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Scream (1996) https://letterboxd.com/smudgeefc1985/film/scream/
Horror-tober 10
One I've been meaning to revisit for a while, and since it turned up on tv tonight, why the hell not? This is actually the first time I'd seen it since I got my hands on an illegal VHS copy not long after it came out, since I was too young to see it. I guess that means I was 11/12 at the time. I enjoyed it then, but I think watching it back now as a proper horror fan, I got so much more out of it and spotted all the more subtle horror references. The film manages to be both a parody, as well as a love letter to all the slasher films we know and love.
That opening has become as iconic as some of those scenes from those old classics. Drew Barrymore's 12 minute cameo at the very start is some of the finest slasher fare you'll see anywhere, as well as reviving the idea of the early shock death seen in Psycho (just one of many classics referenced multiple times). After that, the dialogue is sharp and funny, the atmosphere and jump scares top notch, and the film's smiling self awareness is just beautiful. The way the scenes in the party are intercut with the kids watching Halloween is done so well, from Randy being stalked by the killer as he watches Jamie Lee Curtis being stalked on tv, to the 'obligatory tit shot' cut with the sex scene. An excellent rebirth of a genre.
Horror-tober 10
One I've been meaning to revisit for a while, and since it turned up on tv tonight, why the hell not? This is actually the first time I'd seen it since I got my hands on an illegal VHS copy not long after it came out, since I was too young to see it. I guess that means I was 11/12 at the time. I enjoyed it then, but I think watching it back now as a proper horror fan, I got so much more out of it and spotted all the more subtle horror references. The film manages to be both a parody, as well as a love letter to all the slasher films we know and love.
That opening has become as iconic as some of those scenes from those old classics. Drew Barrymore's 12 minute cameo at the very start is some of the finest slasher fare you'll see anywhere, as well as reviving the idea of the early shock death seen in Psycho (just one of many classics referenced multiple times). After that, the dialogue is sharp and funny, the atmosphere and jump scares top notch, and the film's smiling self awareness is just beautiful. The way the scenes in the party are intercut with the kids watching Halloween is done so well, from Randy being stalked by the killer as he watches Jamie Lee Curtis being stalked on tv, to the 'obligatory tit shot' cut with the sex scene. An excellent rebirth of a genre.