Spooktober! Lookback: How Scream Revitalized Horror In The 90's

                                                     

(Remember to always follow the rules.)

Horror is a genre that often relies on reusing very similar stories, or similar stereotypes and tropes that all horror as a whole tend to share. There are various sub-genres like any other genre, but each sub-genre in this case usually tends to carry with it a set of various rules. The idea that every film follows these rules has been in the cinema-goers minds for quite some time, especially fans of the genre from the 80's and 90's who had become a bit sick of the same old stuff. They noticed all the similar stories, all the washed out characters, and all the boring plots that began to mold together with each other. There was a lot of talk in the late 80's about the "death of horror" as a whole, because films simply stopped making money in the genre. Jason Goes To Hell, which I discussed in another retrospective, made about $13 million at the box office, after previously making over $20-40 million an entry before, and even Nightmare On Elm Street fell below the $30 million mark a couple times at the box office. What about Michael Myers? Halloween 6 came out in the 90's, banking off the revival of slashers I'm about to discuss, and still only made about $10 million at the box office, solidifying the fate of that long running and often confusing franchise (which I will discuss on Halloween of course), so it seemed as though slashers were all but done for at this point. The icons that people grew up with got less and less scary to them, and we got more and more cynical as a whole. Maybe not cynical, but jaded, people in the 90's were against society and there was a big uprising of rebellion etc. They were tired of Hollywood pumping out the same material over and over again, recycling plot-lines they'd relied on for far too long. The first true slasher flick, Halloween, came out  in 1978, and ever since that fateful date Hollywood had banked off the popularity of the genre that John Carpenter mastered and truly created. They'd done every sort of slasher conceivable at this point really, some of them include killer dolls, masked madmen in Texas, scornful lovers on prom night, dream demons, drowned kids coming back, you get the picture right? They took every possible story for the genre and made the fuck out of those movies. It was too much, in too little of a span really, From 1980-1990 Hollywood and other sources had already pumped out well over 2 or 3 hundred slasher films, it is the very meaning of overdoing a bad thing. It seemed at this point, that Hollywood had finally beaten the horse so dead it wouldn't come back, neigh, it couldn't come back. But, out of this great darkness came a hero, in the form of Wes Craven! This is the story of Scream, and how it revitalized the slasher genre all on its own. I think I've set the stage for it quite well, hopefully you can understand just how awful slashers were considered before Scream came out.

(No, you aren't gonna escape through that door like a teen would have in the 80's)

Alright, so now that I've set the stage for you all, let's discuss why Scream revitalized the slasher genre in more depth. It wasn't until 1996 that this film came out to save the genre, the early 90's was a very bad time for slashers as a whole, which I explained above. But how did one movie actually manage to spark peoples interest in the genre again? Well, one of the main reasons I would attribute to the success of this film would definitely have to be the sarcastic and often self referential tone with which it approaches the subgenre it is lumped within. This is usually referred to as meta humor, humor which exists only within the genre that the film takes place, usually mocking itself in a sense. It's like a fourth wall breaking style of comedy, where the actors are acutely aware of the rules which the film is following. As far as I know, it was the first slasher to ever take this approach and boy did it pay off. It introduces a new breed of killer, one that is obsessed with horror films, and uses them as a medium to plot all their sinister kills. It tackles one of the big questions of the time as well, does violent media cause teens to commit violent crimes? Or are some people simply just insane, and like to do it for no reason other than self satisfaction. The film follows a simple enough plotline really, and it includes one of the most recognizable/iconic introductory scenes in slasher history probably. It opens on a secluded house in the middle of a large grassy field, and our iconic killler makes a phone call to his first victim. "What are you up to?" the killer innocently enough asks, in a gravelly and raspy voice, and from the minute that woman answers the phone her fate is sealed. Eventually the calls become more menacing, and less friendly, as she rejects the callers advances. "Look on the back porch" he beckons, after putting the idea that her boyfriend could be out there in her mind. To her shock and dismay, there he sits, tied and duct taped to her patio furniture. He gives her one last chance to save her life, by asking her who the killer of the original Friday the 13th is, using old horror callbacks and trivia to toy with her. She wrongly answers Jason Voorhees (she wouldn't have answered wrong if she read my article), and unfortunately that's lights out for Steve who gets eviscerated on her back porch in a gory fashion. He then gives her one last chance to save her own life by guessing what door he's at on her property, she gives up on the game and unfortunately for her, that means her life is now forfeit as well. Ghostface smashes through the window near her and guts her, then proceeds to hang her on the tree outside their property with the phone cord as she struggles to get a call off to her parents. All they hear is her death croak as she bleeds out, mortified, they rush home to find her corpse hanging there. This scene is still effective to this day really, there isn't a slasher out there that has a more iconic intro in my opinion. And that's just the beginning scene! 

