Line #39 Film/Scream1996


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scream1996_1390.jpg]]
2
3	->'''Randy:''' There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie. For instance, number one: you can never have sex.\
4	''(crowd of drinking teenagers boo and throw popcorn)''\
5	'''Randy:''' No, no! Big no-no, big no!\
6	'''Stu:''' I'm a dead man.\
7	'''Randy:''' Sex equals death, okay? Number two: you can never drink or do drugs.\
8	''(teenagers cheer and clink their beers)''\
9	'''Randy:''' The sin factor; it's a sin, it's an extension of number one. And number three: never, ever, ever under any circumstances say "I'll be right back", 'cause you won't be back.\
10	'''Stu:''' I'm getting another beer, you want one?\
11	'''Randy:''' Yeah, sure.\
12	'''Stu:''' ''"I'll be right back!"''
13
14	''Scream'' is a 1996 {{slasher movie}} directed by Creator/WesCraven, from a screenplay by Creator/KevinWilliamson. It is the first film in the ''Film/{{Scream}}'' franchise.
15
16	In the town of Woodsboro, two teenagers are gruesomely killed by a mysterious stranger wearing a white mask. A panic breaks out in the town, as the killer continues to target more and more people, displaying an affinity for horror movie tropes in staging his murders. Sidney Prescott (Creator/NeveCampbell), who is still reeling from the death of her mother a year before, becomes the killer's primary target as "Ghostface" slowly wipes out her friends one by one. Meanwhile reporter Gale Weathers (Creator/CourteneyCox) investigates the killings with deputy sheriff Dewey Riley (Creator/DavidArquette), convinced that the deaths are linked to Sidney's past.
17
18	Rounding out the AllStarCast of the film are Creator/MatthewLillard, Creator/RoseMcGowan, Creator/SkeetUlrich, Creator/JamieKennedy, Creator/HenryWinkler, Creator/WEarlBrown, Creator/LievSchreiber, and Creator/DrewBarrymore, with Creator/RogerLJackson providing the voice of Ghostface. The massive success of the film quickly prompted a sequel, ''Film/{{Scream 2}}'', released less than a year later.
19
20	For the 1981 movie by the same title, see ''Film/{{Scream 1981}}''. For the 2022 reboot/sequel to this film, see ''Film/{{Scream 2022}}''.
21
22	----
23	!!This film provides examples of:
24	* NinetiesHair:
25	** Billy shamelessly sports the classic '90s curtains look, although it is partly a ShoutOut to Glen from ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984''.
26	** Gale's chunky highlights, and her and Sidney having feathered bangs.
27	** Tatum has face-framing tendrils when her hair is in pigtails.
28	** Casey and the bathroom cheerleader's friend have the '90s short bob.
29	* 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 a leather jacket, nodding to the famous outerwear of his ''Series/HappyDays'' character Fonzie. He also fixes his hair in the mirror the same way.
30	* AndYouThoughtItWasReal: When searching Stu's seemingly empty house, Dewey initially mistakes Laurie's screams from ''Film/Halloween1978'' to be the cries of a real victim.
31	* AsYouKnow: When Syd is brough in to talk to the police, Principal Himbry briefly alludes to who her her mother was. This is despite talking to Sheriff Burke, who clearly knows about the case, and Dewey, whose sister is Sydney's best friend. In fairness, Himbry does cut himself off, and may not have known how connected they were.
32	* AttackTheInjury: After stabbing [[spoiler:Billy]] with the point of an umbrella, Sidney digs her finger into the open wound a bit later.
33	* AudibleSharpness:
34	** Ghostface’s knife and [[spoiler:Principal Himbry’s]] scissors make metallic sounds when brandished.
35	** Casey draws a kitchen knife from a wood block in the opening, and it makes a ''shing'' noise as it's removed.
36	* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: Inverted. Creator/WesCraven had to make many cuts to bring the MPAA's NC-17 rating down to an R.
37	* AxCrazy: [[spoiler:Billy and Stu.]]
38	* BathroomStallOfOverheardInsults: Sidney hears a cheerleader and her friend heavily criticizing her and her mother in the bathroom of the school.
39	* BigBadDuumvirate: Ghostface is introduced as the main antagonist, [[spoiler: but he's actually an alias shared by two people: Billy and Stu.]]
40	* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:After giving her hell the entire movie, Gale ends up playing a decisive role in Sidney's ability to turn the tables on Billy and Stu after they reveal themselves to be the killers.]]
41	* BlownAcrossTheRoom: [[spoiler:Randy]] gets thrown backwards several feet by a gunshot courtesy of [[spoiler:Billy]].
42	* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler:How Sidney finishes off Billy.]]
43	* BondOneLiner:
44	** [[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 knocks 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."]]
45	** [[spoiler:Shortly afterwards, as Gale, Randy and Sidney stand over Billy's body, Randy notes that in scary movies, [[ThisIsThePartWhere this is the moment when]] the seemingly defeated killer returns for "one last scare." Billy does just that, and Sidney immediately answers him with a bullet between the eyes before saying, "Not in ''my'' movie."]]
46	* TheCameo: Creator/LindaBlair cameos as the reporter who asks Sidney, "How does it feel to almost be brutally butchered?"
47	* CardCarryingVillain: [[spoiler:Stu prefers him and Billy to be referred to as psychotic, and Billy admits he's a psychopath when he reminds Sidney they had sex, which SHOULD mean Sidney now has to die.]]
48	* CatScare: When Tatum hears a noise in the empty garage, she turns just in time to see a startled cat scramble out the pet door.
49	* CelebrityParadox:
50	** A lady at the video store asks Randy about "[[Film/TheHowling1981 the werewolf movie]] with [[Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial E.T.]]'s mom in it". Creator/DrewBarrymore, who appeared in ''E.T.'', plays Casey Becker in this film.
51	** The references to Creator/MegRyan are retroactively this as of ''Film/Scream2022'', which features her son Creator/JackQuaid as Richie Kirsch.
52	* ChekhovsGun:
53	** Billy is able to enter Sidney's house by climbing to her window. [[spoiler:It is implied this is how Stu (as Ghostface) manages to enter the house to attack Sidney, as Billy later shows up at the same window, which is revealed to still be open.]]
54	** Sidney stops her dad from entering her room while Billy is there by opening the closet door, which blocks the bedroom door. Later, [[spoiler: the same obstacle prevents Ghostface from entering Sidney's room after chasing her upstairs.]]
55	** When Sidney opens a closet in her house, [[spoiler: creepy music plays despite the fact that no harm has come to Sidney. Later on, Ghostface uses the same closet as a hiding spot before he attacks Sidney.]]
