Classic Chat: Scream
Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson bring meta-horror to the mainstream with Scream.
Why do millennials prefer texting to talking on the phone? Blame Wes Craven.
What’s Scream About?
Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is still reeling from the murder of her mother when bodies begin to drop again. A killer is once again stalking the streets of sleep Woodsboro, California, and this time he’s a trivia buff.
Thus begins a week of carnage. First the phone rings, then someone dies. Sidney seems to be the focus of the killer’s ire, but who could want her dead? As she struggles to stay alive, she must try to uncover the killer before another person she loves dies.
Honestly, it’s stressful enough to be a teenage girl without all this…
What Is Scream a Classic?
Look, as someone who was alive when Scream premiered in theaters, it’s a little disheartening to call it a classic. It’s making me want to grab some Advil and a heating pad for my back.
But we’re going to persevere…
When it first came out, Scream revitalized the slasher genre with a meta-take on a seemingly worn-out trope. Writer Kevin Williamson crafted a movie where he not only showed you how the sausage was made, but mocked the process. Scream’s teenagers know the rules of the slasher genre, they get the references, and most importantly, they know what’s happening around them falls into these parameters. This movie is basically Deadpool for people that own all the Friday the 13th movies.
Movie nerd Randy (Jamie Kennedy) even runs down the rules for the audience, just in case they’d never bothered to watch a slasher before. By doing this, Williamson makes the film less of a slasher and more of a whodunit. We know Ghostface (the killer) will pop up, hell, even his victims know that, and since that’s out of the way we can focus on who is beneath that mask. It’s a clever bit of misdirection that makes the old tropes of the slasher films past seem kitschy and fun.
There’s even a reference to how this story would be adapted into film that pays off in the sequels. Sidney derisively says she’ll end up being played by Tori Spelling, only for Spelling to show up in the sequel, cast as Sidney in the film Stab. In fact, the Stab franchise is a bit of a running joke in the world of Scream, with the sequels getting progressively worse and outlandish.
Horror icon Wes Craven (that’s him dressed like Fred the Janitor in one scene) helmed Scream and admirably kept from skewing too far toward comedy. The opening sequence is both thrilling and horrifying thanks to Craven’s innate sense of how to pace a horror scene. He keeps the kills fairly traditional, using all the tropes we know and love, but also manages to balance the gore with humor.
One of Craven’s most interesting choices is in how the killer, Ghostface, is portrayed. While most slashers feature a juggernaut of a killer, think Jason or Michael Myers, who can’t be stopped, Ghostface is distinctly human. This is a killer who loses their footing, falls back when they’re struck, and most importantly wants to talk to their victims and feed off their fear. Michael Myers isn’t dialing your cell so he can play movie trivia with you, he’s just going to stab his way through your home until everyone is dead. But Ghostface? Ghostface isn’t a blind killing machine, Ghostface needs to taunt you, needs to feel your misery, because he wants to kill you in particular.
You know those guys that insist you’re not really a fan unless you answer their trivia questions? Well, Ghostface is the embodiment of that energy.
The other thing that makes Scream a classic might just be the soundtrack. The mix of music is peak 90s, but also beautifully compliments the tone and era of the film.
And for real, can we get a Stab movie?
Anything Cringe?
Ah, 90s gay jokes…they aged about as well as all those Asian jokes John Hughes thought were hilarious in the 80s. Scream isn’t a huge offender when it comes to this type of humor, but the tinge of 90s sensibilities is real.
Overall, the biggest cringe factor in the film might just be the meta style. So many movies, especially in the horror genre, are self-aware now. And many of them think calling out tropes is the same as examining them. But while this form might seem a bit played-out, it’s important to remember that Scream started the trend, for better or worse, and it was incredibly fresh and interesting to moviegoers at the time.
The attitudes toward sex and virginity are also a little cringe, but with the direction American attitudes are going, it might not be cringe for too much longer…
Verdict
While the newest “requel” of the Scream franchise was turn in the right direction, accept no substitutes if you’re looking for meta slasher fare.
Scream is rated R and available to stream/watch on Showtime.
