Scream

directed by: wes craven

release date: 1996

Ah yes, the original movie that started it all. Drew Barrymore (the most notable star in the picture at the time of the release) plays Casey, the naive student that gets some horror trivia wrong but that doesn’t matter, because she is eventually “gutted like a fish” as Ghostface promises her.


Thus the iconic opening scene of new slasher films began in 1996. Most fans of this movie know the rest. It’s an absolutely pitch perfect slasher and suspenseful horror movie that rejuvenated the genre - funny enough, Wes Craven previously ended the Nightmare on Elm Street series with his addition to the horror genre.
This movie had it all - wit, humor, great death scenes, memorable performances from the ensemble cast, and early present household names.

My favorite installment of the series, I loved that I knew every actor, the horror references, and how exciting it was. The ending of this movie was the most surprising of them all and you never see it coming. I watch this movie at least once a year and I know the last scene’s dialogue verbatim. I laugh so hard every time with Matthew Lillard’s performance. His dialogue is hysterical and so right! What is he doing now? Moving on...

This movie fills me with nostalgia each time I watch it. The movie premiered in the nineties when all those teen movies were saturating the box office at the time. I was in junior high school at the time and I went to watch Scream at the demolished Commodore Theater in my neighborhood (Williamsburg); the movie theatre provided double features for the price of one. No theaters in New York City do that anymore (memories). The first movie playing with Scream was The Relic which I have absolutely no recollection of 'til this day. It was one of the last movie theaters on the Broadway strip in Williamsburg. I loved that movie theater with all it’s stickiness.

During The Relic, I recall chatting with friends, exiting the auditorium to see what cute guys were at the concession stand, see if I even wanted to buy anything (I never did), and checking in to see when the movie ended. I wasn't alone in this; most of the teenagers and preteens were doing the same because the movie was so dull. When Scream started, the theater was packed, buzzing with excitement, raw energy, thrills, and giddiness; Wes Craven had captured a new generation with an amazing horror slasher film and we were enthralled from the first scene to the last.

Wes Craven coupled with Kevin Williamson's pulse in the nineties catapulted this film into the deserved success it's had since it's 1996 premiere. This movie may not necessarily be a "classic" in the old fashioned sense, but it rejuvenated the horror genre and unleashed so many copycats thereafter.

Scream was the best in the whole franchise and what a thrilling ride it was and still is! Do watch this picture if you haven't yet; it's amazing.