Welcome back to Maddie's Movie Reviews This is gonna be a much shorter one than Lord of War, which I had a lot of strong feelings for. Now I know that Halloween is over, but that doesn't mean we have to stop watching scary movies. The scary movie in question actually happens to be one of the big icons in the horror genre; Let's begin my review of Scream (1996)

Now ironically enough, I've never actually seen Scream before now. I've heard time and time again that it's a classic among classics, and I have to say that I do think that it absolutely lives up to it's hype. The sense of suspense is really potent, and the story actually wasn't too bad.



I particularly really like the main character Sidney. There's only a few movies that I think that have actually genuinely competent and strong female leads. Most of the time in the early to late 2020s, the idea of "Strong women in movies" is only treated as a gimmick rather than a proper story hook. She expresses a distinct "I know what I'm doing, but I still have my slip ups" vibe that is honestly VERY refreshing.

I also extremely enjoy the character Gale Weathers, the resident story-starved news reporter. At first she acts as somewhat of a secondary antagonist to the titular Ghostface, but she actually manages to come around near the end and assist in catching and killing him. I love her entire vibe that she has going on of the passive aggressive journalist that actually manages to complete a full character arc while investigating the murders happening in small town California



And it's impossible to talk about the movie itself without talking about one of the most iconic slashers of all time Ghostface. His presence adds to any scene he's in tenfold. Initially I had thought that he would just be the slow meandering brute that's too afraid to get his hands dirty like most modern day slashers, when infact he's a swift and stealthy infiltrator type that still packs a good punch. Every kill is infinitely entertaining and rarely can horror movies actually make me smile and go "Oh that's fucking awesome."

Now for my gripes: Sometimes the constant references to other horror movies gets a bit jarring. Closer to the end Randy keeps bringing up rules and horror movie tropes that kinda takes away from the scene a little bit. Sure, it makes the scenes a little bit more meta, but it seems unfitting in certain instances. It's very reminiscent of late Seth MacFarlane type writing that heavily relies on references to make up for the fact that they don't have anything on their own.

Generally, Scream is a very fun movie, and I think I'll add it to my list of rewatchables. Overall, I give Scream (1996) an 8/10.

++ Actually strong female lead
+ Fun and gruesome kills
- Twist ending that's a little confusing
-- Humor reliant on references