Day 3 of the special Halloween edition of Netflix Flick Pick brings us a major turning point in horror history. The film that made meta cool, tonight’s Netflix Flick Pick, Scream. Directed by horror legend Wes Craven and written by the sometimes brilliant Kevin Williamson, Scream changed the rules of horror in the 90s. It was no longer enough to be scary or gory, you had to be funny and self referential.
What makes Scream so endearing is the fact that it was clearly written by someone who loved and grew up with horror movies. It’s not just the film nerd in the movie who knows the rules of the horror genre but all the characters have passable knowledge. Even the characters who hate the genre know enough to point out its cliched flaws. This referencing of horror films also serves as the main, though not the only source of humor in the film and the fact that everyone knows so much about horror films leads to some interesting developments.
Scream is still technically a slasher film but it adds the extra layers of meta and whodunit mystery to it. The film offers several feints, unsuspected twists and turns and famously unsuspected deaths. (Spoiler Alert) For those who don’t know Drew Barrymore was originally billed as the film’s star but was immediately killed off, leaving audiences anxious and in great suspense as it was made clear that no one was safe. While Scream is no longer marketed in this way it was quite an impressive bit of dedication on the parts of everyone involved to keep this lie up through the film’s initial run.
Drew Barrymore describes it best, “I loved that it actually got tongue and cheeky but it was still scary and it was this great game that sort of described genres and revived them at the same time and redefined them all in one script.” This continued with Scream 2 and 3 (also available on Netflix) and countless other copycats but it’s the original that still shines brightest.
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