SCREAM (1996) A film review by Nick Schaden Copyright 1997 Nick Schaden
Aren't we all sick of those classic cliches in horror movies? Take the annoying habit of grossly disproportional female victims to run upstairs or downstairs when they should be running out the door. It's a weakness that destroys the horror in far too many horror flicks. "Scream", directed by horror master Wes Craven, makes a refreshing twist by poking fun at the genre Craven's worked with so much in previous years. Unfortunately, while good ideas surface, the movie stumbles too much for a recommendation.
A series of high school murders have shocked a community. An attractive young high school student, Sidney (Neve Campbell) gets several threatening calls and later gets viscously attacked by the murderer. Does this mean "Scream"'s plot will follow right in line with all the other slasher movies? Heavens no. Instead, the movie concentrates on a mystery and makes the audience try to guess which one of the many teenage suspects is the murderer. While Scream is light years away from "The Maltese Falcon" material, Wes Craven amazingly makes the plot moderately interesting. I actually cared for Sidney's plight, and I thoroughly enjoyed the many jokes the actors and the movie makes toward previous horror movies.
In other small doses we see Wes Craven's mastery of the horror genre. For example, in the beginning of the movie Drew Barrymore is threatened and attacked by the movie's murderer. It's done expertly well, the cinematography and sound makes for a great introduction to the movie.
However, after this well made intro, suddenly the rest of the movie falls into several weaknesses. First, the acting leaves something to be desired - the far majority of actors are new to the acting scene and it shows. For example, Campbell's acting falters in certain scenes, her attempt to portray a young woman deeply in fear is largely reduced to widening eyes and breathing hard - it isn't that convincing. In addition, ironically the movie falls much into the same cliches of many horror movies - the victims and cops are just too stupid and the murderer is just too smart. Finally, after all the twists and turns the audience goes through, I was really hoping for the movie to wrap up nicely. Unfortunately, the logic free twist in the movie's end combined with the lame motive of the murderer's crime make "Scream" end on a sour note.
In sum, I'll remember "Scream" as an original spin upon the horror genre. Unfortunately its weaknesses cut this movie below recommendation material.
Nick's Rating: +1
*** Movies rated from -4 (worst) to +4 (best), 0 = average movie ***
-- Nick Schaden Send your comments to: cpunut@uslink.net Check out all of Nick's reviews at: http://uslink.net/~cpunut/movies.html
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