Released all the way back in 1996, Scream was a truly groundbreaking movie, it was a huge hit for the master of horror Wes Craven and it would be what many follow-up horror movies would aim to be. Stuff like I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty, Urban Legend, and even Halloween H20 clearly were inspired by what Scream did.
How to Download Scream
You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. Check out also our reviews of Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023).
The Movie Review
I never actually saw this in the theatre back in the day, but I did rent it on VHS about a million times. This brought the slasher genre back to the mainstream and it has been parodied to death (Scary Movie) and it is one of the biggest horror/slasher movie franchises of all time.
Setting and Characters
Taking place in the fictional town of Woodsboro in California, the town is on high alert after a high school student is killed in a gruesome fashion by a killer wearing what we now call the Ghostface mask. It is all people are talking about the next day at school, but it does not take long for the killer to choose their next target, Sidney Prescot.
Sidney Prescott: The Heroine
Sidney Prescot is the heroine of the Scream franchise! Sidney is dealing with the anniversary of the death of her mother which was committed by a man called Cotton Weary who claims he is innocent. Sidney is joined by her best friends Tatum and Randy, her boyfriend Billy, and Billy’s best friend Stu. Our main cast is joined by Deputy Dewey who is the brother of Tatum and news reporter Gail Weathers. Oh, I also have to give major props to The Fonz as the principal of the school.
Unveiling the Plot
Once Syndey is clearly the target of Ghostface, the sheriff’s department does what they can to try and keep her safe. We start to realize that the killer has a really personal reason for attacking Sidney and you are never really sure who the killer is. The movie does a great job of making you second-guess people.
Self-Awareness and Rule-Breaking
Now, I have seen this movie 100 times, but the first time, while I thought I knew who the killer was, it was still an awesome reveal. One thing that Scream does very well is play with the rules of slasher/horror movies. Randy does a great job of letting us know the rules of a movie like this and the way Scream plays around with this is fun, but at the time it was released as well as being fun, it was kind of groundbreaking how self-aware Scream was.
The 90s Vibe
Scream is very much a 90s movie and it has that 90s style, but I think that just adds to the charm of it and the fashion like Billy’s incredibly 90s hairstyle is something I get a huge kick out of. I would think that a teenager in 2023 could watch the first Scream movie and have just as much fun as I did when I watched it in 1997.
Timeless Appeal
Does the first Scream movie hold up? I think that it does I recently rewatched the 4K version of it and even though I knew everything that was going to happen I still had a great time with it. I would not say that it is my favorite in the franchise, but it is still a fantastic movie and one that is well worth watching.
