Scream if you wanna go horror (Scream (DVD))

Member Name: bilbob20

Product:	Scream (DVD)
Date:	02/02/08 (80 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: An excellent script, good performances and good director

Disadvantages: Sometimes its a bit too clever for its own good

When Wes Craven isn't directing Freddy Krueger and his latest horrors, he manages to ocassionally hit the nail on the head with other creations. Most of his monsters in the past have been of the scarcely-human ilk. Freddy was the perfect example of his bastardisation of the human being. However Scream gave him the opportunity to make his monster altogether more human, and play around with the conventions of horror film.

Sidney Prescott is the sexless teen who lives in the shadow of her mothers murder. But now murder has come to their little town again as her friends are picked off in gruesome and ghastly ways. But it isn't only a killer who haunts Sidney. She's also being followed around by greedy ambitious news reporter - Gail Weathers. Gail is the epitome of career-hungry smart mouthed bitch, and she'll do whatever it takes to get her story and her screen time. However, when the murders escalate, she and Sidney have to join forces to outwit the witty killer. Help is at hand though in film geek Randy - who just happens to know the conventions of the horror film that is being applied to the killings - will their knowledge of the horror film help save them from the masked maniac.

Its a conciet that might well have failed Wes in this modern take on horror films. Making a horror film about horror films and the rules that should apply could have been all too glib and knowing to appeal to audiences. But why shouldn't horror films be genuinely funny, after all the funniest comedy comes from the most tragic places. Wes manages to direct a film that splits the knowing comedic moments with genuinely thrilling sequences and scary moments. If his killers look a bit daft, its all part of the fun.

What he also does is cleverly base his horror film on another great classic, but not one of his own. Halloween is the tale that gives them their clues. Not only is this a nod to the original slasher film, but its a confident move on Wes' part. He doesn't feel compelled to ram his own rules down your throat, knowing too well that he loosely borrowed from other people's films when creating Last House On The Left, The People Under The Stairs and his most popular creating A Nightmare On Elm Street.

He's a deft hand though at creating spectre's who are psychologically scarred by human nature, victims who are ultimately as flawed as their tormentors, and playing them off against each other in a bit to confuse the boundaries between who we should support.

This film isn't entirely a new move on Wes Craven's part. He initially gave a similar re-invention to the Nightmare series in 1994's New Nightmare - a film that set his real life actors in a fictional Hollywood where they would have to battle with the evil that Freddy Krueger had originally embodied. Here, he once again re-energises horror with a new set of rules and a touch of irony. There are various in jokes - and nods to various other horror films that are set up for the enjoyment of genuine fans, but also not to spoil the fun of the mainstream cinema audience. One other notable thing that Wes does in many of his films is setting up his main character for the slaughter. The heroine (its usually a woman who survives these films for unexplained reasons - they just scream better probably) is nearly always the one you weren't expecting it to be - giving him ample opportunity to off the initial main character in ghastly and hilarious ways.

The performances are also genuinely good. All of the teens are believable, even if the script sometimes places them in a predicament where they are a little too clever for their own good. Neve Campbell wears his battle scars firmly on her face but, like most of Craven's protaganists, she is gutsy and fights her war til the end. Courtney Cox is also excellent, ditching her friendly tv persona for a bit of one-upman-ship and a character that you'll love to hate. This film is also notable for introducing her to her real life husband David Arquette. A cameo from Drew Barrymore also sets up the stall early on.

Scream is an excellent film that went on to spawn 2 sequels and a spate of comedy versions - to varying results. Despite the fact that it ended on a trilogy - the Scary Movie contraptions that it spawned seem happy to roll on and on and on. Thank god Wes bowed out with his series with a bit of dignity, and lets hope that soon he'll come up with another new chiller that will once again turn the horror experience on its head. But for now - Scream is as good as it gets.

Summary: A film that hits all the right notes and achieves exactly what it was supposed to