Scream

"Yes it is, Sidney. It's all one big movie. Only you can't pick your genre" Billy Scream

With my horror movie craze, and the fact that the trailer for Scream 4 was just released, I decided to watch horror master Wes Craven's 1996 film Scream starring Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Jaimie Kennedy and David Arquette. This film is one of the best in the genre, and it achieves this status because its not like anything else out there (except the other Scream films).

The film is about a teenage girl, Sydney (played by Neve Campbell) who is being stalked by a killer wearing a ghostface mask. First he calls on the phone and plays a "game" with you. The game involves asking horror film trivia questions and if you get them wrong...well you just don't wanna answer a question wrong.

Sydney's mother had been brutally murdered a few years before and she, up till this point, had been working on moving past it. Her boyfriend is kinda creepy but seems to be understanding while he slowly tries to take their relationship to the next step. Setting up him as a possible suspect.

The film seems like its all a cliche` but that's where Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street (original) The People Under the Stairs, The Hills Have Eyes (original)) works his magic. The whole film is making fun of the horror film slasher genre and all its cliche`s. Most of this happens coming from movie geek Randy, played brilliantly by Jaimie Kennedy as he gives "the rules of horror films and how to survive".

One of the best scenes has him sitting there watching "Halloween" and as Jaimie Lee Curtis is stalked from behind, so is he. And he keeps yelling out "Turn around Jaimie"....now that is pretty clever.

The film also references the actors and the directors past work. At one point a girl says "The First Nightmare on Elm Street was good, the rest sucked!" referencing the fact that the studio fired Wes Craven after the first "Nightmare on Elm Street" and they all indeed suck after that. Wes Craven also appears in a quick glimpse as a janitor wearing a Freddy Kruger sweater and hat.

All in all its a fun slasher film that doesn't take itself too seriously, which ends up being its best quality. It can be intense and goofy at the same time and it feels natural and not at all forced. Film geeks should love it just for the references, horror fans should love it for....well every reason. Recommended for anyone who is a fan of slasher/horror films. 3/5 Stars.