56	** The 30 second delay on the tape [[spoiler:gets Kenny the cameraman killed]].
57	** Dewey's gun is a more literal example. It first appears on Dewey's person due to Dewey's job as a cop and becomes important by the third act. [[spoiler:There, Dewey takes it out when investigating Stu's house, but after he is incapacitated, Sidney uses it to threaten Stu and Randy, but unfortunately hands it off to Billy, who betrays her trust. Later, Gale steals it and pulls it on Billy and Stu to buy Sidney time to get away]], and it then turns into a ChekhovsBoomerang [[spoiler:when Gale manages to shoot Billy with it]].
58	* TheCommandments: [[MetaGuy Randy]] lays out the rules to survive a horror movie:
59	** [[SexSignalsDeath You can never have sex]]. [[spoiler: (Though Sidney has sex with Billy and survives.)]]
60	** [[DrugsAreBad Never drink alcohol or do drugs]]. [[spoiler: (Though Randy drinks beer and survives, as do most of the kids at the party.)]]
61	** [[TemptingFate Never, under any circumstances, say, "I'll be right back".]] [[spoiler: (Though Gale says this and survives - however, it was an afterthought, since the line is obviously dubbed over something else). Stu also says this and turns out to be one of the killers.)]]
62	* CombatPragmatist: [[spoiler:After stabbing Billy with an umbrella, Sidney [[{{Squick}} sticks her finger through the wound]] to gain the upper hand.]]
63	* CommonKnowledge: InUniverse -- during the opening trivia game, Casey states that Jason Voorhees is the killer in the original ''Film/{{Friday the 13th\|1980}}'' and objects to being told that this is the wrong answer. However, Ghostface is quick to point out that despite Jason becoming the BreakoutCharacter of his franchise, he didn't become the lead villain until the first sequel.
64	* CoversAlwaysLie: Drew Barrymore was prominently featured in the marketing campaign for the film as she was a huge star at the time. However, she [[spoiler:is the opening kill]].
65	* CreatorCameo: The high school's janitor, who is seen in a two-second shot [[Characters/ANightmareOnElmStreet wearing a red-and-green sweater and is named "Fred"]], is played by Creator/WesCraven himself.
66	* CruelAndUnusualDeath:
67	** [[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.]]
68	** [[spoiler:Casey’s boyfriend Steve]] doesn’t have it much better. He is beaten, tied to a chair, and then stabbed and disemboweled all in front of [[spoiler:Casey]].
69	** [[spoiler:Tatum]] is chased around the garage and when she tries to escape through the cat flap, Ghostface turns on the garage door, resulting in [[spoiler:Tatum]] getting her head crushed against the rim of the door.
70	** [[spoiler:Steve]] himself is disemboweled, and in the uncut version you can briefly see his intestines hanging from his abdomen.
71	* CruelCheerleader: A cheerleader appears in the bathroom scene. As it fits with the trope of the bitchy cheerleader, she badmouths Sidney, who has just been attacked by the killer.
72	* DeadStarWalking: Creator/DrewBarrymore.
73	* DeathlyUnmasking: An inverted example; after having her throat slashed, as she slowly bleeds out, [[spoiler: Casey]] takes off Ghostface's mask as she dies. The audience doesn't see the killer's face, but she does. (Her look of recognition implies that the Ghostface in question is probably [[spoiler: Stu, her ex-boyfriend]].)
74	* DeathByGenreSavviness:
75	** [[AvertedTrope Almost]] happens to Sidney when she has the foresight to lock the front door after receiving a threatening phone call from Ghostface... only for it to turn out that he was already inside the house, meaning that she had just [[AloneWithThePsycho locked herself in with the killer]]. Unable to get the front door open in time, she winds up having to run upstairs to escape -- exactly the move that she mocked as a cliche of TooDumbToLive slasher victims only minutes before!
76	** Randy almost dies because Ghostface sneaks up behind him while he's watching ''Film/{{Halloween\|1978}}'' and berating Laurie Strode to look behind her. Had Ghostface not been distracted by Sidney shouting outside, Randy almost surely would've been killed right there. The kicker is that he is played by Creator/JamieKennedy, and Laurie is played by Creator/JamieLeeCurtis, so his calls of "[[ActorAllusion Look behind you, Jamie!]]" work two ways.
77	** If [[spoiler:Tatum]] stopped her rant about how obviously contrived her AloneWithThePsycho situation was even a few seconds earlier to think, she might have been able to get the upper hand and escape.
78	* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:Stu, who's planned his murders based on slasher movies, dies after having a TV set (with a scary movie playing, no less) dropped on his head.]]
79	* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: [[spoiler:Billy and Stu reveal this was the last stage of their plan: kill Neil Prescott and plant the voice changer on him to make it look like he went insane one year after the death of his wife and went on a murder spree.]]
80	* DescriptionCut: Used when Randy and the other teens are watching a sex scene from ''Film/Halloween1978'' and their commentary matches up with Sidney and Billy having sex upstairs.
81	-->'''Randy''': Here comes the obligatory tit shot!\
82	''(Upstairs, Sidney takes off her shirt, revealing her bra)''\
83	''(Downstairs, Lynda in ''Film/Halloween1978'' lowers the sheet covering her breasts, camera cuts to the guys watching the movie, who cheer)''\
84	''(Upstairs, Sidney takes off her bra, Billy's body blocks the camera)''
85	* DisproportionateRetribution: The prank of dressing up as Ghostface was insensitive and the two definitely deserved to be disciplined for it, but Himbry undercuts his point a bit by ranting about how they deserve to be gutted like Casey and waving scissors around in their faces.
86	* DudeNotFunny: The principal expels two students for insensitivity because they were roaming the halls dressed as Ghostface the day after the real Ghostface killed two students. To really drive it in, he threatens to kill both for their actions AND hits BOTH with a [[PrecisionFStrike Precision S Strike]].
87	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
88	** This is the only ''Film/{{Scream}}'' film that doesn't have a ColdOpen as the TitleCard shows up before the first scene.
89	** Throughout the film, there are scenes of Ghostface in costume stalking Sidney. Later films would do away with these types of scenes.
90	** This is also the only ''Film/{{Scream}}'' film in which Ghostface reveals their identity to Sidney (and the audience) without any form of [[DramaticUnmask dramatic unmasking]]. Thus, the killer in the first movie never has their face visible while in costume whereas in the sequels, certain Ghostfaces may unmask themselves but still commit to wearing the costume's robes while fighting the protagonists.
