(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from Scream)
Doug (vo): It's Scream 1. Yeah, that's what they should've called it. I mean, like, they didn't think this was gonna be a franchise. They should've just "Pokemon: The First Movie" it. Actually, maybe they didn't know, because you know that Ghostface mask that's in all the movies now? That was a mask that existed before the film. I remember seeing it in Halloween shops, and I always thought it looked kind of cool, and I get the feeling if they knew this was going to be a long-lasting franchise, like, going even to today, they might have created their own original design. Bottom line, whoever made this, I hope they're getting residuals. Anyway, Scream, the slasher movie that redefined slasher movies, or so they said back then, and...yeah, okay. My thoughts on this are a little complicated, 'cause my thoughts on slasher movies are already a little complicated. So, everyone's going to have that comfort food media, whether it be a film or a song or a genre music or a genre movies or shows or anything like that. And for a lot of people, it's slasher movies, and I get it. The formula is very clear, it can be very fun, there's a lot of clear tropes that you just kind of look forward to. But I'll be totally honest, I find them kind of boring. (Speaks quickly) Not to say they're bad. Again, I can tell the difference between a good one and a bad one. But even the groundbreakers like Halloween and Friday the 13th, I respect, but I don't really watch in October. I'm just too familiar with the formula, and the formula just doesn't interest me that much. The only ones I get into are the ones that do something really crazy, like Sleepaway Camp or Terrifier or Candyman, ones that take the formula and really turn it on their head and do something just totally new. Whether for better or worse or sometimes both, I like when a traditional slasher formula goes really weird. And Scream, for me, just isn't weird enough.
Story[]
Doug (vo): The story centers around a girl named Sidney, who has a normal enough life. She goes to school, she has friends, she's got some tortured emotional baggage, but what teen doesn't? But things start going awry when not only her friends around her start dying, but apparently, they're being killed by a stalker who calls their victims first, asks them questions about scary movies, and the more tropes they don't get correct, the closer he gets to killing them. There's a whole slew of colorful suspects, all sorts of tricks and red herrings to have the audience mumble, "Oh, I bet he did it! Oh, I bet he did it!", and the search is on to find out who this killer is before she's his final victim.
Review[]
Doug (vo): So, okay, while this film doesn't do anything personally for me, I will acknowledge, it's totally, competently done. The characters walk that line between likeable and "I can't wait for them to die", and I think they're aware of that and they kind of have fun with it. And just the overall idea is clever. In fact, I'm shocked it hadn't been done by that point. But that's also kind of an issue with me. The idea is too clever, and I kind of want more jokes done with this. I want the questions to be for real die-hard slasher nerds. And, yes, I'll admit, I guess I'm not one of them, but even I know a lot of these questions are a little obvious, even the trick questions, which I guess you could argue is the point, like, this killer is going after normies who just kind of watch scary movies and passing, and he obviously obsesses over them. But after you get past that, there's nothing really that innovative about it. I guess it's the first slasher movie or maybe the first popular slasher movie to kind of draw attention to this, like, not only be self-aware, but kind of make the characters know about these movies, like, it's a slasher film where slasher films do exist and they acknowledge them a lot. Even the killer acknowledges he's playing by those rules. But I was really hoping they would play with the formula more. But with that said, I do acknowledge that could totally be the point. Like, it's a slasher movie that's giving you the traditional slasher movie. It's not gonna cheap out on anything, it's still gonna give you all the tropes you're used to. So, I acknowledge it's fine, this is just coming from a person who didn't really get into those tropes to begin with.
(While various clips continue to show, several of them focus on the film's opening sequence involving Casey Becker being called and attacked by Ghostface)
Doug (vo): A lot of people talk about the surprise with Drew Barrymore, which I don't think it's a spoiler, but I'll say she was in the advertising a lot, and she's not in the movie that much. But again, I kind of feel like this was already done in Nightmare on Elm Street, like, they kind of make one person look like she's gonna be the main character, and then she's out of the picture pretty early on. I mean, man, you can go back to Hitchcock for that in Psycho, except he dragged it out to, like, the middle of the movie, like, that's really a choice. But at the same time, this is a Wes Craven film, so you can say it's a little sendup to himself, and, yeah, sure, this is the movie to do that in, 'cause it is about slashers. I just kind of feel like I've seen it. But for a lot of younger audiences back then, maybe they hadn't.
(Several clips focusing on the potential suspects are shown)
Doug (vo): It is one of the few mysteries I didn't figure out who the killer was, and...to my credit, they pull a pet peeve that always drives me nuts, where you think it's one person, then they prove early on it's not this person, then later, they show, "Oh, yeah, it was!" Like, that drives me nuts. Like, if we're gonna follow tropes, let's follow some traditional mystery tropes, like, I know, twists and turns and everything. But it's like if you're playing Guess Who, and you ask if the other person's wearing a hat, and they say no, and then at the very end, you figure out, "Oh, they were wearing a hat." "Well, yeah! I lied!" Th...that's just not the rules! Yeah, that person can lie, but it doesn't make them very clever. It's not like, "Whoa! You got me!" But again, it's a pet peeve...that I went on way too long about. The film is still good at leading you in different directions, showing little hints, like, "Hey, that character's wearing boots that the killer wore. Hey, why did that character pop up just as the killer disappeared?" Like, it's pretty good at handling that kind of traditional stuff.
(The film's villain, Ghostface, is shown in several clips)
Doug (vo): I think it's kind of cool that the guy who does the Ghostface voice is still doing it all these years later, and I looked him up. I was kind of amazed to find he was also Mojo Jojo. Now I can think of is him stalking these characters.
(A scene of Sidney being called by Ghostface is shown with Doug dubbing over the scene)
Doug (vo; mimicking Mojo Jojo): It's me, Mojo Jojo!
(Various clips resume showing)
Doug (vo): The film's also not bad at being a little bit of a 90s time capsule. Like, you know how I always talk about Space Jam as, like, the ultimate 1996 time capsule? This is...okay, not a close second, but a close...fifth. It is kind of fun seeing the fashions, technology, and just overall kind of different attitude, yet also similarities to today's time.
Final thought[]
Doug (vo): I don't know. This is a perfectly fine film. It keeps your attention, it follows all the tropes. I just kind of think of what Roger Ebert said. He said, "Instead of watching stupid teenagers make the same old mistakes, we're now watching teenagers make all new mistakes." I kind of feel the same way, like, this movie just blew up so much and everybody was talking about how good it was at breaking the fourth wall and being something new, and I just was a little let down from the hype. But at the same time, Ebert acknowledged this was good for what it is, and I say the same thing. It is good. It's just not my thing. If you like slasher films, particularly ones from the 90s, this is absolute required viewing. But if you're looking for something that's gonna change the landscape of the genre, this is no Terrifier.
(A scene showing Ghostface preparing to attack Randy Meeks, who's watching Halloween on TV unaware of who's behind him, is shown)