History Film / Scream1996

---> '''[[spoiler:Stu]]: ''' ''Watch a few movies, take a fun notes. It was fun!''

[[spoiler:Stu]]: Watch a few movies, take a fun notes. It was fun!

* SkewedPriorities: When [[spoiler:Stu, one of the killers,]] is dying in Sidney's kitchen, the first thought that comes to his mind concerns how angry his parents are gonna be with him when they find out what had happened. Never mind that he was just stabbed, has lost a lot of blood, and will be in trouble with ''the law'' if he manages to live.

* OddballInTheSeries: [[spoiler:The only film in the series with multiple Ghostfaces where none of them are female.]]

* OddballInTheSeries: [spoiler:The only film in the series with multiple Ghostfaces where none of them are female.]]

** [[spoiler:Injuries dealt by a knife are incredibly painful, even if the wounds are non-lethal. Billy and Stu learn this the hard way when they try to give each other staged injuries to better establish Sidney's dad as the scapegoat.]]

-->[[spoiler:'''Stu:''' My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!]]

* DisproportionateRetribution: The prank of dressing up as Ghostface was insensitive and the two definitely deserved to be disciplined for it, but the principal didn't need to tell them they deserved to die.

** [[spoiler:At one point in the climax, Gale flubs the chance to shoot Billy with the gun she stole from him and Stu since it had the safety on; Billy then kicks her unconscious and snarks to her body about the safety. Later, as Billy's about to kill Sidney, Gale successfully shoots him and remarks, "Guess I remembered the safety ''that'' time, you bastard."]]

* ObviousVillainSecretVillain: Exploited by Ghostface. [[spoiler:Billy, Sidney's dark and brooding boyfriend, is set up to be the killer; he acts suspiciously and he—gasp!—has a cell phone, which he reveals after Sidney's already got a harassing call from Ghostface. And he is the killer. But, in what was a new twist for slashers at the time, there are two killers: Billy and his accomplice Stu, a funny class clown.]]

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Mildly. Gale should know better than to try to doorstop Sidney after being attacked in her home. Sidney is a minor (the script says she's 17) and as a result cannot be legally identified on camera if she's associated with a crime. While Gale could have gotten an interview and edited it to protect Sidney's identity, naming her on live TV as one of the suspects is a massive oversight on her part.

* FinalGirl: [[spoiler: Sidney is a reconstruction of the trope. In spite of having sex and not being the most wholesome teenager, she is able to outwit the killer. However, there are three other survivors too]].

* {{Reconstruction}}: While the story carries a lot of GenreDeconstruction quirks, ''Scream'' functions as a attempt to revitalize the slasher movie genre by playing with particular tropes and making them frightening again. As just one example, Ghostface is yet another dime-a-dozen slasher movie villain, but his ingenuity and sheer persistence make him intimidating and throws off the audience. They're used to the killer being a slow-paced, lumbering MightyGlacier, so Ghostface ''sprinting'' towards his targets with his knife brandished makes him way more frightening, to say nothing of the ways he can manipulate people into falling for his tricks. As well, the identity of the killer is often something given to the audience fairly early into a slasher movie, with the focus more around the scares and gore than anything else. In ''Scream'', the identity of the killer is a huge plot point, arguably to the point of being a DrivingQuestion, which only serves to ratchet up the tension as the body count gets higher and the list of probable suspects gets even lower. [[spoiler: Which also works in the film's favor when one of the supposed victims turns out to be the killer, and TheReveal that two people are acting in tandem as Ghostface.]]

* SexSignalsDeath: * DeathBySex:

** [[DeathBySex You can never have sex]]. [[spoiler: (Though Sidney has sex with Billy and survives.)]]

* DeathBySex:
** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Randy as he lays out [[TheCommandments the rules]] for surviving a horror movie.
--->'''[[MetaGuy Randy:]]''' Rule #1 [for surviving a horror movie]. You can never have sex. (boos from the crowd) Big no-no! Sex equals death, okay?
** Subverted, however, by [[spoiler:Sidney]], who has sex [[spoiler:(with the killer!)]] and still survives. [[spoiler:The killer ''does'' die after he has sex, so... played straight?]]

* SacrificialLamb: Casey.
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Tatum.]]

''Scream'' is a 1996 {{slasher movie}} directed by Creator/WesCraven, from a screenplay by Kevin Williamson. It is the first film in the ''Film/{{Scream}}'' franchise.

