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Scream is one of the most prolific slasher films of the last few decades, even responsible for kick-starting a whole new wave of movies based on the simple premise of a killer stalking and killing victims one by one. At the time of its release, the slasher genre was practically dead and buried. Freddy was dead, even though New Nightmare had been released two years earlier, Jason had gone to hell, and Michael Myers was stalking around in the truly dreadful Halloween 6 a year earlier, putting the final nail in the coffin of that franchise.
Then, out of nowhere, came Scream, a film that not only appealed to a wide audience by focusing more on scares and mystery than gore, but also turned the genre upside down by having characters who were familiar with horror movies and the rules of the genre. Topping it all off was the creation of Ghostface, who not only spoke to the audience through his trivial questions, but also seemed flawed in his execution. This was a simple man under a mask who trips and falls during fights with his victims—a big step away from the sometimes supernatural entities who never have to run and kill with cold efficiency.
In Scream, a serial killer is active in the small town of Woodsboro. After losing two classmates, the teenagers at Woodsboro High start speculating about the killer’s identity while discussing horror movies at the same time. While the police investigate the murders and impose curfews, these kids do what they always do: go to a big secluded mansion to party. Mourning in horror movies only seems to last until the funeral, after which everybody forgets about the victims.
Scream works on two levels. On the surface, it’s an old-fashioned slasher film, while at the same time it lets the characters know they’re in a slasher movie. Beyond that, the world created in Scream feels larger than in most slashers. Yes, it’s a small town, nothing extraordinary there, but there are backstories woven in, and reporters from out of town come to cover the story. There is a world outside Woodsboro, which gives the film a greater sense of depth.
Within its genre, Scream is one of the best films ever made, though considering this is a genre full of extremely bad movies, that is not saying much. But Scream transcends the slasher genre by making everything as human as possible. Ghostface is just a guy or girl in a mask. The film is not so much about picking off teens one after another, but neatly incorporates a whodunnit element into the story, with a genuinely surprising revelation of the people behind the mask.
Scream is a movie about slasher movies and, ironically, became the inspiration for a whole new wave of slashers that looked better than their ’80s counterparts but, beyond that, did little new except reuse the whodunnit plot over and over again.