(Enter Sidney Prescott, someone who becomes more tired of Ghostface's bullshit with each entry.)

After that long beginning sequence is over that introduces the main villain, Ghostface, and the kind of game he's playing, we are brought to a normal Highschool there in town. Most of the film centers around a girl named Sidney Prescott and her friend's Billy, Randy, Stu, and Tatum, as they're each going about their lives as teenagers would. Dating, having parties, a couple of them are murderer's, wait what? That's right folks, this film actually has killers hiding among the main character roster. Imagine the shock of that reveal when this film came out, that it was Sidney's boyfriend all along, killing everyone she knew and loved. Tormenting her at every opportunity, and every corner. A lot of the film tries to lead you to believe it could be Randy, because it makes a lot of logical sense. He's obsessed with horror, so is the killer, he works at a video store where he could have access to all these films having the inspiration pulled from them. But there's also an underlying tone of demise whenever Billy comes around Sidney, and he seems pretty detached for most of the film. Almost as if he wants some kind of revenge, but it's not introduced in much of a fashion until later in the film. A lot of the plot plays out like any other slasher film, however in the case of Scream, the characters are wise enough to realize it. They make reference to the rules of horror films, specifically Randy, in a speech before someone goes off alone to their untimely demise. The rules are simple: You may not survive if you have sex, You may not survive if you drink or do drugs, and You may not survive if you say "I'll be right back" "Hello", or "Who's there?" These are all pretty basic guidelines on how to survive any horror film, and they're referenced quite often throughout this film. Randy serves as a sort of conduit for horror fans voice almost, telling audiences coyly that "yes, we have seen this all before, but isn't it still kinda fun?" He exists as a sort of self conscious voice that knows all the rules of the film he's in, and to this point no character like his existed in horror films. It gave Scream a distinct style that was all its own, in a way it mocks everything that slashers exist to represent. It's close enough to parody that it is funny, even in its chase scenes some of the most ridiculous of things can happen. Sydney has probably flinged just about any kind of furniture you can thing of down at Ghostface by the end of the first film, which I think in itself is a parody of the fact every killer in old slasher's is stopped dead in their tracks by some furniture or something else in their way that they have to then move. Either way, by the end of this film you will realize that it is not simply another slasher flick, but instead almost like a crash course on dissecting the genre, and then laughing at it. 

(Gale weathers, small-time journalist, big time nuisance for Sidney.)

Meanwhile, Sidney is being constantly nagged as well by a journalist named Gale Weathers. While all this hell is descending on her town, Gale is always around the corner asking Sidney for an exclusive interview because the rumors around the town say the killer is after her. She also is trying to push Sidney into an interview with her mother's supposed killer Cotton Weary throughout the film. She's one of the films antagonist types really, until the very end when she actually helps save the day. There's also officer Dewey, a dopey but really good hearted policeman who gets into a lot of trouble in the film but always gets himself out. If there was a comedic relief role this man definitely fills it. Gale and Dewey eventually developed a relationship, which begins here in the first film and continues to build in the sequels. This actually led Courtney Cox and David Arquette, the actors who played the characters, to get married in real life as well. Though unfortunately they recently divorced, so that could be awkward if they ever made another Scream film. Nonetheless, these two characters play an integral role in the end of the film and are sort of there as extra's in this film, but take a more central role in later entries. So, we have a film nerd, a brooding boyfriend, the goofy frat like guy Stu, Sidney's best friend Tatum, a reporter, and an inept police officer. It's like horror stereotype bingo in this film! It follows the rules that are established by Randy in one of the later scenes to a T, and it only strays from old conventions to mock the genre it resides within. I think to understand why it does that, you really have to go back to what drove the film to get made in the first place: people were tired of everything Slasher. As I stated above, people got sick of the redundancy of slashers, and Wes Craven sat down with Kevin Williamson, who had a vision to save them that involved more comedy and a fresh coat of cynicism. 

