Sept. 30th, 2026 - Some Thoughts on "Scream (1996)" & onwards - SPOILERS AHEAD!
Scream might be my favourite movie ever. At time of writing, I've watched it at least 10 times. I've watched all of the movies - including 7. Despite everything.
I know the fun facts, I've watched half the references. I don't know if the fact that I really like Matthew Lillard (for his portrayal of Shaggy, primarily)
has anything to do with it, genuinely. Scream is the movie which launched his career, along with the career of half the cast.
It shows. Williamson himself admitted that Stu Macher was (& I might be misremembering) the most underwritten character of the main cast,
but I never really felt that because of how much Lillard carries the performance. By Lillard's own admittance, he's spitting the whole way through
Scream & it's beautiful to watch. All the little embellishments make up for any thin characterisation, like. .
the way he raises his gums in act 3 has always captivated me. Since my very 1st watch. I don't know how he can make a shape like that with his face.
Maybe it's magic.
You hit me with the phone, you dick!
— Matthew Lillard, Scream (1996)
You know that line was improvised? Due to all of the fake blood on set, the phone slipped out of Skeet Ulrich's hand (when he was meant to pass it to
Lillard) and hit him in the head. So they rolled with it.
Scream has plenty of flaws - as a single movie and a franchise. For example, I think it's way too light on the kills,
and this is probably a (misguided) results of its attempts to stay comedic. The two can go hand-in-hand.
In the original script for Scream, the principal (played by Henry Winkler) didn't die, until the studio interfered & showed them that
like. This is meant to be a slasher movie??? People have gotta get slashed.
Oh and also I really dislike Dewey, especially in the 1st movie. He keeps pulling some stupid cop bullshit and the fact that he's dumb & innocent
really doesn't change things for me. Apparently test-screenings had the audience loving him so much that they decided to make him live, despite
him originally meaning to die. I think this was a real-bad mistake; it makes the movie lacking in significant kills, and the 'on-and-off' every single movie
between him and Gale gets tiring.
Now, I think Scream 4 is amazing. It's a movie which I kinda disliked on my first watch, and it's just grown on me ever since. 5 & 6? Fine (6 is better and gorier,
which I like to see). 7? We don't talk about it. But....
A part of me wants to consider the franchise over at 3. I don't hate that they made more, but I do hate that they
latched onto Sidney so hard after it. That they can't help but rest on their yannys. Despite the flaws of Scream 3,
the ending really really touches me. She deserved her family, she deserved her safety & to see her dragged back into it over & over again
feels like a tiresome chore at this point. We all know she has plot armour. I don't want that taken away - if she dies it'll get real dark,
but I do want new stories.
Despite this, I love Scream with all my heart. I think it's a genius subversion of slasher rules & the way it plays with them is so
incredibly fun that it just can't help but make me smile. You can see the seams and I think that really only adds to it - like the hands pushing objects from a closet,
or when Sidney opens a closet in her home and a random stinger noise which is clearly meant to be a 'subversion' but just feels unintentionally comical because of how out of place it is.
I think the more you understand a horror movie, the less it can scare you. When you hear stories of the fake blood and how they had to keep the set freezing, you're able to look past the screen
and try to imagine what it must have been like to wear the chill around you, getting through your lines. A kill becomes less scary when you can see the FX; that's why CGI done wrong can often
take you out of the fear. I don't think this is a bad thing, really, I just think it's a different thing. Part of what has captivated me about Scream is allowing my perception & understanding
of it to change through the watches.
You should watch it. You know, if you have or haven't already.
