Deseret News | Movie review: Scream

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Scream

The Phantom | 8:00 p.m. Aug. 28, 1998

This film, I think has givin us a pretty good mix between
90210 and Friday the 13th. The characters are mildly
sculped but the entire atmosphere in the movie, in my
opinion was well done. Some things don't make sense, like
appearing in the supermarket, the T.V. droping on one of the
killer's heads (T.V. glass is suprisingly thick) and a few
others. The soundtrack however is very well done, a great
mix of seventies and modern day music. This film has set a
new mood for modern day horror movies, and you might expect
that the same feel will be experienced in many newer horror
films.

josh | 2:41 p.m. Aug. 29, 1998

I thought Scream was a frightning, Savy, Brilliant new horror movie, In fact i think it reinvinted the horror genre. And i have one thing to say to Mr. Vice...i have not read one review of yours that has been pleasant. All you seem to do is bash movies. You over look all the good elements and focus on the bad. BUT AGAIN I WOULD LOVE TO SAY THAT SCREAM IS ONE OF THE BEST HORROR MOVIES MADE. and Wes is Not overrated as you seem to imply.

Jake Nelson | 9:00 a.m. Oct. 13, 1998

It's nice to see a horror movie with an all new story to it.
Most horror movies, and their sequels, are the same...
Killer kills a bunch of people, gets killed, then comes bacl
to do it again. Scream is an exciting movie filled with
tension and very little release. I stayed on the edge of my
seet throughout the entire film, and it's sequel!

Comments continue below

Matthew Melton | 10:06 a.m. Dec. 21, 1998

SCREAM - * * * * *
a VERY ORIGINAL AND MAGINFICIENT HORROR FILM THAT IS VERY UNPREDICTABLE AND ENTERTAINING. iT KEEPS YOU GUESSING WHO THE KILLER IS.

Chris | 8:24 p.m. April 4, 1999

I don't know what Jeff Vice is talking about. The script
is great, performances great, humor AND suspense absolutely
enthralling. Why you are a movie critic beats me, because
you don't know a quality film if it hits you up your ass!

Gothic | 6:04 p.m. June 27, 1999

Okay, the movie has some merit. It had quite a surprise
ending, though initially you could figure it out just by
watching the scene between the killer and his friend while
they were in the movie store. But, when it comes right down
to it, a lot of it was a true let down from Wes Craven's
other work. For instance, if the character Drew Barrymore
played had enough sense to basically thwart the killer's
every move, why did she die so quickly when her parents were
right there and she was holding the phone? If the film had
been up to par, she would have thrown the phone on the
porch, alerted her parents, and the killer would have gone.
Afterall, she had enough energy to crawl rather quickly,
right? Or if her death was so essential, she wouldn't have
had the phone to alert her parents in any way. And the
audience would have been given a hint of a reason, instead
of being forced to create its own scenario for her death. I
enjoyed the mindless screaming and killing, but Wes Craven
has disappointed me for the first- and hopefully last- time.

Bryanna | 2:50 p.m. July 10, 1999

I think this movie was EXCELENT! I loved the surprising
ending. The Actors and actresses were great... they made it
seem so real...

Magik the dog | 10:53 p.m. Aug. 6, 1999

Frankly I adore this movie. The character's are
entertaining and the killer is a stroke of originality and
brilliance. The killing of the fabulous Drew Barrymore
gives you a shock that can be likened to Psycho. The ending
is genius. I've seen it ten times and I still love it.

Lani | 12:14 a.m. Dec. 15, 1999

The first bit with Drew Barrymore was good, though I
thought her performance could've been better. How? I
don't know. The rest of the movie was eh. It wasn't scary
and I thought Billy was too obvious as the killer. The
idea of a nice girl like Sidney going out with Billy wasn't
convincing. But, I do have some nice things to say! While
parts of the writing was bad, I thought some of the dialog
was natural. That, or the actors did well and acted like
highschool students. Especially Billy's accomplice, what's
his name? The guy who played Stu. And Dewey was
adorable. Anyway, it wasn't fantastic, but I'd watch it
for a laugh. :)

Matt Movies | 7:16 a.m. April 29, 2000

Boring teeny bopper crap!! That smiley girl should stick to
Party of Five.

mike kimball | 9:45 p.m. May 3, 2000

I submit that anyone who found this movie even remotely
entertaining or original obviously has never seen any real
horror films. This is totally predictable, heavy-handed,
watered-down crap. Go see Exorcist or Exorcist III, then
tell me Scream doesn't look completely insipid by
comparison.
Besides, it's an R-rated bimbo horror and there's not even
any decent nudity! What a rip-off.

Avi Green | 3:30 a.m. July 31, 2000

Anyone who finds such gore and murder as in this movie
entertaining, particularly the parts that show females
being done in in such horrific ways must no doubt enjoy
whenever such things happen in real life too, no doubt
about it. Craven's horror trilogy is yet another
frontrunner in the competition for Most Obscene Horror
Movie of the 20th Century. A million monkeys with a million
crayons would be hard pressed in a million years to come up
with something as offensive as these movies. Another of the
films that played a part in causing the massacre at
Columbine in Colorado, this movie should be condemned
wherever you find it. Or, to be more precise, any video
store owner who dares keep this junk around should be
yelled at without mercy and condemned as a profiteer. I
want Kevin Thomas, the hack(no offense) critic of the Los
Angeles Times to know that he should be utterly ashamed of
himself for writing gushing love letters over films like
this. Fire that numbskull immediatly!

keysersose | 4:54 a.m. Feb. 18, 2001

i think jeff vice should be careful about which movies he
calls turkeys. How could anyone possibly give this movie 0
stars? Even if you don't like the movie, as a critic you
should consider the acting, the screenplay, and several
other things before you give the movie 0 stars. this movie
rocks. face it. It's pretty original, it's not just some
halloween rip off nor it's trying to be. learn from better
critics like roger ebert. he at least gave this movie 3
stars.

Anonymous | 8:18 p.m. July 22, 2003

I would give this five but it only goes to four. Friday the
13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and sucky Halloween sequels
dominated horror of the 80s. Scream gives the genre a
twist. It is funny, somewhat spoofing it, and the
characters are smart and self-aware. Though, I agree with
the one writer. Drew should've thrown the phone or
something. But I'm sure it's really hard to think clearly
in those types of situations. Wes Craven created a
suspenseful atmosphere for this genius film and Kevin's
script is tight. Neve's performance is great as are
Courtney's, Drew's, Rose's, Skeet's, Matthew's, David's,
and well what do you know? Just about everyone's. This is
one of my all-time favorite movies even though it is gory
and has a lot of false scares.

Anonymous | 3:02 p.m. July 28, 2008

This movie was amazing, actually the whole series was amazing, Jeff Vice does not know good films if it hit him right in the head. This movie is great, it has everything you would want and exspect to be in a slasher film. Its humorous, suspensful, scary, a good script, and great acting! So over-all a greay Horror film, Wes Craven out done himself again, after A Nightmare On Elm Street. 5 out of 5 stars for Scream. Way to go Wes Craven.

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Movie Info

Rated R for Gore, profanity, vulgarity, sex.

Cast: Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Henry Winkler, Drew Barrymore.

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