91	** Likewise, TheReveal has a subtle structural difference. [[spoiler:The sequels generally uncover the accomplice's identity first before revealing the leader's identity because the lead Ghostface is usually a major character that has a strong relationship with the protagonist, so their betrayal consequently has the necessary dramatic weight for a WhamShot. However, the first movie operates differently as it plays on the audience's expectation that there is only one slasher villain under the mask when, in reality, there are [[TwoDunIt two killers working together]]. Thus, while Sidney's boyfriend Billy is the lead Ghostface, he is revealed first because the real PlotTwist is that his best friend (and Sidney's mutual friend) Stu is also Ghostface.]]
92	* EnterStageWindow: Billy visits Sidney in this fashion two times.
93	* EnvironmentalSymbolism: In the opening sequence, Casey's popcorn burns and expands as the scene gets more intense.
94	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas:
95	** When [[spoiler:Stu, one of the killers]], is informed that the cops are on their way, rather than reacting negatively to that, or the fact that he's coughing up quite a lot of blood, he starts crying and says, "My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!" You almost feel sorry for him. ''Almost''.
96	** This was [[spoiler: Billy's motivation for the murders. His father was having an affair with Sidney's mother, which caused Billy's mother to move out and abandon him.]]
97	* EveryoneIsASuspect: Randy gets a little ''excitable'' talking to Stu about who the killer might be: "There's a formula to it! A VERY SIMPLE FORMULA! EVERYBODY'S A SUSPECT!"
98	* EvilIsHammy: [[spoiler:Stu]], who seemingly goes crazy following TheReveal.
99	* FaceRevealingTurn: How the Ghostface killer's iconic mask is first shown.
100	* {{Fanservice}}: This is the most fanservicey of all the Scream films, with a scene of Sidney in a leg-baring dress, and her undressing to sleep with her boyfriend. This was likely done as a commentary on the genre's reliance on showing skin, and highlights how vulnerable Sidney is. It's significant to note there's no actual nudity; camera angles, cuts, and blocking keep everything PG-13 (on the sexuality front, at least).
101	* 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 four other survivors too: her friend Randy, trashy news reporter Gale, hapless cop Dewey, and her dad Neil.]]
102	* FiveSecondForeshadowing: [[spoiler:Tatum's death has shades of this. First, the song that plays before Tatum enters the garage is "Drop Dead Gorgeous". Second, Tatum upon entering the garage immediately activates the garage door for light, and the camera notably has a lingering shot on the garage door and its smaller cat flap.]]
103	* ForcedToWatch: Hearing your daughter's weakening cries for "Mom" through the phone as she is dragged to her death is horrifying for any parent. As is having it punctuated with seeing her body hanging from a tree, entrails hanging out.
104	* ForTheEvulz: At first, [[spoiler:Billy]] admits to not having any particular motive for the killings, and claims to just be committing them for the fun of it. When pressed for a motive, however, [[spoiler:he reveals that it's also revenge for Sidney's mother having an affair with his father and breaking up his parents' marriage]]. On the other hand, [[spoiler:Stu]] appears to have been an outright example of this trope, although [[spoiler:the film implies that Stu murdered Casey and Steve because Casey dumped him for Steve.]]
105	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
106	** When Casey sees Steve tied to the chair outside, he looks first to his right, then to his left. [[spoiler:Because there's actually two killers, one standing on each side of him outside of Casey's view.]]
107	** When Casey's parents return home, they notice that the front door is slightly ajar. [[spoiler: This hints at there being multiple killers because the killer Casey saw entered through the broken patio doors.]]
108	** In the beginning of the film when Billy and Sidney discuss their relationship, a cover of [[Music/BlueOysterCult "Don't Fear the Reaper"]] is playing, [[spoiler: which is rather fitting because Ghostface's costume in-universe is known as the Father Death costume.]]
109	** It happens pretty early on, but after Ghostface mysteriously disappears, [[spoiler: Billy]] conveniently happens to be going in Sidney's window, and Dewey also finds the mask nearby. [[spoiler: At this point in time, it was Stu as Ghostface, but the timing is impeccable and too convenient to not have been set up.]]
110	** [[spoiler: Billy's]] talk with Sidney right after being jailed is rather pointed as well. [[spoiler: "I was in jail, I couldn't have done it, remember?"]]
111	** Gale Weathers states that she thinks that Cotton Weary was framed for murdering Sidney's mother. [[spoiler:Turns out she's right; Billy and Stu did it.]]
112	** In the video store, Randy correctly states that [[spoiler:Billy is the top suspect and that Sidney's dad is the RedHerring. Not only that, he calls Stu a "little lapdog" when he's the accomplice to Billy's rampage. In addition, scary music plays when Billy and Stu gang up on Randy.]]
113	** [[spoiler:Stu]] celebrates the closure of the school after [[spoiler:the principal]] is murdered, though that was not the reason classes were postponed in the first place.
114	** Tatum admits to Sidney that the SlutShaming rumors about her mother go further back than Cotton Weary and that there was talk about other men. She even speculates that it might have been because Sidney's father was always out of town, or that she was just a very unhappy woman. [[spoiler:She's proven right in two out of three. Her mother wasn't just having an affair with Cotton Weary, but Billy's father, which caused his parents' separation. The [[Film/Scream3 third movie]] proves that she was indeed a '''''[[PromiscuityAfterRape very]]''''' unhappy woman.]]
115	** After the rules speech, Stu's mocking "''I'll be right back!''" and Randy's response "I'll see you in the kitchen, with a knife!" foreshadow that [[spoiler:Stu is able to break Randy's rules for survival because ''he's'' a killer. And guess what he's holding in what room a short time later?]]
116	*** [[spoiler:An even smarter one with the same sentence. Stu was going to "be right back!" after he grabbed some beers from the garage. Given this was the location where Tatum was very recently killed, and that Stu didn't feel like her fresh corpse hanging from the doors was worthy of a mention, this foreshadows both that there is more than one killer, and that Stu is one of them.]]
117	*** And finally: [[spoiler: the fact that Stu says "''I'll be right back!''" not once but twice foreshadows that he's going to be pushing up daisies before the credits roll, albeit delayed somewhat.]]
118	** The serial killer has an obsession with horror movies, right? [[spoiler: Billy, before the sex scene, compares Sidney's situation to ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', a horror movie which spawned the PsychologicalThriller genre, and also says, "It's all just a movie."]]
119	** When Principal Himbry catches the pranksters wearing the Ghostface masks, [[spoiler: he unmasks two kids.]]
120	** At one point, Stu grabs Tatum and puts her on his shoulder. Unable to escape, she has one arm over Stu's shoulder and her other arm trapped behind Stu's other shoulder, [[spoiler:which is uncannily the same position Tatum is found in when she dies]].
