Pretend its 15 years ago and you're a die-hard lover of the slasher film genre. I imagine you'd be about as depressed as possible, mainly because the last 6-8 years, the slasher movie has pretty much been non-existent. Granted, there were lots and lots of really great horror/mystery/thriller/suspense movies to help (Exorcist III, Silence Of The Lambs, Cemetery Man), but not counting either a Halloween, Friday The 13th, Nightmare On Elm Street, or Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel, good slashers were few and extremely far between. But that all changed in 1996 when famed horror director, Wes Craven, released Scream upon an unsuspecting, but oh so needed, world. The idea of Scream came from a young screenwriter named Kevin Williamson, and upon reading it for the first time, Wes instantly jumped on board. Casting some very young actors, including a couple of popular TV actors and pulling a Hitchcock casting secret, Wes and Kevin inadvertently changed the face of horror and slasher movies forever! The film starts with an innocent Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) popping some popcorn when her phone rings. She answers, and soon, one of the most spoken lines in the history of cinema and pop culture is first heard. "What's your favorite scary movie?" And from there, an icon was born, as for the next hour and fifty minutes, the ghostface killer stalked and slashed his way through a group of Woodsboro, California teens. After the first two murders, our heroine, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is called, tormented and finally attacked at her home by the masked killer. After locking herself in her room, her boyfriend, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), comes in her window after he heard screams. The two hug, but while doing so, Billy's cellular telephone falls from his pocket. A terrified Sidney runs from Billy and out the front door to a waiting Deputy Dewey Riley (David Arquette). From there, Sidney never really knows who she can trust. And on top of that, all of this is happening on the one year anniversary of her mother's murder. The next day, Woodsboro High's, Principle Himbry (Henry Winkler), calls off school and the police department announce a town wide curfew. Of course, this gives Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) the chance to throw one heck of a party, and everybody's invited, including the killer. But who is it? Wes and his cast definitely broke the mold with this little movie. Not only is the cast aware that slasher films actually exists, but the movie is based on tributes to most of the best and famous slashers of the 70's and 80's. Scream really is a slasher film fan's film. Its smart, sleek, sexy, funny, scary and gory. The story is hands down, one of the best, and definitely the smartest of any slasher film, and thanks to this movie, the new, teen-slasher film was born. The characters are all very desensitized to what is happening because they’ve all seen this movie before. They even argue with themselves over who could be the best suspect and who could actually commit such a crime. To coincide with such an amazing story, Wes needed an equally amazing cast to bring the words on the page to life. Neve Campbell (of Party Of Five fame) played the role of Sidney with such a powerful array of emotions and character, ones not seen in a slasher film since Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween, 18 years earlier. Her best friend, Tatum Riley, is played by the lovely Rose McGowan, who throws sexuality at the screen with a force. Sidney’s boyfriend, Billy, is played with an incredible psychotic presence by Skeet Ulrich. I really feel that he has severely detached himself from the reality that we all (well some of us) seem to live in. His best friend and Tatum’s boyfriend, Stu, played perfectly by Matthew Lillard, is the main comic relief, but in a total off -his-rocker way. This is the movie where I really took notice of Matthew’s talent and started checking out everything he appeared in. Even if the movie is less that stellar, his performance is always, always worth seeing. He’s never disappointed and I’ve been a fan ever since. Courtney Cox, of Friends fame, stars as Gale Weathers, a local TV news anchor looking for the next big story. She has spent the previous year covering the murder of Sidney’s mother, capitalizing on the tragedy. She sees the newest set of murders as her way of gaining a national following. Courtney plays Gale with a heartless tone, only caring about getting ahead, and she doesn’t care who she has to go through to get what she wants. The other comic relief of the film comes in the form of Deputy Dewey Riley, played almost mindlessly, yet perfectly, by David Arquette. His mind doesn’t seem to always be there, but his heart definitely is, and I believe that’s what counts most. Randy, the fifth member of the group of friends, and also the conscience of the film, is played very smartly by Jaime Kennedy. He is aware, most of all, that horror movies are good study material for serial killers, and anybody and everybody could be a suspect. The other big star of the film was an obvious tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. Drew Barrymore received the “and starring” credit, as she was obviously the biggest star of all the cast members at the time of production. Everybody assumed she would end up making it to the conclusion of the film, but boy could they have been more wrong. She lasted approximately 16 minutes into the film and was the second character murdered. Hitchcock did the same thing in Psycho, killing off Janet Leigh in the first act, even though she was the biggest name attached to the movie. Nobody would have guessed that Drew would be the first of the stars to go, and it definitely shocked the masses. Some very good performances were also turned in by some key role players too, notably Henry Winkler, playing Principal Himbry. Also; W. Earl Brown playing Kenny, Gale Weather’s cameraman, Joseph Whipp, playing Sheriff Burke, Liev Schreiber playing Cotton Weary, and Wes Craven himself in an uncredited cameo as Fred the janitor. The cast clearly outdid themselves. But when you’re right in the middle of making magic with one of horror’s most acclaimed director’s, wouldn’t you want to? Little did they know, along with Kevin and Wes, that while they were making all of that magic, they were actually saving the world.
Sorry for the length, but I just got caught up! Check back next week as I reveal my 4th Favorite Film of all time, and until then, keep your eyes and ears open ...
Shawn M
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