Scream

Review

This movie is quite literally my favorite horror movie and I don’t know that anything will top it. This movie is the epitome of a perfect horror movie and the perfect subversion of tropes in the genre while still maintaining a tense atmosphere and a good amount of scares in the film. Everything in this movie is a reference and yet the movie pulls it off perfectly, never feeling as out of touch as modern day movies do when they bring up things like tiktok or modern day trends. I think the thing that makes all the difference is the reverence it makes these references with and the solid writing for this movie makes it so that it doesn’t feel like the movie is only good based on the merit of it’s references.

This movie is typical slasher about a killer who stalks people and taunts them over the phone before killing them while wearing a black robe and the iconic ‘Ghostface’ mask.

Right off the bat the movie starts off with a reference to the opening of ‘When a Stranger Calls’ with an ominous voice on the phone making conversation with a girl named Casey Becker. The caller is super charismatic and the conversation seems normal until he asks what her name is so “[he] can know who [he’s] looking at.” The way that the line is delivered so casually is terrifying and it really makes the first minutes of the movie ones to remember. The way that you see Casey’s parents come home and their raw reaction to the destroyed house and then their daughter’s dead body hanging from a tree is so heartbreaking and it makes sure that the audience knows that this is a serious horror film and even if it is meant to be a commentary on the horror genre it’s first priority is to be an effective horror film on it’s own.

The characters in this movie are great. Sidney Prescott is our final girl and she’s a great one, she carries the trauma of her mother’s death from a year prior and as such is on edge throughout the whole movie once she finds out about Casey Becker’s murder. Tatum is a great secondary girl for this movie. She’s a very strong character who understands Sidney’s past trauma and why she’s struggling given these new murders are happening. Randy is probably one of my favorite comic relief characters in a movie. The way that he’s made out to be a little bit crazy and overzealous when it comes to horror movies is so funny and I love every scene that he’s in. Dewey is wonderful. He’s so kind and gentle-hearted and you can tell that he just wants to protect his sister’s best friend. Gale Weathers is such a bitch and you absolutely hate her but she’s one of those characters that you love to hate.

Finally on to the two stars of the show, Billy and Stu. Billy is the slimiest, greasiest motherfucker around and from the moment he enters the movie you know he’s the killer. The movie does a really good job of convincing you that it’s not possible for him to be the killer. Stu, on the other hand, only really becomes suspicious about halfway through the movie but even then the movie has got him covered on the first kill right off the bat so it’s hard as a viewer to even consider him of the first watch. I personally am a big fan of Stu Macher. I’m obsessed with Matthew Lillard and his portrayal of Stu is literally everything for me. I both want to be Stu and be with Stu simultaneously, he gives me so much gender envy and man I love that guy so much. These two have such an interesting relationship and seeing them interact at the end is so disturbing and romantic. Having the reveal be not just one killer but two was such an interesting choice and it made it so this movie is extremely hard to predict on the first watch.

The reveal scene at the end is probably one of my favorite horror scenes ever. The way that Billy and Stu’s personalities flip into their killer personalities is so cool and menacing. The way that Billy becomes brutal and terrifying in all of his actions and words is so scary and the unnerving theatricality that Stu displays is so in character and creepy as he makes grand gestures of handing weapons to Billy and following Billy’s commands. It’s the perfect blend of psychotic and funny that makes this scene stand out from any others like it.

This movie is quite possibly the best horror movie ever made and it’s certainly my favorite horror movie. This movie, like Black Christmas, is a movie that fundamentally understands horror and has a good blend of comedy and genuinely scary moments. I feel like this is a great first horror movie and that anyone who considers themselves a horror fan must have this movie on their watchlist.