121	** Before Randy explains the "rules", he pauses ''Film/Halloween1978'' at the exact point when Michael raises his knife to stab Bob. Throughout his explanation of the slasher rules, Randy stands in front of the television with Michael's knife pointed ominously at his back. [[spoiler:This foreshadows a later scene in which Ghostface raises his knife to stab Randy in the back but stops midway through his attack, allowing Randy to survive.]]
122	** 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 takes over as the protagonist of the series starting with the fifth film.]]
123	** Kenny complains about the thirty-second delay of Gale's camera after Gale finishes setting it up. [[spoiler:Later, when Kenny spots Ghostface menacing Randy on camera, he gets out of the van to warn him, just in time to remember that the footage is on delay and that Ghostface's location is currently unknown. Shortly after, Ghostface appears out of nowhere and [[SlitThroat slits his throat]].]]
124	* FourIsDeath:
125	** The catch phrase that Randy says saying is against the rules for surviving horror movies, "I'll be right back", is exactly four words long.
126	** And the fourth character to die is [[spoiler: Tatum]], who is the first of the main characters to bite it.
127	* FromBadToWorse: When [[spoiler: Billy reveals himself as the killer, Sidney has the fortune to run into the tall and formidable Stu, who could protect her. She finds out seconds later, that he's been a willing accomplice all along and is now trapped with two murderers]].
128	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: In the video store, when Randy is telling Stu that "there's always some stupid, bullshit reason to kill your girlfriend", a woman behind him takes notice and decides to get away as he keeps getting more animated.
129	* GenreDeconstruction: Of slasher movies. Frustrated that the characters in a slasher flick never seem to [[IdiotBall make the right decisions]] or [[IdiotBall lose intelligence around the killer]]? Here, the main cast are GenreSavvy, but ''so is the killer'', which only makes the film more intense as the characters make sound decisions and still get cut down. [[spoiler: The ending also wonderfully plays with so many horror movie expectations that it could almost take up a page by itself. The killer isn't a deranged mutant or [[BeautyEqualsGoodness horribly maimed individual]], but two relatively handsome and popular young white teens. There are two killers at play instead of just one. The climax of the film is one of the ''killers'' making a mistake instead of the main characters, which then allows the FinalGirl to get the upper hand. She then takes the gimmicks of Ghostface and plays them against the villains to freak them out as their plans fall apart, and dresses as Ghostface one final time to hide in the darkness of a closet and stab the killer when he's distracted.]]
130	* GenreRelaunch: This movie's popularity revitalized the slasher SubGenre, which had been flailing for the last several years. At the time of its release, very few slashers were being released at all, let alone in theaters. ''Scream'' gave the sub-genre a credibility with critics it had never really had before (even receiving praise from critics like Creator/RogerEbert who were notoriously harsh on most slasher films), and its success led not only to sequels but also a trend of slasher films featuring self-aware humor regarding horror cliches that also got theatrical releases (not to mention tons of DirectToVideo releases). There were eventually so many of these meta-slashers that eventually slasher films that played things more straight came back into vogue as well.
131	* GenreSavvy: Due to the meta-nature of the film, many characters are knowledgeable about horror films and their usual clichés.
132	** [[spoiler:Billy and Stu qualify, as they invoke horror movie tropes to trick and kill their victims and invoke some {{Whodunnit}} tropes to avoid suspicion by their potential victims and the police. Subverted in that they eventually decided to stab each other ''before'' trying to kill Sidney and her dad.]]
133	** [[spoiler:Tatum during her death scene.]] She continually mocks the killer and the idea of the helpless female victim scenario, until he actually pulls a knife on her:
134	--->"No, please, don't kill me, Mr. Ghostface! I wanna be in the sequel!"
135	** [[spoiler:Sidney]] also qualifies when she first talks to the killer. This leads to an IronicEcho, where she is forced to run upstairs instead of outside when the killer attacks moments later.
136	--->''[referring to horror movies]'' "They're all the same; some killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can't act, who always runs up the stairs when she should be going out the front door. It's insulting."
137	** Randy as the MetaGuy is naturally this without trying. [[spoiler:In the fountain sequence, he unintentionally guesses Stu is Ghostface and pokes holes in Stu's alibi by noting that Stu could have been with Tatum before or after killing Casey and Steve. In addition, he believes that Billy is the real killer and that Sidney's dad is the RedHerring.]]
138	* GenreThrowback: [[invoked]] Creator/KevinWilliamson wrote the script for ''Scream'' at a time when the slasher genre was largely discredited by [[{{Sequelitis}} poor sequels]] and tired clichés. Interestingly, while ''Scream'' reinvented the slasher genre by popularizing {{postmodern\|ism}} elements, most notably GenreSavvy characters who know and reference other horror movies, its whodunnit formula is reminiscent of early slashers like ''Film/{{Black Christmas\|1974}}'' and ''Film/{{Friday the 13th\|1980}}'' where the killer's identity was not revealed until the climax.
139	* GuttedLikeAFish: The TropeNamer. After Casey fails Ghostface's trivia question, the patio lights go out while her boyfriend Steve is eviscerated, coming back on just in time for Casey to see his intestines hanging out. [[spoiler: Casey winds up getting the same treatment by the end of the scene.]]
140	* HaHaHaNo: When Randy asks Stu if he thinks Sidney would go out with him, Stu laughs and points at him in the most flamboyant way possible before putting on a deadly serious face and saying, "No. I don't. At all. No."
141	* HarassingPhoneCall: In the opening scene, the killer calls Casey repeatedly before killing her. The next day, he calls Sidney repeatedly, too.
142	* HateSink: [[spoiler:Upon being revealed to be one of the killers, Billy is shown to be a deranged teenager who talks Stu into being his accomplice in terrorizing and murdering their friends. He also turns out to be a manipulative creep of a boyfriend as he gets Sidney to sleep with him, shortly before revealing he and Stu are the ones who murdered her mother. Not even Billy's issues with his mother and his family breaking apart garner him sympathy, as he's seen by the survivors, with [[HatedByAll nothing but disdain]]. Ironically the only one who still cares for him is his mother, as the second movie shows.]]
143	* HeadSmashesScreen: [[spoiler:Stu Macher]] has a big-screen television dropped on his face by [[spoiler:Sidney]], shooting sparks and electrocuting him to death.
144	* HelplessWindowDeath: [[spoiler: Casey watches helplessly through the windowed sliding doors as Ghostface kills Steve, who is tied up on the porch.]]
145	* {{Homage}}:
146	** ''Film/Dementia13'': The shot of Casey being dragged across the grass is one.
147	** ''Film/Suspiria1977'': Casey's death hanging from the tree is one to the hanging death.
