REVIEW DATE 3:18:9:9
Slasher movies. Two words that would strike fear in the heart of your average movie critic and would make your average Fangoria subscriber drool all over his black Jason t-shirt. Slasher movies, the bane of those old horror fans who use to sit wide eye watching movies like It Came From Outer Space, The Green Slime and The Terror yet denounce a movie like Friday the 13th or it's ilk.
Of course, they have good reason to denounce slasher movies. Especial when these movies are examined through a critical eye. Under that magnifying glass slasher movies tend to suffer from any (most times all) of the following:
1.Stupid people doing stupid things for stupid reasons.
2. Serial killer puns
3. Characters so cliched you could predict every line that falls from their lips.
4. Crappy writing.
5. Acting so wooden you could make paper out of it.
Then, out of the great blue yonder, comes Scream. Offering a pretty scary killer in a cool outfit, some actual acting to be had and (gasp) an actual script, its no surprise to me that this movie has sparked a mini renaissance in the slasher sub genre.
Getting off to a good start with the requisite Slaying of the Blonde (they always seem to get it first) the movie doesn't let us rest. We meet our heroine, Sidney (Neve Campbell), who is just getting over her mothers brutal slaying one year before. Soon Sidney becomes the target of the knife wielding psycho, and as bodies continue to pile up everyone becomes a suspect.
Here we have what I like so much about Scream: the movie keeps you guessing. The script (written with pride by Kevin Williamson) makes a big show about not coming out and telling you who the killer is in the first 5 minuets. And, unlike its grand pappy, Friday the 13th, the killer is introduced well before the movie ends.
Past that we come to another element of good writing: the dialogue. All the characters here have grown up watching crappy slasher movies. They know all the rules. Also good is the little jabs the movie takes at itself. Characters bitch and moan about all the stupid things characters in horror movies do, yet, when faced with a similar situation, they do the exact same thing. . .sorta.
And, lo and behold, there are actual actors in the cast. A whole cast full of them, in fact. Neve Campbell does a bang up job as Sidney and is never reduced to clasping her hands over he ears and screaming, she actual does something, for God's sake.
Generating most of the laughs is Jamie Kennedy as Randy, the weird video store clerk who may or may not be the killer. Randy is one of those weird characters who's brain is over flowing with horror trivia, and he gets all the best lines. He also racks up special points for being the first comic relief character that I didn't wish to meet with a horrible, bloody death.
Rounding out the cast we have Skeet Ulrich (who may or may not be the killer), Mathew Lillard (who may or may not be the killer), David Arquette (who may or may not be the killer) and Courteney Cox (who may or may not. . .well, you get the idea) who are all so perfectly sculpted for their roles its almost spooky.
Even the most cynical of movie watchers should be surprised by Scream, considering it seams to have shaken the curse that seems to haunt slasher movies. My Lord, it has good acting, great writing, the killer never makes a stupid pun once, its directed by Wes (A Nightmare on Elm Street) Craven. . . what kind of horror fan could resist?
RATING (OUT OF A POSSIBLE FIVE)
SOME GREAT NEW SCHOOL SLASHING.
