Wes Craven’s 1996 Scream is an intense horror film with mystery. If you are a fan of horror, this is the film for you. In this review, I will be going over how Scream references other horror films, what it could imply compared to other horror films, the characters roles and my opinion on the film. This will be through the evidence provided in the film as to how it is a scary film and where it stands compared to the other horror films.
Starting off, I found Scream to be rather uncomfortable, due to the creepy murderer and blood shown in the first fifteen minutes of the film, where there was no order to begin. Of course, the villain is supposed to be creepy and stalker-like, but I was not expecting to be thrown straight into the narrative. As Drew Blythe Barrymore’s character (Casey Becker) is presented first, where we presume that she will be the main character, however, as she is killed in the first fifteen minutes, Wes Craven makes it clear that anyone in this film can be killed. The film carries on and Neve Campbell’s character (Sidney Prescott) is more focused on to be the main character, as the film is set one year after her mother’s death, which also produces a sub-story that makes the audience question what happened? Then we find that the murderer is targeting Sidney, where she becomes the victim and centre of the narrative. We as the audience start to try and suspect who the murderer is, I found this enigma to be intriguing and attention keeping, where I could not guess who the murderer was, because of the surprising twist.
Throughout the film, there are references and comparisons to other horror films, which are either mentioned or pointed out by the characters, they reference John Carpenter’s 1978 Halloween, Brian De Palma’s 1976 Carrie, Sean S. Cunningham’s 1980 Friday the 13th and an interesting use of another film by Wes Craven, Nightmare on Elms Street 1984. By referring to these films, Wes Craven is referring to other horror films and how they usually end, even by using Jamie Kennedy’s character (Randy) to point out “the rules” of horror films and how to survive in them. This points out how horror films work with using character, especially with Rose McGowan’s character (Tatum), saying “No, please don’t kill me Mr Ghostface, I want to be in the sequel.” I found this line to be ironic, as no character in films say that, however, films have been expected to have sequels after a successful film, then the audience favours certain characters and want them to survive so they can carry on in the next film. This presents how the audience could think if they were in the characters shoes, wanting to survive and attempting to think of some way to beat the villain. We can see more of what Wes Craven sees as the rules to horror films and he understands how the audience thinks, so presenting black comedy and horror film references confuses the audience as to how the film will possibly end.
Scream also criticises horror films about the representation of gender, as Sidney talks to the murderer about horror films on the phone “they’re all the same, some stupid killer stalking some big breasted girl who can’t act is always running up the stairs instead of the front door.” This line is possibly used as a mouth piece for Wes Craven, as Sidney says that “all” horror films use this technique to gain the attention of the male audience. Also, the criticism of the victim in films is presenting again the audiences way of thinking, how can they survive or get away from the killer? This strategy is used to escape the killer is well known but never used in horror films, making the audience feel more powerful as they feel that they know how to survive from the psychos in films.
Another line that is an interesting argument is when Skeet Ulrich’s character (Billy) says “Movies don’t create psychos, movies make psychos more creative.” Horrifying as it sounds, this does add to the argument of the Direct Effect Theory formed by a media theorist, Melvin L. DeFleur. The Direct Effect Theory indicates that texts or media can influence the audience to do horrific actions. Where we see the characters in the films, and they have seen too many films, resulting into them doing the hands-on deed. By the line that Billy says, the murderer is only mimicking the films they have seen, which supports why we have the censorship of films, although this does beg the question of should we censor films more? In my opinion looking at the line and Direct Effect Theory, it is something to do with the psychology of the individual who is watching the film.
As the film goes on, it becomes more terrifying for me to watch, if I had popcorn, it would be thrown in the air, halfway through the film. The suspense and the jump scares become unexpected, with the music enhancing the feeling. I felt that I was more shocked when I saw the start of the film, but when it was towards the end, I could not help but shake in fear from when the murderer would appear. The lighting and setting also encourages the sense of fear, since there is dark lighting whenever the murderer appears and set in the suburbs, where families usually settle down with the peace and quiet. The dark is notorious for the use of fear, due to the inability to see everything clearly and not knowing what might be in the unseen. This threat of not knowing what is hidden from the audience and characters also adds to the tension as they become scared for their safety, not to mention, the villain is stereotypically in the camouflaging colour; black.
Overall, the1996 film Scream by Wes Craven is a good and attention keeping horror film, because of the use of references, characters and the enigma of who is the murderer. It gives an interesting argument to people who criticise horror films, including the rules of the horror film. I recommend watching this film as the mystery keeps the attention of the audience and creates tension as the film goes on.
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