Retro Film Review: Scream (1996)

Retro Film Review: Scream (1996) | Ecency

(source: tmdb.org)

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Wes Craven obviously has a very high opinion of himself. At least this is the conclusion you could gather from Scream, Wes Craven's 1996 film that resurrected "teen slasher" horror - popular 1980s subgenre closely associated with the works of Wes Craven himself. However, Scream is one of those rare titles that could be viewed both as the celebration and the parody of the genre.

The plot of the film, based on the screenplay by Kevin Williamson, is set in Woodsborrough, sleepy Californian town. It begins one night when bored teenager Casey Becker (played by Drew Barrymore) receives prank call that would soon escalate into cat-and-mouse game with the masked killer. Her murder is just one in the series in which victims are local teenagers. The only one to survive encounter with the killer is Sidney Prescott (played by Neve Campbell), young woman who is already traumatised by the rape and murder of her mother that had happened one year ago. Attacks prompt authorities to enforce curfew and suspend school activities, which is good reason for Sidney's friends to throw a party. The party would be good opportunity for killer to get few more teenagers, but the killer is not the only one stalking them - ambitious tabloid TV reporter Gale Weathers (played by Courtney Cox) would stop at nothing in order to get exclusive story.

The best thing about Scream is Kevin Williamson's script, since it gives good example how seemingly unattractive and cliche-ridden material can function on many levels. On the surface, Scream is nothing more than "teen slasher" with all the obligatory ingredients of the genre - masked killer, bladed weapon, small group of teenagers that would become victims, suspense, graphic violence etc. But from the brilliant opening scene it is obvious that the premise of the film has interesting and very effective twist - since the plot takes part in 1990s, the teenagers in this film are familiar with 1980s horrors, and unlike their counterparts in those films, they have some clue about what awaits them and how to behave in such situations. For Williamson and Craven this is good way to throw plenty of Tarantino-like pop culture references into the script and inject dark humour in scenes that would otherwise be utterly boring. Because of that, Scream succeeds in being its own parody.

What Scream doesn't succeed in being is "pure" representative of its genre. First of all, the plot happens to be too complicated and "pureness" of "teenage horror" is compromised with the elements more suitable to Agatha Christie's murder mystery. Another alien body in the genre structure is the subplot involving over-ambitious tabloid TV reporter; while it enhances dark humour of the film and brings some precious amounts of social criticism (especially towards omnipresent, all-powerful sensationalist media), it also reminds the audience that they aren't watching "true" 1980s horror - instead this is very 1990s story that uses "teen slasher" as very rough template.

However, the most disappointing aspect of Scream has very little to do with the efforts of Craven, Williamson or everyone involved in this picture. Inevitable comparisons between Scream and 1980s "teen slasher" classics reveal one sad truth that many in critics' circles refuse to admit - censorship standards in modern Hollywood are much stricter. Some may point towards large amounts of blood in this film, but the violence in Scream is more impressive in matters of quantity (number of people killed) than quality (the way in which they are disposed of). Even more telling is lack of nudity – something that protagonists of this film discuss at great lengths, but Craven refuses to show us.

Yet, despite those flaws, Scream is very entertaining film. It features few very inventive scenes and the acting is superb, especially in the case of Jamie Kennedy, Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich (who makes one very impressive and sinister Johnny Depp impersonation). Its commercial success was well-justified, as well as the sequel, so Craven and Williamson should be forgiven for opening the floodgates for 1990s Hollywood "teen slasher" horrors films that tried to emulate Scream's success without its creators' skills and wit.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on September 4th 2003)