148	* HypocriticalHumor: Randy's second rule to survive a horror movie is to not drink alcohol. He explains this while holding a bottle of beer and then clinking bottles with a friend.
149	* ICanSeeYou: The opening scene initially plays out like a series of ordinary conversations with a ''very'' persistent phone caller, only for things to take a turn for the worse when Ghostface reveals that he's watching Casey.
150	* IfItBleedsItLeads: Gale is bad at this (though she eventually gets better), but the reporter played by Linda Blair is if anything worse:
151	-->"Sidney, how does it feel to be almost brutally butchered? People want to know. They have a right to know! How does it feel?"
152	* ImprovisedWeapon: Sidney drops a TV on the killer in the first film. It can be taken as DeathByIrony, since the TV is showing ''Film/{{Halloween\|1978}}'' and the killer, who was an obsessive fan of horror movies who wanted to live one out, is now [[IncrediblyLamePun all the way into one]]. She also uses an umbrella to attack.
153	* InsistentTerminology: By the killer, [[spoiler:(both of them)]].
154	-->[[spoiler:'''Sidney:''' [[YoureInsane You're crazy]], both of you.\
155	'''Stu:''' Actually, we prefer the term "psychotic".]]
156	* {{Irony}}: When called by the killer, Sidney, who dislikes horror movies, badmouths them, saying they all just involve some eye candy girl who always runs upstairs instead of out the front door. When Ghostface attacks moments later, Sidney tries to run out the door but she's put the safety chain on it - so she has no choice but to run upstairs.
157	* JerkassHasAPoint:
158	** Gale Weathers may be rude and egotistical, but she was right about [[spoiler:Cotton Weary being innocent and Sidney ignoring the facts to defend her mother.]]
159	** [[spoiler: Billy was manipulating Sidney all along into sleeping with him, but he wasn't wrong that letting her mother's death ruin her fears of intimacy was an unhealthy way to live.]]
160	** Principal Himbry goes a bit overboard when dealing with the Ghostface pranksters by expelling them and then threatening them with scissors, but he is completely justified in being angry at them for the insensitive prank, especially considering Sidney, a student at that school, had just barely survived an encounter with Ghostface the previous night.
161	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
162	** [[spoiler:Randy admits that if the Woodsboro murders were a movie, he would be the prime suspect.]]
163	** When Billy and Sidney reconcile in Stu's house, Billy says that life is just a movie.
164	** [[spoiler: While the killer is approaching Randy, he's watching ''Halloween'' and is saying "Turn around, Jamie" to Jamie Lee Curtis. Randy is played by ''Jamie'' Kennedy]].
165	* MadonnaWhoreComplex: Examined. Sidney doesn't want to admit that her mother may have been having an affair, precisely because it would destroy her image as a Madonna. She also has to deal with other characters SlutShaming her, and it's implied her fear of intimacy is brought on by being ashamed of her mother's promiscuity.
166	* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: [[spoiler: You can clearly Sidney realizing that she has a chance to turn the tables when Billy and Stu foolishly turn their backs to her. ]]
167	* MortonsFork: How the killer [[spoiler:(both of them)]] plans to kill Sidney.
168	-->'''[[spoiler:Stu]]:''' See, it's a fun game Sidney. We ask you questions and if you get one wrong -- BOO-GAH! -- you die.\
169	'''[[spoiler:Billy]]:''' You get one right, you die.
170	* MotiveRant: DiscussedTrope. When Sidney prompts the killer for a motive, he derides the whole idea of a Motive Rant, pointing out that the villain tends to be [[NothingIsScarier a lot scarier if there's no motive]]. However, this is immediately double subverted when he gives her one anyway.
171	* MurderSimulators: The killer states that violent movies "don't create psychos, they only make psychos more creative."
172	* MythologyGag: There are several [[ShoutOut Shout-Outs]] to ''Film/{{A Nightmare On Elm Street\|1984}}'', which was also directed by Creator/WesCraven.
173	** Casey comments that the first ''Nightmare'' film was great but its sequels were bad.
174	** Billy meets up with Sidney by climbing through her bedroom window in a scene reminiscent of Glen doing the same for Nancy.
175	** There is also the brief appearance of a janitor named Fred, who dresses like [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]] and is [[CreatorCameo played by Wes Craven]].
176	* NeverTheObviousSuspect: The film loves playing with this trope. [[spoiler:Billy is the obvious suspect early on, but the film also likes pointing to Sidney's dad as an obvious suspect as well, given how the police have trouble tracking him down after the start of the Woodsboro murders. The trope is played straight with Sidney's father but subverted with Billy. It is also played straight with Stu, but with the twist that he's only one of the two killers.]]
177	* NiceGirl: Casey, from what we see of her. She's even nice to the caller until he starts making threatening statements.
178	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Gale is speeding away to get help, but Sidney rushes in front of Gale's news van in a plea for help, causing Gale to swerve off the road, crash into a tree, and knock herself out.
179	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: At the climax of the film, [[spoiler:Billy and Stu]] leave Sidney alone in the kitchen to deal with Gale, giving her the opportunity to escape [[spoiler:and ultimately kill them]].
180	* NoodleIncident:
181	** A subtle one. Sidney and Tatum, upon being eventually threatened by Ghostface for the first time, both initially assume it's Randy playing a joke on them. Considering that both girls are shown to be pretty smart, and they come to this conclusion completely independently of each other, it does raise the question, what kind of pranks has Randy pulled before?
182	** Casey and Stu apparently had a brief relationship. Why they broke up and any other details about said relationship are a mystery, although it's implied that [[spoiler: this is why Stu killed her.]]
183	* NotQuiteDead: Lampshaded. [[spoiler:Billy is shot in the face ''immediately'' as he is getting up to do this.]]
184	-->'''Randy:''' Careful, this is the moment when the supposedly dead killer comes back for one last scare.\
185	'''[[spoiler:Billy]]:''' ''GAH!''\
186	'''Sidney:''' ''[BLAM]'' Not in my movie.
187	* NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont: Played straight, then later subverted. [[spoiler:Gale attempts to shoot Billy twice with the gun she stole from him and Stu; the first time, the gun has the safety on unbeknownst to her, enabling Billy to render her unconscious. The next time, Gale has it figured out and is able to mortally wound Billy with a gunshot.]]
188	* 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. As it turns out, 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.]]
189	* OhCrap: Randy's reaction after realizing that Sidney just [[spoiler:handed the gun to one of the killers]].
190	* OlderThanTheyLook: Dewey is 25 but Gale jokes that he looks like a teenager. David Arquette was indeed up for the role of Billy due to his youthful looks.
191	* OneWomanWail: When Sidney comes back home and calls Tatum, a woman’s faint singing can be heard throughout the scene.
