Released in 1996 by Director Wes Craven, “Scream” reinvented the horror genre, at a time period when the slasher genre became stale and played out, and often predictable. Written by Kevin Williamson, the film blends dark humor and suspense, while adding self-aware commentary about horror cliches. The end result is a slasher film that both celebrates and critiques the genre while still building suspense.
Set in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California the story follows 17-year-old High school student Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), who has become the target of a masked killer, Ghostface. As murders unfold throughout the town, Sidney and her friends, Tatum Riley (Rose McGowen), Her Brother Dewey (David Arquette), horror fanatic Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy), and Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) as well as Sidney’s boyfriend Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) and hotshot reporter Gale weathers (Courteney Cox). wondering who’s next, as well as who the killer(s) is.
The film paints red herrings and a game of who’s who to throw the audience making the reveal all the more shocking. The reveal of Billy and Stu as the killers left audiences and viewers shocked to this day, because of the element of there being multiple killers, which subverts the typical slasher expectation. It emphasized the chaos of the story and showed how manipulation and peer influence fueled the murders.
One of the films, and latter franchise’s greatest strengths, is the cast itself. Neve Campbell’s performance as Sidney brings a newer, fresh feeling to the “Final Girl” of a slasher. Courtney Cox brought charm and David Arquette provided the comedic relief as Gale and Dewey, respectively. Skeet Ulrich’s acts as Billy Loomis with a cold, brooding intensity that makes the character feel calculating and like the brains of the murders. Matthew Lillard plays Stu Macher with manic energy and senses of dark humor, which created the perfect, unpredictable elements of two different killers working together.
The film’s opening scene, which has become one of the greatest in film history, features Drew Barrymore as Casey Becker, is made memorable and immediately sets the film’s tense tone. The surprise of having an actress as big as Drew being killed off so soon into the film brought a change and fresh opening to the genre as well, and suspense that none of the cast was off limits.
In a visual sense, the film is presented with classical suspense techniques, rather than a reliance on gore. Wes Craven builds the tension through clever camera work, sudden reveals, and eerie use of Ghostface. The twist ending also makes the film stand out, which would change the perception of how the killer can operate in a slasher.
Overall, “Scream” has remained one of the most influential horror films of the 90s. The cleverness of the script, strong characters, and the meta-commentary used throughout have revitalized a dying genre and brought inspiration to many later films. Even decades after the film’s release, it continues to be celebrated.