Is it actually good or just a classic? Scream
By: Cecilia Fountain
Opinion
Horror movies, we all know what they are. A suspenseful action that leaves you scared to go into the dark alone. Especially during the spooky season, these movies come to life as you watch them with friends and family. One of the most iconic of the bunch is Scream. The 1996 classic horror that has too many stars in the cast to count.
In the beginning, before the movie even came out, all the posters, trailers, and anything that hooked you in were centered around Casey Becker. She was the main star, the center point. So when she died in the first 15 minutes of the movie, it left critics stunned. This was one of the greatest appeals of the first movie and cemented it as a classic.
However, how does it hold up today? Yes, it is a classic, but does that give it an excuse to be bad? Just because something is horrible, do people overlook it because of its timeless feel? Do people only hold onto it because of the stunning plot twist when it was first released?
Well, the best place to start is at the beginning. The movie starts off with Cassie, a 17-year-old girl, getting a call from a mysterious voice. As she makes popcorn, the tone starts to change into something much scarier. The voice forced her to play a game that involved guessing the killer of a Friday the 13th to save her boyfriend’s life. She fails to save her boyfriend, and the voice turns to her, asking which door he’s at. Cassie ends up dying in the horror movie. Kicking off the movie and turning the tides on what anyone thought it would be about.
The story follows Sidney Prescott, who copes with her mother’s death as the masked killer known as Ghostface runs around. Sidney becomes the killer’s main target, forcing her to fight for her life. In the end, the masked killers are the boyfriend, Billy, and friend Steve, who went on the rampage for fame and revenge.
So was the story actually good? The death in the first 15 minutes definitely establishes the tone and mood of the movie. Letting everyone know that it’s a horror movie. Also, every murder is different and unique, which always makes it more interesting. Furthermore, the movie always follows the idea that there are rules to a horror movie. This gives it a different take than most basic slashers. But at the end of the day, that’s all it is; a basic slasher. Besides the main characters, Sidney and Billy, no one else gets any real character development. This movie does a horrible job of throwing in random love stories. The relationship between Dewey (a young cop) and Gale Weathers (an aspiring journalist) is just weird. It’s obvious that Gale is just using Dewey to try and get an inside scoop, but then they go on a walk, and it seems like their connection is genuine. Then nothing. The relationship is unsolved and left to fizzle out. They add this side plot for no reason. Another time they do this is when Jammie asks Stu in a movie story if he thinks Sidney would ever go out with him. It is an unnecessary plot that just leads to nothing.
Another thing that makes this movie weird is how happy all the high school students are about their principal being dead. They all leave a party to go see his dead corpse hanging from a flagpole. What sickos would actually want to see that?
My last complaint about this movie is that the killer has no real motive. The movie tries to argue, “See, it’s a lot scarier when there’s no motive,” but it’s just an excuse to give less plot. They try to tie it back to how Sidney’s mother ruined Billy’s father’s life. But it’s a random excuse that had nothing to do with most of the story. There was never anything in the movie that talked about how Sidney’s mother had any relationship with Billy’s father. It’s just random.
So, overall, if you want to watch a classic horror movie, definitely watch Scream. However, if you do mind it being bad and underdeveloped, then don’t.
https://scream.fandom.com/wiki/Stu_Macher#:~:text=Stu%20as%20Ghostface%20after%20he,’m%20far%20too%20sensitive%22.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117571/quotes/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1074316-scream/cast-and-crew