Scream
Starring Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, Courteney Cox, and lots of other teenagers or twenty-year-olds that look like teenagers
Written by Kevin Williamson and Directed by Wes Craven


I never really liked horror movies that much, but after watching Scream, I became a horror fan. Like after being bitten by a vampire and then developing a thirst for blood -- after watching Scream I wanted more, more, more horror! Now I love horror and I am forever grateful to Scream for that.

Directed by Wes Craven, “The Man” as far as horror films go (he did Nightmare on Elm Street if you happen to not know) and written by Kevin Williamson (his screenwriting debut and a writing God in my books) -- Scream is one f**king awesome movie. It is filled with homages and nods to classic horror films such as Prom Night, Halloween, and A Nightmare on Elm Street and basically uses all the cliches that have been developed by these horror films against themselves and turns the whole genre on its head! The basic storyline of the movie is that a psychopathic killer is stalking a group of teenagers just like in the movies and the teenagers who happen to be quite horror movie savvy as well are trying to outsmart him or her at their own game. Brilliant! You notice that I am using a lot of exclamation marks -- well, that is because I love this movie! It is filled with tonnes of pop-culture references and wonderful characters that really pull us into the story. Neve Campbell plays the main character, Sidney Prescott, a soft on the outside, but hard on the inside girl, David Arquette plays the town “sheriff” part as Deputy Dewey, Courteney Cox rocks as a sleazy reporter, Skeet Ulrich shows us his Johnny Depp-like powers as Sidney’s boyfriend Billy, Rose McGowan plays Sidney’s big-chested friend Tatum, and I could go on forever with this list, but I will stop with my favorite character, Randy Meeks, a film-geek that lays out all the rules of the film, played perfectly by Jamie Kennedy.

Scream I am glad to say is not one of those films I can just sum up in a couple of sentences and still do justice. It is more complex and layered than you will ever know (check out the commentary on the DVD) and displays all of Wes Craven’s talents. He is definitely at the top of his game here. With lots of blood and slashing to satisfy the psycho-killer in all of us and meaty dialogue, I consider Scream to be not just one of the best horror films ever made, but also one of the best films ever made as well. Scream is a classic!


THE RUNDOWN:

The Good: A fresh and original horror film that is an instant classic.

The Bad: Teens will probably want to see more nudity.

The Law: Turn down the lights, grab your popcorn, and SCREAM!