Scream

For today's horror film I watched Wes Craven's "Scream," which I had oddly enough not seen before. I wasn't expecting much, as the film has been constantly parodied and pretty talked down by many people, but I was pleasantly surprised by how good it actually was. It's an interesting slasher in how it acknowledges the fact that it's so and sort of reveals the underlying rules and tropes of the genre. I hesitate to use the word parody because the film most certainly isn't making fun of the genre so much as Craven nods to it and dissects it a bit. I also like Craven's treatment of the killer here; unlike the Jason, Michael, and Freddy's of the slasher world who are invincible the killer here feels very vulnerable, like he's just the person wearing in the mask that he is. He gets kicked, feels pain, and is, in a lot of ways, clumsy, and it gives him a certain humanity. Despite all these good points the movie does still come off feeling slightly run of the mill but overall it's an interesting slasher take.

8/10