Quick recap: Teenager Sidney Prescott, whose mother was raped and murdered a year before, is now being stalked by a sadistic serial killer (is there any other kind?)

Fun (?) Fact: In the scene depicting football player Steve’s death, a chair was used with no back so that the actor’s head could be seen, but with a fake torso.

My thoughts: Since this movie came out at around the time I was in middle school, it was shown at practically every sleepover I attended for the next couple of years. Although I don’t remember specific scenes, I do remember the sheer terror I felt while watching that movie. It would be several years before I would answer a phone when I was home alone, and to this day I still get anxiety looking out at my patio, just in case there is a gutted dead body. Besides all of the psychological torture, it was a movie that I couldn’t turn away from. Although I knew I would be scared and probably not be able to sleep that night, there was that accomplishment of having sat through the entire film without a complete break down.

Cellular phones are more trouble than they are worth

Flash forward to today where I am an adult and thus beyond the average age of murdered victim in a horror movie. It’s not that I can’t relate anymore, but I suppose I now prioritize my fears. And on my list, a creepy mask just doesn’t cut it. Or at least, that’s what I thought before starting the movie. Director Wes craven is a master at building suspense and dread. Even though I knew what Casey would see when she turned on the porch light, a part of me was hoping that this time it might be different. I had apparently completely blocked out the scene where Casey herself had been gutted and left to hang from a tree because when that image showed up, I jumped so hard that I nearly threw the laptop off of my lap. And for some reason, that reaction also made me happy because I knew that for the next two hours, I would be entertained. Scream is the perfect blend of horror and comedy- with lines that are insightful, said alongside disgusting images of teens being murdered. I think one of the scariest scenes for me was the one where Sidney was in the bathroom and could overhear a couple of girls talking about her mom being a slut. Sidney walks out of the stall after the girls have left and then hears someone calling her name. She frantically looks under the stalls, but sees no one. She is beginning to get more panicked and then a pair of boots hit the floor and she can see the black robe being pulled over the pants. It frightened me completely that there was no way out, even though I knew what was going to happen.

Watching this movie also gave me a strong sense of nostalgia that I wasn’t expecting. Seeing all of the outfits really brought back my own memories of middle school and high school. Although I haven’t thought about it before, Scream and Clueless are great symbols for the ’90s. I mean, even Courtney Cox is in the movie! I especially loved the scene where everyone is in the movie rental store, taking all of the horror films. It has been forever since I have been in a Blockbuster and for a split second I realized how sad it is that my child will never get to experience that. But then I remembered that I was watching this movie on my laptop and that I have literally thousands of titles at my fingerprints.

So ’90s!

Final review: A solid 4/5. The ending,although I know it was a joke on the horror genre, grated on my nerves as everyone kept popping up from the dead. Also, in looking back from having seen this movie when it originally came out, how could I ever have thought Billy WASN’T the killer?

Nightmares? Thankfully, no. I did however, run like hell upstairs after the movie was over. I also won’t be looking at the porch during the night time any time soon.

Up next: Alas, Horrorfest has come to an end. Next movie up should be Amélie, where I’m sure my two months of learning French will surely come in hand!