* NinetiesHair: Featuring such gems as...
** Billy shamelessly sports the classic 90s curtains look, although it is partly a ShoutOut to Glen from ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984''.

** Casey and the bathroom cheerleader's friend have the 90s short bob.
* ActorAllusion: Pay attention when Principal Himbry (Creator/HenryWinkler) searches his closet to see if anyone's hiding in there. One of the items hanging on the rack is [[Series/HappyDays a leather jacket]]. ''Ayyyyyyyyyy!!!'' He also fixes his hair in the mirror the same way.

** [[spoiler:Directly after Billy mocks Sidney for asking a motive of him, with him pointing out that several classic horror villains are scarier for not having one, he gives a shockingly personal MotiveRant to her out of nowhere]]. Even [[spoiler:his accomplice Stu]] was shocked by this.

* CoitusEnsues: Done as a sly wink to gratuitous sex scenes in horror movies, although this one is more tasteful.
-->'''Sidney''': But this is life, this isn't a movie.\\
'''Billy''': Sure it is, Sid. It's all a movie. It's all one great big movie, only you can't pick your genre.\\
'''Sidney''': Why can't I be a Meg Ryan movie...''[beat]'' or even a good porno? ''[cue coitus]''

** [[spoiler:Tatum]] is chased around the garage and when she tries to escape through the cat door, Ghostface turns on the garage door, resulting in [[spoiler:Tatum]] getting her head crushed against the rim of the garage door.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Casey]] so very much. First she is psychologically tortured, including [[ForcedToWatch having to see her boyfriend die when she gets a question wrong]], then she gets her throat cut as she tries to escape, before finally being disemboweled. As if this weren't horrible enough, the killer then [[DeadGuyOnDisplay hangs her body up where her parents are sure to see.]]

** In an example that wouldn't be paid off until the [[Film/Scream2022 fifth film]], you can see Billy in a split-second clip talking with a couple of random girls in the video store. It's a very subtle hint [[spoiler:that he's probably not a faithful boyfriend to Sidney. His activities with other girls is given payoff in the form of Sam Carpenter, his daughter who is the main protagonist of the fifth film.]]

** The references to Meg Ryan are retroactively this as of Film/Scream2022, which features her son Creator/JackQuaid [[spoiler: as one of that film's Ghostfaces, Richie Kirsh.]]

** The references to Meg Ryan are retroactively this as of Scream2022, which features her son Creator/JackQuaid [[spoiler: as one of that film's Ghostfaces, Richie Kirsh.]]

** [[TemptingFate Never, under any circumstances, say, "I'll be right back".]] [[spoiler: (Though Gale says this and survives. Stu also says this and turns out to be one of the killers.)]]

* AintTooProudToBeg: Ghostface mentions to Sidney that [[RelativeButton her mother begged for her life]].
-->'''Ghostface''': Do you want to die, Sidney? Your mother sure didn't.

* TakeThat: "And no thanks whatsoever to the Santa Rosa City School District Governing Board." When this movie was in production, scenes were to be filmed at Santa Rosa High School in northern California. Days before filming was to begin, however, [[MoralGuardians the school board]] raised objections to the gory nature of the movie since the community still recovering from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Polly_Klaas Polly Klaas murder]] in the nearby town of Petaluma, and after a lot of small town political theatre, shooting for the school scenes was moved to a community center in the nearby town of Sonoma. In response, Creator/WesCraven threw that phrase into the credits, right after the "special thanks" portion. The city of Santa Rosa, once a popular filming location, was essentially blacklisted from Hollywood as a result of the experience. Creator/WesCraven later admitted in the Biography Channel's ''Inside Story'' program that he understands now why the timing was just too uncomfortable to be acceptable.

** When Sidney reveals her "PG-13 relationship" to Billy, the camera only focuses on her back and Billy's amused reaction.

* TrueBlueFemininity: Rose [=McGowan=] personally selected Tatum's blue pyjamas with clouds on them, as a way of making her cuter and more likable. The character was written as a tomboy, but these wardrobe choices (along with the blue cardigan) made her more feminine.

* WholeCostumeReference: The school janitor is seen wearing Freddy Krueger's iconic hat and striped shirt.

** A subverted example: The original title of the movie was ''Scary Movie'', and there are several lines that are clearly, knowing the context, ''meant'' to be Title Drops, but thanks to the changed name, they no longer are:
-->'''Casey:''' Oh, just some '''scary movie'''.\\