Recently, I decided to watch the first “Scream” movie to help me slowly get into horror movies. If you like scary movies, or more specifically slashers, then you should read this review, especially if you’re lost on what to watch.
Spoiler-Free Review:
The movie has an interesting start with a decently competent character, and of course, blood. One of my favorite parts of this movie was the fact that people competently fought against killers. Though they would make dumb mistakes, they would at least (somewhat) competently fight, so that makes me satisfied. The movie itself wasn’t the scariest thing or really that scary at all. It had more of a light, tense feeling to it, with some suspense here and there. The most tense parts were the ones leading up to the killer, in which everyone in the audience screams, “LOOK BEHIND YOU,” and you would shake your head in frustration at the character’s stupidity.
The movie felt more like a satire on the numerous slasher movies released during that time, which I felt was purposeful and smart. It gets a bit more absurd, and, in the end, it’s very clever and ahead of its time. This movie also has good horror elements like, for example its use of tropes, irony and kill scenes.
The movie also loves to give clues to the seemingly tiny details that you assume at first are lazy writing or not important to the film, which become important later. This truly does make me appreciate this movie, especially since the main character, Sidney Prescott, has some real power. The movie also doesn’t take away from that classic horror movie-feel and instead leans in to the cliches in ways that are very satirical and clever.
I wouldn’t recommend this movie to those who are very sensitive to blood and gore. Even though the movie tends to hold back on some of its violence, there can still be especially violent scenes and lots of blood.
Review with Spoilers:
In the beginning, we are introduced to our first victim, Casey Becker, who is killed after she gets a call from a mysterious guy. One thing I enjoy about the premise of this film is that we don’t really know who the killer is for the majority of the movie. All we know is that the killer or killers wear a ghostface mask. This, in my opinion, makes the film more interactive since I’m able to play murder mystery and guess who’s the killer. I believe the more you can interact with these films, the more fun they tend to be. The movie really felt like a satire especially with its references and such. This movie had its scary elements while also poking fun at the slasher film genre especially with the character tropes and cliches like for example the adept serial killer being a doofus and his friend being the second killer who is more calm and collected. Another example would be the useless cops (like officer Dewie). It’s not to say putting a curfew and having police patrol isn’t a good idea–it’s just that they could have done more. Finally, we have the killer-must-have-motives trope. Even though Billy pretends to have a motive, he reveals it after taunting Sidney, while Stu’s motive is peer pressure.
Horror: 6/10
Blood: 8/10
Villains: 10/10
Plot: 8/10
Suspense: 7/10
Overall: 39/50
78%
Typically, this would be a C+, but I give it a B+: extra credit for its ending and satire-like feel.
The movie made me feel satisfied that they didn’t overlook and rush things. They made the tiny details important later in the movie–like how Billy mentioned his mother leaving. Though it was kind of obvious who the killers were, the movie was very well written, hence why I believe it deserves a B+. I recommend this movie to people new to horror movies and slashers. If you’re into blood and elaborate death scenes this movie is for you, and, if you’re into dark comedy and dark satire, this movie is for you.
