Common Sense Note
Parents need to know SCREAM nearly got an NC-17 rating for violence. Be aware especially that the "unrated" home-video editions contain the extra frames of bloodshed, usually mutilation by knife. Despite the (often foulmouthed) dialogue's flirtation with self-awareness and satire, the gore here really comes across as intended -- brutal and intense.
Parents can talk with teens about why they enjoyed SCREAM so much. Do fans consider it a realistic movie, a dark comedy, or a hip whodunit with post-modern twists? Why are teens in particular so interested in horror movies?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Charles Cassady, Jr.
Written by hot scriptwriter Kevin Williamson, who captivated TV viewers with the juvenile ensemble cast of the drama "Dawson's Creek," SCREAM was a monster hit when it premiered. So much so it inspired two sequels (so far) and a carbon-copy parody film series.
It brought a sharper level of intelligence, production values, and acting talent to a disreputable (but to adolescent and post-adolescent viewers, irresistible) genre that exploded in ticket sales almost 20 years earlier -- the teen-slasher horror film. Almost always R-rated and crudely-plotted, the breed is exemplified by the original HALLOWEEN, FRIDAY THE 13TH and Xeroxed by countless low-budget and tacky imitators (TERROR TRAIN, PROM NIGHT etc.).
Williamson, aided by Wes Craven, a director with a flair for such material (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET), had the great idea not only to write SCREAM on a smarter level -- it's a cunning "whodunit" with Agatha Christie twists -- but also set it amidst media-savvy protagonists. These SCREAM players have seen that slasher-movie slop, and they know (or think they know) the tricks. One boy is even a video-store clerk who spells out "the rules" of horror films to try and predict what's going to happen next.
SCREAM's opening pays tribute to WHEN A STRANGER CALLS, as menacing phone calls torment a girl, played by Drew Barrymore. The voice belongs to a robed and masked psychopath, who viciously slices his prey and leaves her hanging from a tree. Slaying A-list starlet Barrymore immediately and pitilessly is just the first curveball the filmmakers throw.
The maniac's real target is Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), a high-schooler whose own mother (described as a tramp) was raped and murdered exactly one year before. Sidney barely survives an attack herself by the hooded marauder. This renewed bloodletting creates a media sensation in Sidney's small town of Woodsboro, and brings a visit by tabloid-TV journalist Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), whom Sidney already knows and detests.
Then again, a lot of the characters here are detestable. Craven and Williams do a good job etching teen subculture, but give very few of these endangered kids redeeming features. Instead there's the nihilistic sense of jaded, horror-movie-loving teens who are smart but desensitized and mean. The one grownup who launches into a righteous, outraged tirade about the kids' morals soon gets skewered himself by the maniac (it's hinted that he's a hypocrite anyway), and the young people celebrate his demise with a beer blast and HALLOWEEN viewing party. Meanwhile the murderer gets especially busy and Sidney faces her worst fears.
SCREAM nearly earned an NC-17 for violence. Despite the dialogue's flirtation with self-awareness and satire, the gore here is brutal and intense. While you'll see critical raves about SCREAM being "funny," know that the undeniable witty lines mix with deadly-serious killings and betrayals. Though the thrilling pace and steady jolts keep young audiences watching, we can't recommend SCREAM for adolescents and teens.
For all its visceral impact, there is cleverness here, and one young adult enjoyed the SCREAM series a lot more than later horror thrillers like HOSTEL and WOLF CREEK, which put an emphasis on gruesome torture of the helpless. Those she didn't find entertaining at all, just sickening.
SCREAM was originally begun under the title "Scary Movie," but the studio changed it. That tag was subsequently adopted by SCARY MOVIE and its own sequels, outrageous, cartoony parodies of this and other thrillers. While parents might consider the satire to be a safer alternative, note that the first SCARY MOVIE nearly received an adults-only rating itself for vulgarity.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentThe young characters speak frankly about sex and nudity. Though the act isn't explicitly shown, the heroine becomes intimate with her treacherous boyfriend, giving up her virginity, apparently (another frequent topic). Her late, offscreen mother is repeatedly described as a promiscuous home-wrecker, and apparently she was. |
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ViolenceSavage stabbings and throat-slittings, close-range shootings, lots of hand-to-hand fights with the killer. One casualty has her neck broken by a rising garage door. Another is electrocuted by a toppled television set. |
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LanguageAbundant profanity. |
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Social BehaviorAlmost all the principle characters are sarcastic, if not downright malicious teens, with very little evident empathy for the deaths of their buddies. Sidney, the heroine, seems to have the strongest sense of conscience, yet she unintentionally frames an innocent man for murder and commits some other very questionable acts. |
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CommercialismPrimarily references to other highly-rentable horror movies. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoAlcohol flows abundantly (before the blood does) at a teen party. Another character referred to as drunken enough to be framed for a killing. |
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