192	* PeekABooCorpse:
193	** After Sidney falls off the house's second floor, she spots [[spoiler:Tatum's corpse in the garage door]].
194	** When Gale tries to escape in her news van, [[spoiler:Kenny's corpse slips down the windshield]].
195	* PreMortemOneLiner: [[spoiler:Sidney gets one in before finishing off Stu.]]
196	-->[[spoiler:'''Stu''': I always had a thing for ya, Sid! Bitch!\
197	'''Sidney''': In your dreams. ''(drops a TV on his head)'']]
198	* {{Reconstruction}}: While the story carries a lot of GenreDeconstruction quirks, ''Scream'' functions as an attempt to revitalize the slasher movie genre by playing with particular tropes and making them frightening again.
199	** 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.
200	** 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:This also works in the film's favor when one of the supposed victims turns out to be the killer, and [[TheReveal it's revealed]] that two people are acting in tandem as Ghostface.]]
201	* RedHerring: Like Randy says, '''"Everybody's a suspect!"'''
202	** Played with beautifully in the case of [[spoiler:Billy]], in that the red herrings aren't red herrings at all. [[spoiler:The movie practically screams "this is the killer" whenever Billy's onscreen (a phone falling out of his pocket after a call from the killer, an unstable attitude, his tendency to show up only after someone is killed), and does it so much that everyone assumes this is the film trying to distract you from the real killer. The trickery is upped further when Sidney is taunted by Ghostface while Billy is being held by the police, and again when Billy is apparently killed. At this point, the viewer is led to think "so obviously that means it was Sidney's father the whole time!" It then takes the usual horror denouement of "the too-obvious red herring is killed off, and the real killer is the person the FinalGirl thought she could trust the most (her father)" in a very inventive direction by doubling back on itself: the RedHerring ''was'' the killer, his death was faked, there were actually ''two'' killers, and the guy you thought you could trust was trustworthy after all! In addition, with the revelation that Stu and Billy are the killers, the other suspects, including Sidney's father, are the real red herrings of the movie.]]
203	** Out of all the red herrings in the movie, [[spoiler:Sidney's father, Neil Prescott,]] is the most prominent. He conveniently goes on a business trip just when the killing spree starts and just before the anniversary of his wife's death, and later, when the police are looking for suspects, they are unable to track him down. At one point, Sheriff Burke notes that Ghostface's phone calls were made from [[spoiler:Neil's]] phone.
204	*** Ghostface's costume in-universe is known as the Father Death costume, [[spoiler:which helps misdirect the audience into thinking Neil is the killer.]]
205	** [[spoiler:Principal Himbry]] is another major suspect, at least for the first half of the film. His introductory scene has him touching Sidney a little too fondly, to the point that the Sheriff gives him a concerned look. In a later scene, [[spoiler:Himbry]] threatens two prankster students with scissors, which showcases his violent nature. What helps in this misdirection is that the [[AudibleSharpness sounds that his scissors make]] are the same sounds made by Ghostface's knife.
206	** [[spoiler:Dewey]] is a red herring for most of the film as he has no alibi whenever Ghostface stalks or calls Sidney. For example, in one scene, he leaves Tatum and Sidney to go to the police station, and in the next scene, Ghostface is shown to be following Tatum and Sidney in the market, and when the film focuses on [[spoiler:Dewey]] again, it is revealed that he arrived late to Sheriff Burke's meeting. It doesn't help that [[spoiler:Dewey's]] excuse for his unpunctuality was "I was keeping an eye on Sidney". In addition, sinister music plays when he asks Gale to go on a walk with him.
207	** [[spoiler:Randy]] is a good fit for Ghostface in that like Ghostface, he too is a horror movie fanatic. In fact, during Sidney's first phone call with Ghostface, Sidney initially believes that the caller was [[spoiler:Randy]] trying to scare her. Later, [[spoiler:Randy]] [[LampshadeHanging acknowledges]] this, as he notes that if the Woodsboro murders were a [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall scary movie]], he would be the prime suspect. Once he reveals that he has a crush on Sidney, it's pretty clear what [[StalkerWithaCrush type of motive]] he would have if he were the killer.
208	** At one point, [[spoiler:Sheriff Burke]] gets a close-up shot, which reveals that he wears the same kind of shoes as the killer.
209	*** Ultimately, the killer's big, black shoes are a red herring, as most of the suspects in the movie wear the same type of shoes.
210	** A [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] example would be [[spoiler:Kenny the cameraman]]. When Gale and Sidney discuss whether or not Cotton Weary was indeed Maureen's murderer, the camera briefly does a [[TraitorShot close-up]] on [[spoiler:Kenny]] as if to suggest that he is the culprit.
211	** Another downplayed example would be [[spoiler:Tatum]]. Early in the film, she argues that the killer could easily be female, which can come across as the killer SayingTooMuch. [[spoiler:Tatum]] was also conveniently late to pick up Sidney, was the last person to call Sidney before Ghostface did, showed up almost immediately after Sidney's attack, and wears black boots similar to the killer's the next day at school. The reason this is ultimately downplayed is because there are notable scenes in which the killer stalks/calls Sidney while [[spoiler:Tatum]] is at Sidney's side, meaning it would be impossible for her to be the killer unless one suspects that [[spoiler:there is more than one killer involved]].
212	** The fame-hungry [[spoiler:news reporter Gale]] has a dubious interest in Sidney for most of the film and would have a pretty obvious motive as the killer: IfItBleedsItLeads.
213	* RewatchBonus:
214	** In the opening scene, Ghostface seemingly [[VillainTeleportation teleports]] around Casey's house. [[spoiler: On a first viewing, this seems to be the movie being sloppy and giving Ghostface OffscreenTeleportation powers, a common horror movie trope. However, on repeat viewings, one realizes this teleportation is realistically possible because there are two killers at the house, not one.]]
215	*** Also relevant, Ghostface's final trivia question to Casey: "What door am I at?" [[spoiler: "He" was at ''[[BigBadDuumvirate both]]'' [[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose doors]].]]
216	*** Similarly, the fact that the killer knows his way around Casey's house is an early sign that it's someone familiar to Casey, like [[spoiler: Stu, her ex-boyfriend, is.]]
217	*** Look carefully at Casey when she unmasks the killer. She opens her eyes and then starts visibly gasping. Also, Ghostface only kills her after she opens her eyes. A subtle hint [[spoiler: that she recognizes who's killing her.]]
218	** On a first viewing, Billy sneaking into Sidney's house is a romantic gesture. [[spoiler:On repeat viewings, the implication is darker, as Billy has just finished murdering Casey and Steve, and is only visiting Sidney to set up an alibi.]]
