Scream Review
by Ram Samudrala (me AT alanine DOT ram DOT org)July 21st, 1997
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Scream
A film review by Ram Samudrala
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/Scream/ is more of a mystery flick than a horror movie. Granted it has its share of blood and gore, but the identity of the actual serial killer is what held my interest throughout, and it is what makes this movie worth watching.
In slash and gore movies, it's generally clear right from the outset who the killer is, even if their name is not divulged. Not so in /Scream/. Here, even though the killer may be someone you have correctly identified, your suspicions will be erased by incidents that seemingly prove his/her innocence.
The plot is more complicated than it looks on the surface: a serial killer is stalking the town of Santa Rosa, CA, claiming two kills right in the opening sequence while playing horror-movie Jeopardy with the victims. We then focus on Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), the heroine of the story, whose mother was viciously raped and killed almost a year before. Sidney's testimony helped put away her mother's killer behind bars. But when she is stalked by the serial killer who alludes that she may be wrong, she begins questioning herself. While Sidney is still in the process of resolving her dilemma, the killer goes on the loose in the town.
Sidney is surrounded by a host of characters: her best friend Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan), her boyfriend, and initial suspect, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), Tatum's loony boyfriend Stuart, (Matthew Lillard), the local expert on horror movies Randy (Jamie Kennedy), Sidney's dad (Lawrence Hecht), Deputy Dewey Riley (David Arquette), and an annoying reporter Gail Weathers (Courtney Cox), all of whom are potential suspects (and potential fodder).
/Scream/ transcends the horror/mystery genre by being somewhat of a self-parody, and paying homage to slash/gore movies that have come before it. Director Wes Craven has taken a worn-out genre and produced a movie that self-references itself and others of its ilk, which makes for engaging viewing if you possess any knowledge about horror movies.
There are some amazing moments in the film, primarily because of its self-referential nature. In one classic moment (not new, but still done brilliantly), we see Jamie-Lee Curtis' character being stalked in /Halloween/, playing on the VCR. The viewer (Randy) is yelling at her to turn around, unaware that he is behind the lens of another camera, and also being stalked, with the second viewer yelling at him to turn around. And both of these characters are behind the camera which we get to see. I also liked the ending where Sidney finally confronts the killer: the situation fluctuates between the comic and tragic aspects of the plot, humourous and scary at the same time. It's hard to say much without giving the plot away, but the psychopathic behaviour displayed would be grounds to make you question the sanity of any acquaintance who acts in a similar manner.
There's also quite a bit of philosophising in /Scream/, after all the killings are done in standard Hollywood style. We are told here that horror movies don't cause people to kill, but they give killers creative ways to go about their business. Consider this quote: "Life is like a movie. You just can't pick your genre."
/Scream/ is a statement about an important aspect of pop-culture (an oxymoron?). It's more suspenseful than scary, and definitely worth watching if you can deal with the gore.
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