After all, we did come here to discuss what made Scream such a success, so I would be remiss if I didn't explain how the film was even conceived. Scream is the byproduct of writer Kevin Williamson, a man who has an innate respect for the horror genre as a whole. It was originally developed under the title Scary Movie (which ironically was later used to parody the series), however Bob Weinstein didn't like the title and swiftly had it changed to Scream since it conveyed to him that it contained both horror and comedy. It was never meant to be a direct parody, or taken as one, nor is it directly horror either. It's just a funny coincidence that the Scary Movie franchise exists and uses that label to lambaste horror. Kevin had a hard time selling his script at first, but once Miramax and the Weinstein's had seen it, Scream really took off and the production started. It took a year or so before they finally were able to secure Wes Craven however, as at the time he was tired of horror and the "misogynistic" nature of it. However, it seems as though Kevin's script was enough to convince him, given that it contained a strong female lead, and the involvement of Drew Barrymore drew his attention as well. She plays the woman who's unfortunate end is the beginning of Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson's masterful comedy/horror. Truly, Kevin is the one to thank for the subject matter of the film, him and his love of old slashers gave way to a new breed of killers so to speak. A breed of self aware slasher films, ones that could rely on old tropes, so long as they turned them on their head in some way. It sidestepped around a lot of the issues, a lot of the problems that old slashers exhibited in their later years. It takes these problems and laughs at them, then does exactly the opposite of what you'd expect, it's this juxtaposition of what we expect and what we get that drives the film's success factor really. In a lot of ways it follows the trappings of old slashers, but there's flair and bits of film that are wholly unexpected and original as well. You never know what's going to come next, especially as the film begins to progress and build the characters in a way you don't typically see in slashers. It actually develops these characters and makes you care for them, something not many slashers to this point had bothered doing with their recycled cast of same old characters with no emotional depth to them. Williamson and Craven are responsible for creating a whole new subgenre of slashers, a sort of self aware subgenre. It was considered completely unique at its time, because no other horror film had ever made its actors self aware. Likewise the mix of black comedy throughout and the overall whodunit nature of the film gave it a wide spreading appeal to audiences far and wide. It is also noted for having a strong female appeal probably thanks to the badass Sidney Prescott who became a sort of icon for strong females in horror in the 90's. Wes Craven has sort of always done that however, Nightmare on Elm Street features a strong heroine played by Heather Langenkamp, who appears to aid children in the later entries with her form of fighting Freddy. Either way, this film sparked a horror renaissance in Hollywood, and spawned all kinds of imitators, ranging from good to mediocre. One thing is for sure, Williamson and Craven revitalized a genre long thought to be dead at the time.

(Truly that is the look of a killer.)

Speaking of things thought to be dead, Sidney thinks her boyfriend Billy dies and then he comes back later and reveals himself to be the killer all along. You wanna know his reason for the violence? Because he blames Sidney's mom for causing his parents divorce. You see, Sidney's mom was sleeping with his father, and that drove his mother away. Billy of course, was not happy about this, and decided why not get some revenge by killing a bunch of people, then framing Sidney's father, after also revealing he was the one who killed her mother. It's a lot to digest and it happens in a very short amount of film time, but it's just a sign of the films effectiveness to switch from comedy to horror on the fly. Stu is also helping Billy in this murders, his reason is just "peer pressure", which is a bit of a stab at the thought that murderer's could simply be pressured by their peers or society to commit crimes. Whether that be because of the violence of media, or something else that is an innate nature in our species. Nonetheless, this ending sequence is one of the more climactic scenes in the film, and actually caused a lot of problems due to the violent nature of it for the editing team. They had to make several cuts to please the MPAA, until eventually Bob Weinstein called them himself in defense of the film. He told them to stop looking at the film so seriously, as it is both a satire film and a horror film, and they allowed the scene to go in without much further editing. The scene in question is one where Stu and Billy repeatedly stab each other to make it look like they were in a fight with Sidney's father, in order to frame him for the murders due to him being unstable over the death of his wife. It's now that Gale comes to intervene and save the day, allowing Sidney an attack of opportunity on her captors. She turns the tables on them and is able to kill Stu. Randy comes back alive after being stabbed in the back earlier, Billy tries to attack Sidney but she kills him, and everything ends happily ever after basically. It's a mix up of two cliche endings, the one where the killer has a motive of revenge, and the one where the killer has no motive at all. But it's done in a very clever and original way. Just like the rest of the film, it is wholly its own while also borrowing from elements of other films. 

(Not a huge fan of this one.)

It's amazing the legacy Scream carries with it. Having spawned a series of sequels decades in the making, and even a Television series on MTV that I've never bothered watching. If there was any horror film in the 90's that was the most important to this date, I think it would be Scream. It is the sole film accredited with saving the genre of horror as a whole, which had been declared dead by this point in history. Whether it was for good or for bad is still up for contention really. Scream brought with it a whole new genre, but with that genre comes the same kinds of tropes and stereotypes that every other genre before it had. Hollywood will always take something new and creative, and then run it into the ground, turning something great into something that is simply annoying to people eventually. Scream can be seen as a smart horror film, one that understands its trappings and does everything it can to subvert and morph them, while also being referential to the past. Like it or hate it, that style of horror has been here to stay since it came out, and more and more horror seems to incorporate some elements of comedy in it. Some franchises go full ham, and others are more faithful to the core facets of Scream's subversive nature. Meta humor has evolved just as cinema has, and we still get films like A Cabin In The Woods once in a while, another great meta humor laden horror film. One thing is for certain, Scream was a great film for its time, and revitalized a genre that is still alive and kicking today!