Movie review: ‘Scream’

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I didn’t believe any film could scare me more than “The Exorcist” since it gave me nightmares for a time; or if one could be better than “Halloween,” with everyone’s favorite “Scream Queen” Jamie Lee Curtis. However, Wes “A Nightmare on Elm Street” Craven came back strong in 1996 with “Scream,” which is an excellent film (not just from the horror genre) with a great, mostly youthful cast and just about the best ever-tightening tension you can find in any movie. Just as “Zombieland” (click here for my review) would revive its genre just over a decade later and the year before TV’s “The Walking Dead,” “Scream” not only injected the slasher genre with new life (no pun intended), but also single-handedly revived the horror franchise as a whole. Watch it again this Halloween season, if, as they say, you dare.

‘Scream’
(1996; 111 minutes; rated R; directed by Wes Craven and starring Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette)

WES CRAVEN CAME BACK AND DEALT UP THE BEST

(NOTE: I expanded this review with more trivia, additional opinion and the updating of links of Oct. 23, 2017. I again expanded the review on Oct. 30, 2021. I again expanded the review on Feb. 27, 2025.)

By the mid-1990s, horror films were spluttering along in a wasteland of stereotypes and stagnant ideas. Worse, they were hamstrung by even worse execution (no pun intended) with many so called “horror movies” going straight to video. The “slasher” genre was on a respirator and some thought it had run its course. Then, horror legend Wes Craven dropped the magnificent “Scream” on us in 1996 and it was time again to hide your eyes in a theater not just from gut-churning special effects, but from being scared silly.

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To make it even better, “Scream” deals out satire about its genre and offered a wonderful stage for a great cast of young(er) stars who could actually act their way beyond the usual stale performance found in such films. Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard all do excellent work in “Scream.” Heck, there’s even great work in an uncredited role by TV’s “Happy Days” legend Henry Winkler as the high school principal and Linda Blair, of that most iconic “The Exorcist,” has an uncredited bit part, too.

“Scream” also pays a nice homage to those famous horror films of yesteryear: John Carpenter’s “Halloween” (click here for my review) and “Friday the 13th” (click here for my review). There are facts, trivia and more about them scattered throughout the film.

Unfortunately, it has been announced that a sequel called “Scream” will be out in 2022. It picks up 25 years after the original and sounds like pure crap is on the way. Ah, well … pure crap sure describes most of what comes out of Hollywood these days.

Now, back to the outstanding original.

Actually, “Scream” is as much a murder mystery as it is a teen-horror flick. Although killers in slasher movies aren’t revealed until the “last reel” as they used to say, the backstory and true revenge motive of the killer isn’t revealed until the end and is really well executed by Craven on a screenplay by Kevin Williamson (beware the SPOILER ALERT below).

Although horror films usually try to either mask a killer’s identity, very few are creative about it (check out “Terror Train” with Jamie Lee – click here for my review), but “Scream” sets a nice standard on finding out for sure “who’s the killer?”

“Scream” opens with a girl (Drew Barrymore as “Casey Becker”) alone in a house – of course the stereotypical sign of bad things to come in a horror film – and gets a phone call. The caller gets progressively more aggressive and verbally violent and, of course, ultimately kills her and her boyfriend, who had been kidnapped and bound to a chair in Barrymore’s yard. From there, the terror escalates since it is similar to the murder of a woman in the town the year before. However, the killer was convicted and is in prison, but these new murders happen.

Quickly the focus turns to the dead woman’s daughter “Sidney Prescott,” who is played to perfection by Campbell. The killer, who enjoys taunting his victims on the phone, has a trademark mask (the screaming ghost) and covers himself in all black. He flits around the periphery of scene and you see him scamper in the background or even in the reflection of a store’s glass freezer door. Craven keeps you on edge with his ability to continue to surprise.

The emphasis of the story overall is on Campbell and her friends – from the brooding Ulrich to movie fanatic Jamie Kennedy to the just plain odd Lillard. Taking her shots, too, is a television reporter (Cox) who believes the wrong man was convicted of the murder of Campbell’s mother and she’s dogged in her pursuit of the story.

After another killing and an attack on Campbell, the police impose a curfew and Campbell and her friends all finally gather together to spend a curfew-imposed evening together. Of course the killer is quickly among them and begins picking them off one-by-one as is so traditional. Campbell is left to last (again, of course) and she battles the killer to a very bloody ending that leaves only a few standing, much less alive.

