912. Scream

Scream
1996
Directed by Wes Craven

I adore movies that are clearly made for cinephiles.  This is a personal favorite of mine and I am grateful that it has come along, as the recent films I have been reviewing have merely been okay.  Finally, something fantastic.

Casey Becker receives a phone call from an unknown person while she waiting for her boyfriend to come over.  At first, the caller is flirty but he quickly becomes sadistic.  He tells her that if she can't answer his horror movie trivia questions, he will kill her and her boyfriend. By the way, I would totally have nailed this.  If you know horror movies (and to fully appreciate this film this description has to apply to you), you know what happens next.  We then meet Sidney Prescott, whose mother was killed a year ago.  Her boyfriend Billy wants her to move on from this, so he can get laid.  But he's Skeet Ulrich, so he is still charming.  Anyway, there are more killings and it quickly becomes clear that Sidney is being targeted.

I don't know why I went into such detail with the plot.  The jokes and irony come from the fact that the plot is a cliche; I probably could have just said "It's like Halloween."  Anyway, I was initially wary of this one, as horror movie parodies are often cringeworthy.  But I love how this film still delivers; it's still a horror movie, even with all the in jokes and self awareness.  There are genuinely frightening moments and great twists.

Personally, I liked Scream 4 better, but I understand why this entry was selected.  Definitely a must see for any movie fan.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Linda Blair makes a cameo as a reporter.

Ghostface's costume was originally going to be white so that he would look more like a ghost.  However, his robes were changed to black so that he wouldn't look like a KKK member.