What’s your favourite ….. scary movie?
Scream isn’t technically a horror film in the supernatural tradition; rather it’s a thriller that pays homage to the classic 70s-era horrors that almost inevitably starred Jamie Lee Curtis.
Directed by horror maven Wes Craven, (RIP) Scream draws on all of the tropes and traditions of slasher horror films, ties them up in a bloody bow, and leaves them on your doorstep.
Someone (or more than one someone) is killing teenagers. And not just teenagers. High school principal Henry Winkler (heeeeeeyyyyy) gets it in the neck as well.
Tensions run high in the quiet community of Woodsboro as the murders continue.
High schooler Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has more reason than most to be particularly jumpy, as a year before the murders start, her own mother was raped and brutally murdered.
This puts the spotlight on Sidney in a way she’s not comfortable with - can she survive with the help of her friends?
DUN DUN DUN (sorry. couldn’t help myself.)
Anyway. I remember going to Scream when it was first released and being completely drawn in. Yes, it’s a clever homage to classic 70s/80s horror, but there’s also a nice thread of suspense throughout as Sidney battles against increasingly terrible odds to survive.
Side note: When I was about 12, I spent a large part of one school holidays at a friend’s house, watching some of these movies on VCR (it was the 80s.) Dredging (partly) from those memories I recommend:
Prom Night
Halloween (the original Halloween, not the remake.)
The Entity
Near Dark (cannot recommend Near Dark enough)
The Lost Boys
Friday the 13th
The Exorcist
Carrie (the original.)
The Amytivlle Horror
And if that’s all a bit much, there is always, of course, Ghostbusters:
