In 1996, Wes Craven came out with another nightmare that redefined the horror genre, “Scream," starring Neve Campbell, Rose McGowan, Courtney Cox, and Skeet Ulrich (otherwise known as the poor man’s Johnny Depp). This horror movie became a staple because of its classic sex scenes, the 30-year-old actors playing teenagers and of course, the gore.
The first scene of the movie, featuring Drew Barrymore, starts the movie off on an excellent foot. The flirtatious phone call takes a sudden turn with “I want to know who I’m looking at." The immediate change in Barrymore’s face accurately reflects how we, the audience, feel. I can imagine that, back when it first came out (I was only two so this is merely speculation), the audience second-guessed their hearing when the caller says “I want to know who I’m talking to” and Barrymore replies “that’s not what you said." It’s all taken up a notch when Barrymore’s boyfriend is tied up and bleeding in her backyard, and the killer pops into frame for a split second to slice his abdomen, revealing spilled guts. This may be cheesy gore, but there’s something about the combination of the ominous non-diegetic music and the sight of her burly boyfriend that is completely helpless and dying.
The audience now knows what the killer is capable of when Sydney becomes his victim for the very first time (ahem to the 3 sequels that should’ve been avoided). Once again, a seemingly innocent phone conversation does a complete 180 with “if you hang up on me you’ll die just like your mother." Apparently no subject is off-limits to a serial killer.
The sex scene towards the end, between Sydney and Billy (her boyfriend), immediately precedes the climax (no pun intended) of the movie, and Jamie Kennedy’s character Randy observes a similar pattern in the “Halloween” movies—the virgins live, and sex always leads to a death. This cliché smacks you in the face when Sydney’s overly sexed friend Tatum is crushed by a garage door—which is a total wtf.
And then comes the ultimate twist of the killer’s identity—Sydney’s boyfriend, Billy. The boy she just lost her virginity to (although, I was never totally clear on whether that was her first time), the boy who stuck by her through her mother’s murder (he killed her, by the way), the total hottie (by 90s standards).
There were some clues alluding to the killer's identity earlier in the movie-- like Billy showing up at Sydney's house immediately after her first attack. Get this-- a cellular telephone fell out of his pocket! This doesn't make sense today, but it was incredibly suspect for that to have happened.
The final 20 minutes of the movie is an absolute bloodbath with stabbings, beatings, and an eventual shooting. It's the point where you're at the edge of your seat, biting your nails, yelling at the TV "Behind you!" Sydney, by the way, is probably one of the best female characters in a horror movie, runner-up to Jamie Lee Curtis in "Halloween" (1978) and Audrey Hepburn in "Wait Until Dark" (1967).
It resonates with horror fans because it takes so many horror movie clichés and pokes fun at them, but manages to weave these clichés into a horrifying plot of murder, a masked killer, and betrayal.
