Scream:
Originally titled "Scary Movie" (which would become the name of the spoof of this film), which was changed by marketing at the last minute, and based slightly on the true story of the Gainesville Ripper, this film is an affectionate homage to the slasher genre and murder mystery films. Sidney Prescott, her boyfriend Billy Loomis, and their friends: Stu Macher, Randy Meeks, and Tatum Riley are regular high-school kids from Woodsborrow, California. Until Casey Becker, a local girl, is brutally gutted and hanged and her boyfriend mutilated by a masked killer wearing a Halloween costume. Later, the killer calls Sidney and begins to stalk her. Sidney, alreay being familiar with killers, (her mother was brutally raped and murdered the previous year) Sidney and her friends try to solve this mystery. But, when everyone seems to be conviniently placed around each crime, everyone's a suspect. The premise of Scream is clever, having a slasher film centered around character familiar with the genre. And they don't reference fake slasher films, either. No, they know about Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, Freddy Krueger, all the great horror icons. The brilliance in the writing by Williamson, and how he makes you care for these characters is what ties the film and the series together. It also has the mystery aspect, as everyone Sidney knows are somewhere around the crime right after it takes place, leaving her suspicous of even her closest friends. The cast are fantastic in their parts. Neve Campbell is perfect as Sidney. You really believe her in the part, and she initially thinks the killer is just some random creep, but realizes he is closer to her than she thinks. David Arquette is also great as Dwight "Dewey" Riley, a bumbling police officer in the town, who tries to solve the case, and prove himself a worthy member of the police force. He is mostly comic relief, but has his really good and sometimes touching moments. Courtney Cox plays the vindictive and bitchy reporter Gale Weathers, who manipulates everyone around her to get the sotry at any cost. She becomes Dewey's love interest in a few ways, but mostly manipulates him. She a somewhat likeable bitch, who moves on to be a much more caring character as the film series progresses (but that's another story). Jamie Kennedy is perfect as film geek Randy Meeks, who has had a secret crush on Sidney for years, and doesn't like her punk-ass boyfriend Billy. He is funny, energetic, and entertainign to watch, and he can quote any movie, especially a horror movie, word-for-word. Roger L. Jackson (voice of Mojo-Jojo) lets his inner demons loose as the voice of Ghostface, the killer. He says his lines with sadistic glee, and has this smooth, awesome voice that's threatening, but very cool. Skeet Ulrich plays Billy Loomis, a dark, troubled young man who dates Sidney. He's cool, at first, but becomes more suspicous as the film progresses. Mathew Lillard plays Stu, Randy and Billy's friend who's energetic, but can also cool down a bit, whereas Randy's always energetic. Rose McGowna plays Tatum, Dewey's little sister and Stu's girlfriend. She's Sidney's best friend, and supports her friend when she's scared of Ghostface. Drew Barrymore plays Casey Becker, and was featured prominently in the marketing campaign. This was a smart move, like Psycho, using a major star to market the film, only to kill her off, brutally, very early on. In fact, the opening kill scene with Barrymore is infamous for the fact it happens before the title appears. She is good in the role for the 5 minutes she has on screen, because her screams are so realistic and shocking, it lets you know this killer means business. Henry Winkler appears in a borderline cameo role as the principal of the school, and even does his Fonzie pose in a mirror. With great characters, writing, and acting, you need great scares, and Wes Craven delivers. The pacing and shock scenes are great, but the film never lets this kind of fun feeling get away, or lets the dark moments over-take the light-hearted ones. With it's great writing, great acting, good horror and mystery elements, great direction, and fantastic ending, Scream is a reovlutionary horror film that should be seen by all. Craven also throws in a cameo by Robert Englund in a Freddy Krueger reference. 5/5 stars. (Also, go to bliptv. ot thatguywiththeglasses.com and check out reviewer Welshy's Scream retrospective videos, and his other great reviews, they're fantastic, and check out his crossover reviews with Film-Brain.)
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