In our world, where maniac slashers are largely confined to the silver screen, teenager Sidney Prescott finds herself and her classmates menaced by a ghost-faced killer.
Subgenres: postmodern, slasher
 2 reviews | ||||||||||
Though this movie popularized the postmodern slasher subgenre genre that now led to a bunch of crappy imitations (not to mention two sequels), Scream is a very good horror movie. The opening scene is absolutely classic, and Wes Craven imbues the rest of the movie with a well-tuned sense of dread. The acting is good, with very few exceptions, and Neve Campbell is a standout. My only problem with Scream is that it too often descends into the realm of slasher films, the very type of films it was meant to satirize. (Oct 13, 1999/Oct 19, 1999) philjohn.com - approaching the unexplained 
As with Se7en, expectation isn't necessarily helpful. But sometimes, this negative side either is disappointing or just plainly annoying. The latter it is with Scream: While it ain't as good as I expected, this still is a good movie. I have some problems with it, but I'll deal with them later. Firstly, this is a brilliant combination of humor and horror, leading into nice absurdities and real suspense. The acting is a reflection of how much fun the actors had - and it must have been a lot. This movie is able to laugh about itself; that's rare and can only be found in a small selection of other movies and shows (amongst them The X-Files and Star Trek). Sincerity is not the final answer - that's a very amiable approach. But then, there are also some minor problems arising, mainly with the structure of the film. While it contains some really frightening scenes, the overall impression is that of a loose confection of such scenes bound together by some linking elements. This movie is created for effect, not for story, at least that's my impression. A pop version of horror, but that leads to a general lack of suspense throughout the movie, and makes the audience, at least me, less interested in it. The horror is thus being degraded a bit; somehow one is constantly asking: So what? But then, this problem that the audience doesn't know whether to laugh or to be frightened, this is also a strength: Sometimes the horror is so absurd, so unimaginable, that it seems nearly impossible that such things should happen. In a way, Scream by this is also criticizing a kind of mindless consumption of such fiction which could lead to indifference. The moral aspect though, while being uttered in another way than usual, is coming through: By the influence on the victims. This is, contrary to Se7en, an example of how to make a good film, a bit deliberated and calculated for effect, but still something special in a very positive sense. (Oct 31, 1999)
| |
Followed by Scream 2 and Scream 3. The movies were originally planned by writer Kevin Williamson as a trilogy, though Williamson decided not to write the third installment.
