Who doesn’t like scary movies? Jumping in their seats? Covering their eyes?
Growing up in the 1980s, I remember staying up late with my girlfriends and watching Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween. Here we are twenty years later, and we still have late-night watch-a-thons at least once a year and we watch those very same movies. A few of the sequels lost the original’s “Boo” factor, but that didn’t stop us from catching as many as possible. Maybe we simply like nostalgia, or maybe we simply love a great scary movie!
The scary movie genre fell a bit silent in the early 1990s, but in December of 1996, a new era began with the screenplay magnificence of Kevin Williamson, and the directing brilliance of Wes Craven with Scream.
The intensity of Scream opened immediately with Drew Barrymore’s scene, and continued throughout the entire movie – the piercing ring of the telephone, the horrifying sound of the digitized voice, the mystery behind the long, black cloak, and that creepy mask.
The mask — That Ghostface mask still frightens me to this very day. I absolutely love Halloween, and opening the door to see all the creative children; but not Ghostface! I have to force a smile while I hesitantly place yummy candy in Ghostface’s pillow case. Anyone else notice that? Ghostface always has a pillow case at Halloween, not a jack-o-lantern — why a pillow case? What’s in the pillow case? Would I be so afraid of that pillow case if Ghostface wasn’t so spooky?
What’s another of the most impressive aspects of Scream? The whodunit mystery — Billy did it! No, Principal Himbry did it! No, is Gale doing it? No, maybe it’s Cotton? It’s Randy! No, who is the killer? It’s Billy! Oh, and Stu? And, cue the Ah-Ha moment — Brilliant!
Who remembers Randy’s rules?
1) Never have sex
2) Never drink or do drugs
3) Never, ever say “I’ll be right back”
Having watched scary movie after scary movie, I absolutely loved the obvious, satirical, slap-in-the-face cliché moments in Scream. Combining the terror of the anticipation of Ghostface with the laugh-out-loud comedy, Scream left its mark in movie FaBOOolousness.
Sequels usually don’t carry the same power as the originals; however, Scream 2 sure didn’t fail Scream in terms of the whodunitmystery. It’s definitely not Billy & Stu….or is it? Is it Gale? No, is it Randy? No, it’s Derek. Nope! It is…. and Scream 3, the only installment not written by Kevin Williamson, took a different approach. While it wasn’t nearly as successful with the whodunitmystery, I still had the killer pegged wrong.
Scream paved the way for scary movies, and luckily, today the scary movie industry is still going strong. Now, here’s to you, Scream 4: Sidney’s back, Dewey’s back, and Gale’s back. I can’t wait! We’re going Saturday…are you?
What’s your favorite scary movie & why? I’d love to hear from you!
Tiffany A White's Ooo Factor 
I especially love the “rules” and “I’ll be right back…”
Some of these characters are just TSTL! LOL! But it sure makes for great fun. Terrific post–stuff that makes ya say BOOOOOO!
Ti–I really enjoyed your scream episode. Now I know what to get you for Christmas.
BAW
Great post! I saw Scream 1 & 2, don’t think I ever saw Scream 3. I think I will have to watch them all again before watching 4. They are great movies and you broke back many memories with this post! I can’t wait to hear what you think about 4. Have a great weekend!
I watched Scream 3 last night before going to see 4 today – it was very good. The plot didn’t disappoint, and I didn’t have the killer figured out. I will probably always think the 1st is the best, but Scream has never let me down. Thanks for stopping by – have a great weekend!
Halloween is my favorite scary movie with the Screams following close behind. I love the whodunit aspect in the Scream movies. Scream 3 was on T.V. the other night and I recorded it and watched it later with John. When I was younger I could watch Halloween late @ night by myself but these days I have to watch scary movies with the hubby when he is home or during the day. I guess Im a big wimp. Cant wait to see Scream 4 so you will have to let me know just how good it is because I dont know when I will be able to get to see it! Great blog!
The original Halloween or Rob Zombie’s adaptation? Scream 4 did not disappoint! I didn’t figure it out – my kind of movie! Thanks for reading!
It isn’t the scariest movie around but Tremors is one of my favs. I always loved the humor and the tiniest bit of romance threaded through it. The sequels weren’t too bad and I got a kick out of the third sequel when the whatever they weres became ‘ass-blasters.’ What a hoot.
Love it! We recently rented Piranha 2010 and while it’s not an Academy Award winner, and you can predict what’s going to happen, it was total fun & a lot of laughs! thanks so much for stopping by!
I LOVE scary movies. When I was a kid, we did the same thing. Stay up all night watching Freddy, Jason and Michael Myers. EEEEEKKKKK!!!! Then we’d play with the Ouija board and play Bloody Mary until we scared ourselves so badly we couldn’t sleep….so we’d just watch “Children of the Corn” for the 637th time.
I LOVED the remake of Amityville Horror. Brilliant! I also loved Paranormal Activity. Was very intense and since it is a home movie, there isn’t any theatrical music to cue you that bad stuff is about to happen. “The Exorcist” is a classic and “Saw” fell under “Stories I Wish I Would Have Thought of First.” Fantastic writing.
As you can tell, I am a total horror movie buff. I like to watch them especially when I have had a really bad day. I guess it is just great to realize that my day wasn’t that bad after all. “Hey, I could be stranded in Nowhere, TX and a dude with a chainsaw be chasing me.”
Oh! And I TOTALLY LOVED “Silent Hill.” That one is my all-time favorite.
…okay, I’ll shut up now.
FaBOO post, :D.
We’ll have to invite you over to the next watch-a-thon! I also like the Final Destination movies. Those movies always make me question real life – attending a Nascar event, riding a roller coaster, tanning beds, etc. Those haunt me! Thanks so much for the encouragement & for stopping by!
The Ring. I was in college on my bed. As soon as the credits rolled, my cell rang. I went “Aw. Hell no!” I checked a couple hours later and saw is was a friend from class.
Also, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake had me on edge. When the V.O. said “He has not been found.” The audience in the theater stood and parted like the red sea, half to the left. Half to the right. People were saying “Call me when you get home.” and “I’m coming by your house tonight.” I was in college for that also.
Great movies!! I like your style. Thank you so much for stopping by & I hope to see you back. Until then, see you on twitter!
Your aunt doesn’t like those movies!!!!! Never has!!!!!
The original Halloween beats EVERYTHING. Maybe it’s because I’m a slasher movie fan and love watching Final Girls kicking the crap out of the monster. Maybe I’m just right. Is there a scarier mask? Creepier music? A more bad-ass hero than Loomis? I think not.
The BIO channel did a great Inside Story on the original Halloween. Did you catch it? Do you know where the mask originated from? It was a Captain Kirk mask! They made a few small adjustments, but it is definitely Captain Kirk. Thanks for stopping by & enjoy The Fall of Sam Axe tonight!
I did know that! Pretty freaky. I’ve listened to many commentaries, watched many interviews AND own the twenty-five years of terror retrospective. It’s what the greatest horror movie deserves of my time.
Here’s my favorite: The stealthy suspenseful monster lurking beneath ready to snatch you at a moments notice… JAWS!!!
Yes, a different kind of scary, but come on… nothing beats that because it’s real, actually can happen, and does. The giant guppy gets it in the end so we also get a happy ending (all except for the ones that became dinner). 🙂
GREAT movie! Jaws 3 with Bess Armstrong, Lou Gossett Jr, and Dennis Quaid was probably my favorite though. I was scared of Sea World, maybe I still am just a bit! The BIO channel did a great Inside Story on the original Jaws. They play re-runs every so often in case you want to watch for it. Lots of fun movie facts. Thanks for stopping by!