It started with a 911 phone call and with the most epic death scene that still holds up to this day. Drew Barrymore was an absolute genius when she decided to be the character, Casey Becker, that dies first. It was no holds barred after her parents found her, leaving you vulnerable from the very start. The cat and mouse game that ghostface played with Casey made that much more suspenseful, leaving you gripping your closest blanket, hugging it to find your happy place....but there's no happy place when ghostface is around. Can we just mention the genius that is the horror trivia that the killer(s) forced Casey to play, tricking her with the Friday the 13th question, asking her who the killer was in that first movie. Of course, if you're not a true Friday the 13th fan, you would probably make the same mistake as Casey and answer that Jason Vorhees is the killer......but I'm sorry that is not the right answer. Nuh uh....no way. It was Mrs. Vorhees, Jason's mother was the first killer, Jason does not come in until the sequel. Lucky for Casey, there's a bonus round but poor Steve.....anyway...sorry got sidetracked.
We are introduced to our now iconic final girl, Sidney, who is typing away on her 90's computer and is interrupted by a mysterious Billy Loomis who creeps into her window. Let's just talk about Billy Loomis's character, otherwise I will talk scene by scene, analyzing every single nook and cranny. Billy has a James Dean-esque vibe about him but of course more psychotic. He's very nonchalant, he's dark, he's mysterious and he charms the pants off of us from the very start, even though we do question his innocence throughout the film. He hides a secret behind those dark, bruting eyes and we will never know what that secret is until the very last act of the film. He sneaks out late at night, so quiet his father never realizes that he's out there killing his classmates. I just have to say, the scene when he gets arrested and he's being questioned by the police, when he says "I didn't kill anybody. That's crazy. You know that" He tries to be convincing even to himself, but just look over at his father's face, it's almost as if he is questioning his own son's innocence. Hmmmm.....
And then we have Stu Macher, the side kick, the peanut butter to Billy's jelly. They are best friends but I also have to wonder how close are they really? I say this because there is one scene that just really comes to mind and it's the scene where Billy reveals his actual motive to Sidney, about his father having an affair with her mother, the look on Stu's face. It just always made me wonder, did Stu know about that? Was that the first time hearing his true motive? There was a moment of shock on Stu's face and it makes me really want to know what was going through his mind. But there I go again, sidetracked once again. This film always has me working every angle, trying to piece every piece of the puzzle together. Stu is an energetic being who seems to go along with whatever his best friend Billy says. He is quite outgoing, he is likable and at times I feel sarcastic, but in a gentle, poking humor kind of way. He is a killer who you really have to wonder how he became how he became. Was he seeking attention because his parents ignored him? (Hence why I think he says "My parents are going to be so mad at me") Or was he curious about the dark side and just easily gave in....Or perhaps, he just wanted Billy's approval and went along with it because something in Billy made Stu want so desperately to be accepted by him.
Two Killers with two completely different motives, but it worked so well because they worked together with the common ground that they were both 100% out of their minds. That third act, when Sidney is forced to watch them just completely lose their marbles, there's a strength in her, a resilience that makes her the final girl that she is still today. When she has to choose between Stu and Randy outside, when they're both inching towards her, not knowing who to trust, she chooses to trust herself and that shows that she is not hesitant to fight to survive.
The backbone of this story is that of Sidney's mother, Maureen Prescott who was brutally murdered a year prior to then tragic events. We don't know much about Maureen, only what we hear from Tatum and what we hear from Sidney herself, unless if you want to count what Billy says about her.... Maureen was a lonely housewife I believe who did love her family dearly, but she was hiding a side of herself that she only seemed to show Cotton Weary. Who was accused of the murder of Maureen, only to be framed by what was curated by Roman Bridger (that is a long story for another review...perhaps Scream 3?) Maureen stirred up a lot of trouble for herself, revealing that not only was she fooling around with Cotton, she was also fooling around with Billy's father which caused chaos for the Loomis household, causing Billy's mother (NOT Debbie Salt) to leave them, leaving Billy with abandonment issues. We never get to hear it from Neil Prescott's point of view, how he felt about his wife's secret double life, he just gets kidnapped, held hostage and also become the red herring throughout the film, only to bust out of a closet and scare the tinsel out of us!
How about that ruthless news reporter that will stop at nothing to get first dabs on a hot story, Gale Weathers. It took me some time to warm up to Gale, not going to lie because at first I was angered by her, the way she wanted to exploit Sidney's mother for her own personal gain. She's just that character that you love to hate and hate to love, I feel like at first, the only reason we like her is because she tries to pursue Dewey. Quite bumbly, youthful and at times a light humor that makes us love Dewey even more! What's not to love about Dewey? He's just trying to do his job and wants to make sure that Sidney gets her education! I'm so glad they didn't have him die in the first because who knows where the franchise would have gone without him.
I can't forget to mention Randy, he's all of us, he is the eyes and ears for the audience, without making us feel like we are dumb, like we need things spelled out for us. He tells us of the rules in order to survive a horror film and he also lusts after Sidney as well, always to be seen as the goofy movie geek friend. Then we have Tatum, the spunky best friend who tells it like it is, no fear and no other escape but through a cat door. She has that memorable line in the garage, "No please don't kill me Mr. Ghostface, I want to be in the sequel" and of course also a memorable death scene. It was quite brilliant, let's just say it. But we can also say that she was protective of her best friend Sidney, til the end.
So what else is there to say about this masterpiece? I love every element, every sub genre this film is under. I love that there is suspense, mystery, drama, and yes, even comedy, it has everything rolled into one movie. We can thank Kevin Williamson for being desperate to write something that his bills and rent are paid. There's Wes Craven, who directed this film, bringing it to life right out of our nightmares, leaving us in shock and awe, only to want to watch this movie repeatedly......to SCREAM....again and again.
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