427: Scream

[00:00:00] 134. Let's get to the first Scream, which came out in 1996. It is directed by Wes Craven, stars Nev Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Skeet Ulrich, Drew Barrymore, and a few others. And the synopsis is, a year after the murder of

[00:00:21] her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as a part of a deadly game. So I first only saw the first Scream probably a few years ago maybe, maybe it was in college

[00:00:38] maybe it was after that I can't remember exactly. I had been meaning to get around to it for a while but was like eh I don't know if it's gonna be for me. I liked other slashers like Halloween, Texas Chainsaw, but Scream was always on the

[00:00:50] list just never got around to it until fairly recently and when I first saw it I loved it. I was like what have I been missing? Like why did I wait so long to

[00:01:00] see this? I thought it lived completely up to the hype, I think it still does. I've seen it maybe four or five times at this point. It never really gets old and I love the whole franchise and we'll get to all six movies to this point in time

[00:01:12] in the next few days. But I think that this movie is absolutely a classic. I think it's Wes Craven's best movie. I like Nightmare on Elm Street but I think it is lesser to Scream both this movie or the original first films but also

[00:01:28] the whole franchise as well. So I think going through this whole franchise recently for this series of episodes there's something about it that is so easy to watch. Like there's enough comedy to where it's not so gruesome and dark

[00:01:45] kind of like Texas Chainsaw or something where maybe one or two is enough. This one there's good comedy, there's very self-aware that meta aspect of talking about previous slashers and then also having it be about a killer in a

[00:02:02] ghostface Halloween storm costume you know so even that by itself is kind of goofy but in a good way. I think Halloween it's hard to decide if I like this or Halloween more. I think the first Halloween possibly a little bit more but

[00:02:17] not by much. This one there aren't that many flaws at all. I think it's maybe a touch long and there are a few pacing issues here and there, a few performances aren't amazing but besides that it's really well directed, it's well acted, it

[00:02:36] looks good and the whole it's very 90s but I think in a good way like it has that very classic slasher feel to it and look to it and style so that's something I really appreciate and clearly it's been very very influential

[00:02:51] over the years. So talking quickly about a few specific scenes obviously the opening one with Drew Barrymore is iconic, amazing, I think it still is awesome that opening phone call setting the stage for how the whole franchise plays out and her performance and then that cat-and-mouse game through

[00:03:12] a house that is so intense and very very well done. I think everything at the school is great as well like with the other kids trying to play tricks and messing with Nev Campbell because they know she's gone through all this trauma

[00:03:29] and then with the murder that happens with Drew Barrymore them trying to like make fun of her and all that and scare her and then actually before I keep going I did see all the scary movies like the parody scary movies before I saw this

[00:03:45] and so I didn't have any reference for what they're making fun of aside from just general knowledge and I do think that it doesn't really hurt going back and watching these movies after having seen the parodies because Scream is

[00:04:00] already pretty silly intentionally so it's not like well something like The Ring the Gore Verbinski movie which is so serious and in this there is that self-awareness so I don't think that having seen all those hurts it I can go

[00:04:15] back and watch the scary movies and still enjoy and then go back and watch this and still be very entertained and not be taken out of it so that's a plus the sequence with Sydney at her house where it goes face comes in and chases

[00:04:29] her up the stairs I think that's really good and there is just something very cinematic very memorable very entertaining kind of scary kind of silly about seeing Ghostface break into a house race after someone and I think

[00:04:44] there's just something very enjoyable about that and as weird as that sounds I just think it works a lot better than a lot of other slashers because something like Michael Myers he never runs Texas Chainsaw I guess maybe in some ways they

[00:04:58] run occasionally but Ghostface basically is always running and I love that like he's always chasing after someone full speed through a house or whatever and so I think that's something that they keep going throughout the whole series which

[00:05:09] I really really like and then jumping towards the end that whole sequence with the reveals and the two killers and I love the actor who plays Shaggy as well as the other guy Ulrich I think that they're awesome together and those lines

[00:05:24] are so both really creepy but also there's some good comedy there especially from Shaggy I think how all that plays out and never really gets repetitive I think there's enough surprises enough shocks enough chases enough moments of crazy shocking gore and all that to never really feel like

[00:05:45] it goes on too long and as I'll get to the others later on for me in almost every case slasher movies have bad third acts I think it's almost always too long it's always sort of dry or not really that shocking or anything in that realm

[00:06:03] I'm just usually bored by the time we get to the third act with a lot of other franchises like this one and in this case it's really the opposite I think the third act is almost always the best part of these movies and especially when

[00:06:16] we get to five and six I think that's very apparent and in this one especially since it really sets the stage for everything and there is that very iconic sequence of events with the two killers in Sydney and those conversations so I

[00:06:30] think all that is awesome really really works still and when I first saw it I didn't love the meta stuff I thought that the self-referential calling back to elder slashers all that didn't really work for me I didn't really get

[00:06:44] it I was like I don't really care it's just goofy like it's eye roll kind of alright we get it they're talking about slasher movies while we're in a slasher movie etc etc now having seen the whole franchise through maybe three times

[00:06:57] that doesn't really bother me anymore I think it doesn't always work perfectly but I don't really mind that it's there 99% of the time I think it still works and it if it doesn't know you I get it you know I've been there but at this

[00:07:10] point it's not really an issue for me so circle back around I think it still is a fantastic movie it's one that I can always go back to and enjoy it's got enough variety of tones and styles and memorable sequences that it just feels

[00:07:27] very very well-rounded and you don't really get that very often these days especially when it comes to horror and setting up a franchise like this not that they were intentionally doing that from the get-go but creating such a

[00:07:40] simple character that has become one of the most influential iconic or characters of all time you know pretty impressive and so I highly recommend it if you've not seen it so that one is a heavy heavy five out of five