Growing up in a small town with not a lot of friends, you have to do what you can to make the time pass. For me, my friend past-time was horror movies. I devoured them as a kid. I remember going to the local video store with my mom and running to the horror aisle to see what new releases might be in stock. But even more than the new releases, it was the 80’s style horror movies that really caught my eye. The box art was normally quite grotesque with a naked girl here and a body part here. I always thought to myself, “This is awesome!” Hell, the Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors back box art (Kristen in the “Freddy snake”) scared me so much that it would take me years to watch it. Of course, I would always check out the back cover art just to freak myself out.
My view of horror as an art form all changed on one cold winter day in 1996. December 20th, 1996 to be exact (and no, dear viewers, I didn’t need to look that date up). A little movie called “Scream” opened and terrified moviegoers everywhere. It was the first film of its kind. A horror movie in which the characters in the movie had seen other horror movies. It could have been confusing and overly meta but it was all part of the fun.
So, for those of you who haven’t seen it, check it out. It’s one of the best horror movies of the 1990’s and makes me eager to see the reunion in the upcoming Scream 4.
Buy the great blu-ray here: Scream [Blu-ray]
Williamson and Craven deserve a lot of credit for what they did to the slasher genre in the 1990’s. They made it hip, fresh, and exciting again by adding an element of self awareness. This film will be talked about for decades to come for the way that it really did change film as we know it.
Scream turned the horror genre completely on its head, and I thank Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven for that!
I’m actually shocked how much I love this. Every time I watch it, I end up liking it even more. That’s the sign of a truly great movie!