Friday, December 20, 1996
By LOUIS B. HOBSON
Sun Entertainment
Lock the doors.
Bolt the windows.
Don't answer the phone.
Don't look behind you and whatever you do, don't go in the basement.
Those were just a few of the rules for the heroines of such teen slasher movies as Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare On Elm Street and When A Stranger Calls.
Of course, they never obeyed them, plunging the audience into nightmares of epic proportions.
In the thriller-comedy Scream, director Wes Craven lampoons the genre he helped create with Nightmare On Elm Street, The Hills Have Eyes, The Last House On The Left and Shocker.
A serial killer disguising his identity behind a hideous Halloween mask is stalking the girls of the senior class. Not everyone's going to make it to the prom this year.
In a sequence straight out of When A Stranger Calls, Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) is terrorized by a disembodied voice that takes possession of her telephone and her isolated home.
Barrymore goes from sassy to strung out as the killer closes in, giving her no place to run.
It's one of the best victim performances since Janet Leigh booked into the Bates Motel 35 years ago in Psycho.
It's no coincidence the next intended victim is Casey's friend Sidney (Neve Campbell) and that her character recalls Leigh's daughter Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween.
Campbell epitomizes the sexy determination of the good girl in jeopardy. Where Casey and Sidney's other closest friend Tatum (Rose McGowan) are free with their sexual favors, Sidney is protecting her virginity.
This frustrates her hunky boyfriend Billy (Skeet Ulrich), much to the amusement of his buddies, horny Stu (Matthew Lillard) and class clown Randy (Jamie Kennedy).
Kevin Williamson, who concocted the screenplay for Scream, is an aficionado of the genre, so the film is layered with clever self parody.
Scream is funny even for novices to the slasher genre because of the obvious slapstick humor and Craven's clever camera work. That's just one of the many levels operating in Scream.
There's also the mystery aspect that rivals a good old-fashioned Agatha Christie whodunit.
Every major character is a suspect.
Best of all, Scream is the scariest thriller in ages. It's a genuine jump-from-you-seat, cover-your-eyes, scream-aloud, warn-the-characters thrill ride. When you're not howling with laughter, you'll be shrieking with fright.
True to it's title, Scream is a scream!
RATING: FOUR OUT OF FIVE