Here’s our heroine and her friends:

  • As I previously wrote, Campbell is nearly perfect here. From her expressions to body language to just a glance, she is “Sidney.” Best yet, she makes you forget she’s acting and you begin to think of her as “Sidney.” Campbell was even better in the superlative dark drama “Panic” with William H. Macy (click here to read my review) as well as the ultra-steamy “Wild Things” with Denise Richards as well as the rest of the “Scream” franchise.
  • Golden Globe nominee (not for this one) Cox plays “Gale Weathers” and has that camera-ready smile and of course the looks to boot but she’s very convincing as the upwardly mobile reporter. Cox doesn’t take any guff from anyone and she’s as tough as nails. Here’s one casting decision I cannot criticize. Cox is most recognized from TV’s “Friends” and has also been in the “Scream” franchise as well as the headliner on TBS’ “Cougar Town,” for which she won her nomination.
  • Rose McGowan plays “Tatum Riley” and is Campbell’s best friend and protector. McGowan is smooth and cool as she navigates through her boyfriend’s insensitive comments to being by her side after an attack. McGowan meets her end through a powered garage door. She has also been in “Bio-Dome” and “Encino Man.”
  • Kennedy plays the quick-talking “Randy Meeks” and he knows everything about movies – especially horror movies and the “rules” on surviving a serial killer. He does crazy voices (was that Jerry Lewis?) and is quite manic when on screen. Kennedy is solid here and another good casting choice. He has also been in “Three Kings” and “The Hungover Games” (yes, that’s the title … I didn’t misspell “The Hunger Games”).
  • Five-time Golden Globe nominee (not for this one) Liev Schreiber plays convicted killer “Cotton Weary” and the role is a bit small for this talented actor to show his ability. Schreiber has also been in “Salt” and “Defiance.” He got his nominations for TV’s “Ray Donovan” (four of them) and TV’s “RKO 281.” He is in two of “Scream’s” sequels.

Well, here it comes …

** SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! **

In the end, it turns out that Ulrich (as Campbell’s boyfriend “Billy Loomis”) is the architect of all the killings, even of Campbell’s mother that was pinned on another man. Ulrich and Lillard (as Ulrich’s best friend “Stuart Macher”) team up to do the killings, thereby helping confuse the police as to the killer’s identity when he strikes while Ulrich is in custody. The motive? Ah, revenge for Campbell’s mother having an affair with Ulrich’s father. It’s a complicated plot, but a simple motive difficult to detect.

** SPOILER ALERT ENDS **

Here’s a look at these two actors:

  • Ulrich gives a good performance and I’m not sure why his film career never reached any of the heights expected from him. He’s very engaging here and easily puts penetrating stares on whoever comes even somewhat close. Who knows? Maybe that’s his only acting ability. Ulrich has also been in “Takedown” and a string of TV roles including “Law & Order: Los Angeles.”
  • Lillard, who likes to stick his tongue out here as one of his basic expressions, shows his versatility as an actor by being in turn breezy, caustic and sarcastic. Lillard was “Shaggy” in “Scooby-Doo” and was also in “Thir13en Ghosts,” a horror flick with gut-churning special effects that will leave you chilled and starring Tony Shalub.

In the end, “Scream” became an immediate legend in the horror genre and solidified Craven as arguably the best in that genre. You can find “Scream” everywhere, especially during the Halloween season. Craven died at 76 in 2015 of brain cancer.

Fittingly, “Scream” was the 13th ranked film at the U.S. box office in 1996 with $103 million in ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. Worldwide, “Scream” made $173 million on a $15 million budget and so was a resounding financial success (not to mention sequels and merchandising), according to Wiki. Also, “Scream” as the highest ranked horror film of the year and the No. 1 movie was “Independence Day” with $306.1 million. Here are the films from 1996 that I’ve reviewed for my blog:

Assorted cast notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Campbell’s middle name is Adrianne; Cox’s middle name is Bass; Ulrich’s birth name is Bryan Ray Trout; Barrymore’s middle name is Blyth; Lillard’s middle name is Lyn; Schreiber’s middle name is Liev and his first name is Issac and his nickname is “Huggy;” and Kennedy’s birth name is James Harvey Kennedy.
  • Craven, in a neat homage to his horror classic “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” has Winkler look out an office door and spy a janitor dressed similar to that film’s monster, “Freddy Krueger.” Winkler even calls him “Fred.” Oh, the janitor is played by Craven in an uncredited role.
  • The special effects staff used approximately 50 gallons of fake blood in the making of “Scream.”
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “Wes Craven discovered the Ghostface mask while scouting for filming locations in California. Craven was walking throughout a possible filming-house, and inside one of the rooms he saw the mask hung on a wall. He sent a photo to Dimension Films and they told him to have the prop department make a mask similar to the mask in the bedroom, as they did not own the rights to the mask.”
  • Kennedy’s ability to improvise was reportedly how he was selected for the film.
  • McGowan is quoted as saying the film is her favorite filming experience.
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “The party scene near the end of the film runs 42 minutes long. It was shot over the course of 21 days from the time the sun set to the time it rose. After it wrapped, the crew had t-shirts made that read ‘I SURVIVED SCENE 118’ (which was the name of the scene during shooting). The cast and crew jokingly called it ‘The longest night in horror history.’”
  • Click here for IMDb.com’s extensive trivia page about “Scream” – it contains more examples of Craven’s homages to other films.

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