he throws horror movie trivia questions at her. It's not just her life at stake either; boyfriend Steve is outside, tied to a chair and becomes victim number one very quickly. Casey meets her demise not long after, although her attempt to escape is so frustrating to watch! She almost manages to get away, but falls into the clichéd trap of stopping when she should be running! The fact that we're hit with a gruesome couple of murders right at the start of the film is the perfect incentive to carry on watching.
We're then introduced to Sidney, her boyfriend Billy (Skeet Ulrich) and friends Randy (Jamie Kennedy), Tatum (Rose McGowan) and hey boyfriend Stu (Matthew Lillard). Randy immediately became my favourite character and he still is; I'm still sad that he never made it any further than Scream 2. The scene of the friends sitting at the fountain is a really nice introduction to them all and I think the dynamic of the group worked well - it's too bad that two of them were psycho killers. The other main characters include Tatum's brother, police officer Dewey (David Arquette) and news reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox). We learn that Gale and Sidney have issues due to Gale's reporting of Sidney's mother's murder. Gale believes the man convicted of it, Cotton Weary, is actually innocent whereas Sidney is convinced he's not. However, once the new spate of killing begins, Sidney shows signs of doubt.
Sidney's first encounter with Ghostface is a great scene with another nod to horror film clichés. See this exchange:
Voice: What's you favourite scary movie?
Sidney: Oh come on, you know I don't watch that shit
Voice: Why not? Too scared?
Sidney: No, no. It's just, what's the point? They're all the same. Some stupid killer stalking some big breasted girl who can't act who's always running up the stairs when she should be going out the front door. It's insulting
A direct hit at horror film logic! How often do we roll our eyes and shout instructions at the screen when a potential victim is flapping about and pretty much giving the killer the green light to bump them off? We're always left aghast at the stupidity of horror film victims. The same issue was touched upon during Casey's scene at start of the film; Ghostface taunts Casey by ringing the doorbell which prompts her to call out "Who's there?". Ghostface then gives her another gem of horror film advice:
"You should never say 'Who's there". Don't you watch scary movies? It's a death wish. You might as well come out here to investigate a strange noise or something"
This is the great thing about Scream; it pokes fun at the clichés of the horror movie world but it also incorporates them into itself. Sidney mocks the running upstairs action, but does that exact thing when Ghostface attacks her. Brilliant touch.
1. No sex
2. No drink/drugs
3. Never say "I'll be right back"
This scene is terrific as these rules are blatantly broken (Stu's deliberate utterrance of Rule 3 is hilarious) but some of the people who break them do survive. Sidney loses her virginity to Billy (with Randy previously emphasising that only virgins can outsmart the killer) yet survives. Randy has been knocking back the beers at Stu's party, but survives. Gale utters the immortal line "I'll be right back" and survives. Randy sort of establishes himself as a horror film Yoda in the franchise; always on hand in some way to dispense words of wisdom about the pattern of horror films. I love his role so much.
What Randy was spot on about, however, was Billy: "He's got killer printed all over his forehead". He was right. Billy is ultimately revealed to be the killer, but he has an accomplice in Stu. This is another reason why Scream works so well. Having a second killer was a genuine surprise and a nice twist. My gut reaction was that the killer was Billy, solely because he's got a bit of a creepy vibe about him. In the later half of the film, Billy and Stu stage Billy getting attacked by Ghostface, and it's assumed he's dead. At that point, I thought "Oh damn! I was wrong", but when Billy had miraculously survived the attack I was just plain thrown. The idea of a second killer didn't even cross my mind so it was a huge OMG moment when Stu revealed himself to be Billy's partner in crime. I find the partnership of Billy and Stu strangely comical. Billy actually has a motive for killing Sidney, whereas Stu puts his involvement down to "peer pressure". The two guys have different approaches to the killings and it shows when they try to put their final plan into action. Because of their erratic behaviour, they lose control of the situation and end up dead; as an aside, I love Stu's death scene!
So the plot is great, the characters are great, the dialogue is brilliant. The other thing to praise is the soundtrack. The soundtrack is actually on my iPod and I get such a strong feeling of nostalgia when I hear it. The only gripe about the soundtrack CD is that it never included the very last song on the end credits, which is my favourite. Fortunately though, I eventually managed to track it down somewhere else so I suppose it's a bit of a none issue. My other personal favourites include 'Youth Of America' (Birdbrain), 'Drop Dead Gorgeous' (Republica) and 'Whisper To A Scream' (Soho). I also really love the instrumental of 'Trouble In Woodsboro/Sidney's Lament', courtesy of composer Marco Beltrami. The latter part of the track is very haunting, although, for me, there's a bit of a funny story attached to it. When my brother worked at a cinema back in '96, he was left to lock up after everyone got up and left during the end credits. While he made his way towards the exit, the lights went out and all that was playing was the eerie second half of the track. He said he was left to walk the corridor that leads out of the cinema, on his own, in total darkness with this music playing. Needless to say, he got down that corridor and out of the door as fact as possible! It always makes me laugh when I think about that.
Favourite track right here ^
Really, I just can't say enough good things about Scream. It's very tongue-in-cheek, but still manages to pull of a solid story with enough scares in there to keep the drama flowing. It's not the scariest horror film ever, or the goriest either. Scream is a fun, witty, clever film that's still thoroughly entertaining no matter how many times you watch it. 10/10!!
Favourite lines:
"Movies don't create psychos, movies make psychos more creative" - Billy Loomis
" No, please don't kill me Mr Ghostface. I wanna be in the sequel" - Tatum Riley
"What's Leatherface doin' here?" - Randy Meeks
"Kenny, I know that you're about 50 pounds overweight. But when I say 'hurry', please interpret that as 'Move your fat, tub of lard ass NOW!" - Gale Weathers
"There's a formula to it. A very simple formula: EVERYBODY'S A SUSPECT" - Randy Meeks
"What did Mom tell you? When I wear this badge you treat me like a man of the law!" - Dewey Riley
"Fairness would be to rip your insides out. Hang you from a tree so we can expose you for the heartless, desensitised little shits that you are" Principal Himbry
"I don't really believe in motives, Sid. I mean, did Norman Bates have a motive? Did they ever really decide why Hannibal Lecter liked to eat people? Don't think so. See it's a lot scarier when there's no motive, Sid " - Billy Loomis
"Did you really call the police? (Sidney confirms she did) My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!" - Stu Macher
"Guess I remembered the safety that time, you bastard" - Gale Weathers
I LOVE SCREAM!
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