219	** Rewatching the fountain scene casts many of the characters' behavior in a new light:
220	*** After Casey Becker gets killed, the five main characters sit around discussing her murder, and [[spoiler: Stu]] starts to describe in graphic detail how one would go about gutting her, at which point [[spoiler: Billy]] admonishes him to shut up. At first glance, you might think that [[spoiler:Billy just thinks Stu is being rather tasteless]], but in retrospect, [[spoiler:Billy told him to shut up because he realized the fact that Stu knew so much about how to gut someone could in itself be a giveaway.]]
221	*** Immediately afterwards, Sidney and Randy reveal that [[spoiler:Stu]] used to date Casey, but Casey dumped him for Steve[[spoiler:, which gives Stu a motive in killing the two, contradicting Stu's later explanation that peer pressure prompted him to murder multiple people.]]
222	*** Then, Randy jokingly accuses [[spoiler:Stu]] of murdering Casey and Steve. In response, Tatum states that [[spoiler:Stu]] was at her house at the night of the murders, but Randy counters that [[spoiler:Stu]] could have been at Tatum's house before or after the murders. [[spoiler:On repeat viewings, one can infer that Stu was at Tatum's house after the murders since Billy arrived at Sidney's house after the murders as well. Most importantly, this scene shows how thorough Billy and Stu's plans were, as they visited their girlfriends after the murders to set up their alibis.]]
223	*** After Randy questions the legitimacy of [[spoiler: Stu's alibi]], [[spoiler:Stu]] is noticeably less cocky and denies murdering anyone, to which [[spoiler:Billy]] has to reassure [[spoiler:Stu]] that no one seriously accused [[spoiler:Stu]] of anything. When the conversation becomes more comedic again, [[spoiler:Stu [[BlackComedy threatens to gut Randy]], which in hindsight, becomes less funny when one realizes that later on, Stu comes close to killing Randy while the latter is too busy watching ''Film/{{Halloween\|1978}}''.]]
224	** After [[spoiler:Tatum's]] murder, [[spoiler:Billy]] shows up wanting to talk with Sid. Notice [[spoiler:the look he gives Stu, clearly signalling that he took care of business.]]
225	** For a first time viewer, it seems like Stu's mockingly declaring "I'll be right back!" just seconds after being warned not to by Randy is just another instance of many of Stu being a dumbass. [[spoiler: On repeat viewings, we realize that the real reason for his confidence and prankish tone is because he knows he genuinely has nothing to fear from breaking any of Randy's rules, as he is one of the killers himself.]]
226	*** [[spoiler:Not only that, Randy even mentions he'll see him later with a kitchen knife. [[OhCrap And where's Stu later, and what is he holding]]?]]
227	** Combined with FreezeFrameBonus, as [[spoiler:Billy is "killed," he turns to Sidney with blood all over his shirt, but behind him you can see Ghostface quickly tuck the clean blade of the knife into his hand, making a kind of squeezing motion. Sidney looks to the killer, who shows her the bloody knife before wiping the blade clean again. Stu was applying the fake blood to the knife while Sidney was distracted.]]
228	*** [[spoiler: Billy's bloody shirt also looks more fake than the realistic on-screen wounds of the actual victims. This turns out not to be a coincidence.]]
229	*** That being said, this might not be intentional. [[spoiler: You can see that the blade is clean in one shot, stained in the next shot, and then clean, before being stained ''again'' when Ghostface cleans it off, so the lack of InUniverse fake blood on the knife might be a production mistake.]]
230	** The scene at the video store has a lot:
231	*** Randy pegs Billy as the killer and Stu tries to dissuade him by saying he thinks Sidney's dad is guilty because he's gone missing. [[spoiler:Randy responds by calling Stu a lapdog and suggesting that Sidney's dad is a RedHerring. On rewatch, Randy is entirely correct, both by calling Stu a lapdog (since he's Billy's accomplice) and about Sidney's dad being a misdirect (as Billy and Stu plan to frame him for their crimes). It's also apparent that Stu is trying to make Randy think Mr. Prescott is guilty in order to frame him and keep suspicion off of Billy.]]
232	*** Stu asks what Billy's motivation would be if he were the killer. Randy: "There's always some stupid bullshit reason to kill your girlfriend." [[spoiler:Stu's girlfriend Tatum ends up being their next victim, killed by Billy.]]
233	*** When Billy and Stu gang up on Randy, [[spoiler:he's sandwiched between the two killers.]]
234	** Notice that during the third-act bloodbath, Sidney acquires a gun and is left to wonder who she can still trust between Stu and Randy. [[spoiler: Randy yells that they need to get the fuck out of there, while Stu claims that Randy killed Billy and Tatum and tries to get the gun from her, and never once says that they need to escape.]]
235	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Kevin Williamson was inspired to write ''Scream'' after watching a television special on serial killer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Rolling Danny Rolling]].
236	* SacrificialLamb: [[spoiler:Casey Becker is the most famous example of this in the entire series as her actress is Creator/DrewBarrymore, who at the time was the biggest cast name in the movie. Originally, Barrymore was supposed to play Sidney, but she decided to take the minor role of Casey because no one expected Barrymore to portray a DecoyProtagonist who dies in the opening scene.]]
237	* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Tatum Riley]] is Sidney's BestFriend, and the movie signifies that she is a reliable character by placing her at Sidney's side during crucial moments when Ghostface calls/stalks Sidney, essentially giving her [[TheAlibi a strong alibi]] and hence a strong argument that she isn't the killer. Her death in Act 3 raises the stakes as it leaves Sidney with no one left to trust.
238	* SawStarWarsTwentySevenTimes: PlayedForDrama. Casey angrily declares that she's seen ''Film/FridayThe13th1980'' "20 goddamn times" when the killer says that she gave the wrong answer to the trivia question about it (with the stakes being the life of her boyfriend Steve). Unfortunately for Casey, Ghostface was only talking about the original film, where the killer was ''not'' Jason Voorhees, but his mother. Steve gets GuttedLikeAFish soon after.
239	* ScareChord: A high-pitched flute combined with trombone and timpani is heard when Ghostface kills [[spoiler:Principal Himbry]].
240	* SceneryPorn: Woodsboro is located in the California Wine Country where the movie was filmed, and the shots of the landscape around the town, especially at [[WatchingTheSunset sunset]], make sure that you remember that.
241	* SelfDefenseRuse:
242	** [[spoiler:Billy and Stu's plan was to kill Sidney and her father, Neil, and claim that he had gone insane and killed everyone in a DeceasedFallGuyGambit. Presumably, this relied on nobody being able to notice that Neil had been tied up in Stu's house for a day, and that the murders were actually committed by two people.]]
