scream

<b>6. Scream</b>

Charon - 1
Johnbobb - 3
Genny - 5
JONA - 6
Snake - 6
Scarlet - 7
Inviso - 8
Karo - 21
KBM - 26

Charon - <i>Easily the most important horror film the the 90's, Scream revamped the slasher genre and revolutionized horror in a way that can still be seen today. Scream was an innovator and the film is often mimicked or parodied to grand scales. The film's strengths are found in its wit, unpredicability and its ability to blend comedic elements into a film that's still actually tense and scary. Scream as a franchise is one of my all time favorites, and the original is arguably the best, though I'd be hard pressed to actually choose. The characters here are unlike most supporting cast members, at least in my opinion, as they all really are able to stand out and be memorable. The actors succeed greatly in interaction; I guess it isn't a surprise two of them even got married once upon a time. The film's love letter approach to slasher films that came before it is much appreciated, and it clearly takes all the best elements from those films and makes an awesome composition from them.</i>

Johnbobb - <i>Goddamn, this movie. THIS is how you do satire while also making something that stands on its own. Pretty easily the best Wes Craven movie in my opinion, even if the Elm Street movies might have it beat on creative kills. Everyone's a suspect, but once you know who the killers actually are, everything makes more sense on rewatch, to the point where you feel bad for not catching the clues the first time around. You've got two killers with wildly different motives and psyches (Matthew Lillard in particular gives what is probably the best performance in any teen horror movie), both of whom steal the show toward the end. Jamie's constant "rules of horror" are hilarious, and the whole movie is just endelessly entertaining.</i>

Genny -  <i>Don't lie: the first time you watched Scream you didn't see the twist coming. At that time it just blew my mind that two psychopaths could work together... well for the most part anyway. The movie still holds up well to this day, despite being campy enough to be parodied to death. I'll admit there is a lot of cheesiness to it, but it's 9.2/10 iconic level.</i>

JONA - <i>Scream has just the right amount of meta I would want for a movie like this. Enough to be clever but not enough to take away from the fear of the situation. I love the mix of horror and whodunnit and it makes the non-slasher parts more engaging. The humor of the movie helps with that too. The identity of the villain being a mystery and human and not being this larger-than-life character that’s the selling point feels refreshing. Scream’s just a great all-around package.</i>

Scarlet - <i>It’s amazing how this self-aware culturally-hip one-of-a-kind slasher has become such a staple of the genre that even it comes across nowadays as another convention-filled paint-by-numbers slasher film.  When Wes Craven created Scream, he was paving a new way into a previously braindead genre with some really witty and metatextual self-awareness.  Now, everyone and their brother has to make sure that every character in their slasher is just too cool to be killed without grabbing a one-liner.
Rating: 68/100</i>

Inviso - <i>In retrospect, I’m really glad we did the list with Scary Movie before we did the list with Scream, because watching this made me realize…Scary Movie barely had to exaggerate to parody Scream. Scream is a parody in and of itself, with hammy, over-the-top acting from nearly the entire cast, and I LOVED how cheesy and how corny each and every aspect of the film wound up being. David Arquette in particular…holy SHIT his acting was hilariously awkward. From him eating an ice cream cone while discussing murders with his boss, to insisting on being respected by his little sister while wearing a badge, to answering a phone after the killer already hung up…he made this movie. The twist ending was great, the meta-commentary on slasher films was great, and overall, I just found this film so lovably goofy that I have to rank it high.</i>

Snake - <b>Why I Chose It</b> - <i>Wes Craven's satirical take on the slasher genre lit the film world on fire. It was so successful and influential that it's near impossible to quantify the amount of subsequent media it inspired. Many films inspired by Scream even appeared on this list. Scream is credited especially for reviving the all-but-dead slasher genre and injecting it with a healthy dose of self-awareness, a trait many films would try (and fail) to match. Scream was also groundbreaking in its strong casting of established actors, Drew Barrymore and Courtney Cox being particularly notable examples. On the same token, Scream also drew more attention to several actors, including Rose McGowan & Liev Schreiber. Scream was the highest-grossing slasher of all time until last year's Halloween. It has spawned 3 sequels, a TV series, and series icon Ghostface even made a recent appearance in Dead by Daylight.</i>

<b>My Thoughts</b> - <i>Hilarious, scary, & smart, Scream is practically the perfect horror movie. The way it so gracefully interjects horror tropes and film references into itself always feels natural thanks to the amazing casting. This isn't some half-assed attempt at being hip; it's genuine and comes from a wealth of love for the genre. Scream becomes more and more effective the more horror movies you consume. Yet, it  never loses the fact that it is the very thing it's mocking. It uses those tropes to still make a compelling horror mystery. Ghostface is a unique killer, and one of my favorites because he can be anybody; he's not set in concrete like Jason or Myers, his personality can vary and it's such a fantastic breeding ground for developing characters. This is a horror fan's movie through and through, and one of my favorites of Craven's filmography.</i>

Karo - <i>A masked ghoul begins killing some really overaged teenagers in a small town and like most slasher movies that’s kinda it. There is more of an air of mystery to this one, but unfortunately the way it hides the identity of the killer is not by intrigue or misdirection but rather just throwing as many creepy motherfuckers at the audience as possible until they can't think straight. It just leaves one wondering if maybe there is something wrong with the city water supply. It is more well written than most slasher movies, but still has way too much dumb teens doing dumb teen stuff and culminates in a silly series of events where people run all about a house a lot and everyone is as durable as Wolverine (acute blood loss? never heard of it). It is just treading old ground with a new monster and it ain't really the scream it wants to be.</i>

KBM - <i>Scream is among screenwriter Kevin Williamson's better work, which definitely isn't the highest possible praise, but hey, it's something. Thanks to energetic direction from the late, great Wes Craven, and a cast, ably led by Neve Campbell, who're clearly all having a blast with the absurdity of it all, Scream turns out to be a fun, entirely watchable movie. The self-referential gags do sometimes get a little repetitive, and I do have issues with what this movie represents in terms of broader horror movie trends, with its having ushered in the era of smug copycat slasher movies featuring a lot of truly hateable, stupid teenage leads without any personality. This movie does have its problems, but the cast and the director are certainly talented enough to save this from ending up at the bottom of the barrel with the likes of certain copycats on this list I could name. Taken on its own, this movie isn't necessarily exceptional, but it certainly manages to be a good time. The opening scene with Drew Barrymore also works well on its own as a great horror short – if there's any problem with it, it's that the movie never quite reaches those heights again.</i>