243	** [[spoiler:It's also implied briefly towards the end that this is Billy's ultimate plan regarding Stu, as he stabbed Stu too deep with the knife (which Stu notices). It's possible, although not outright confirmed, that Billy was planning to frame Stu as Neil's partner.]]
244	* SelfDeprecation: Casey saying that all the sequels to ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'' sucked. This could also be seen as a TakeThat, since Craven only directed the original and ''Film/WesCravensNewNightmare'' (and only co-wrote ''[[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet3DreamWarriors Dream Warriors]]''). He only decided to keep it in once its self-deprecating nature was pointed out; he apparently thought it was a bit mean-spirited at first.
245	* SequelSnark:
246	-->'''Tatum:''' No, please don't kill me, Mr. Ghostface! I wanna be in the sequel!
247	* SexSignalsDeath:
248	** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Randy as he lays out [[TheCommandments the rules]] for surviving a horror movie.
249	--->'''[[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?
250	** 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?]]
251	* SexForSolace: Sidney with Billy as the body count rises and she's hitting her breaking point.
252	* ShoutOut: It has [[ShoutOut/{{Scream}} its own page]].
253	* SinsOfOurFathers: The killer explains that his motive for wanting to kill Sidney is that her mother Maureen had an affair with the killer's father, which caused his parents to divorce and his own mother to run away. Which, obviously, is hardly something that Sidney can be held personally responsible for.
254	* SkewedPriorities: When [[spoiler:Stu, one of the killers,]] is dying in his 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.
255	* SlashedThroat: How [[spoiler:Kenny]] meets his end.
256	* SlasherSmile: The killer [[spoiler: Billy Loomis]] pulls off an epic one near the end. While his partner yammers on about "watching a few movies, take a few notes", he merely stands there and silently starts smiling, until it's a full-on grin, heading into TechnicallyASmile territory. Interestingly, while all the other Ghostfaces pull off some form of PsychoticSmirk during the movie, [[spoiler: Billy Loomis]] is the only one to really look like he's going to become LaughingMad from revealing his plans. It sends a shiver down your spine.
257	* SlashersPreferBlondes: Redheaded Drew Barrymore wore a blonde wig to play the film's opening victim Casey. [[spoiler: Tatum, who is also blonde, dies, and her actress likewise is not a natural blonde. Both female survivors are brunette]].
258	* SourceMusic: Randy and some of the other party guests are watching ''Halloween'', which allows the movie to borrow Creator/JohnCarpenter's soundtrack to set the mood for certain scenes.
259	* SuburbanGothic: High school students in an upper-class suburban town begin turning up dead, and the killer[[spoiler:s are two of their classmates, born and raised in town, who have been planning this murder spree for the past year since they killed the protagonist's mother.]]
260	* SuddenlyShouting: The voice on the phone suddenly raising his voice to Casey, screaming that he'd kill her if she hung up, instantly dispels the "prank caller" notion and sends her into terrified mode.
261	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
262	** For a pre-Columbine movie, the film shows the aftermath of the deaths of two high school students fairly accurately. The school atmosphere is pretty low, there's grief counselors meeting with the students, and the principal has a no-tolerance policy when two pranksters run around in the mask the killer wore.
263	** [[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. When it's Billy's turn to stab Stu again, Stu is extremely reluctant to give him the knife. And it turns out that even when deliberately trying to be non-lethal, it's easy to make a mistake, as Stu's injury has him bleeding out a few minutes later (he ends up dying from having a heavy TV pushed on his head while trying to attack Sydney, but that's probably adrenaline; he would likely have been dead or at least unconscious in a few minutes from blood loss).]]
264	* SuspectExistenceFailure: [[spoiler:Billy asks, soulfully, what he has to do to prove his innocence. A second later, the killer leaps into the room and stabs him. Because ''Scream'' never met a trope it didn't want to [[PlayingWithATrope play with]], it turns out Billy's the killer ''anyway''. There were two killers and they engineered the whole thing to screw with Sidney.]]
265	* 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 was still recovering from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Polly_Klaas Polly Klaas murder]] in the nearby town of Petaluma. 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.
266	* TakeThatAudience:
267	** When Sidney flashes Billy near the start, the camera only focuses on her back and Billy's amused reaction.
268	** Likewise when Sidney and Billy prepare to have sex, there are multiple cuts of Randy and the other partygoers watching ''Film/Halloween1978'' and cheering when Lynda, one of the ''Halloween'' characters, goes topless. Eventually, Sidney goes topless herself, but Billy's back [[SceneryCensor blocks her body from view]].
269	*** One of the female partygoers even makes fun of Randy and the other guys for enjoying the {{Fanservice}} in ''Halloween''.
270	* TakeThatCritics: The line "Don't you blame the movies! Movies don't create psychos! Movies make psychos more creative!" is a dig at the people who blame violent media for the actions of crazed individuals. In fact, Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson put said line into the movie after dealing with the MediaNotes/MotionPictureAssociation, who were concerned that the violence in ''Scream'' would inspire {{Copycat Killer}}s imitating the film.
271	* TalkToTheFist: There is a famous bit where Sidney punches Gale in the face [[DisproportionateRetribution for annoying her by asking questions]]. In Sidney's defense, she was undoubtedly really scared and stressed about all that had happened.
272	* TapOnTheHead: When Ghostface attacks Sidney the first time, he slams her head on the floor to stun her.
273	* ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine: [[spoiler:During the climax, Sidney escapes and hides from Billy and Stu and uses their own phone call games to taunt them that the police are on their way. [[VillainousBreakdown They don't take it well]].]]
274	-->[[spoiler: '''Sidney:''' ''(using voice changer)'' Not so fast. We're going to play a little game. It's called ''(in normal voice)'' "Guess who just phoned the police and reported your sorry motherfucking ass"!]]
275	* TeensAreMonsters: [[spoiler:The RedHerring teenager Billy turns out to be the killer all along, with fellow classmate Stu as his accomplice.]]
276	* TemptingFate: The reason why saying "I'll be right back" ensures you won't be back to wherever you said it, according to Randy.
277	* JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs: Invoked InUniverse when [[spoiler:Stu and Billy stab each other to [[DeliberateInjuryGambit make themselves appear to be another pair of victims]] in Ghostface's killing spree. However, they have no idea how debilitating just a single stab wound to the gut really is, since they've based all of their medical knowledge on horror movies, and as a result, Sidney has a significant advantage when fighting back against them.]]
278	* ThisIsReality: When Billy and Sidney reconcile in Stu's house, Sidney says: "But this is life. This isn't a movie."
279	* TimeMarchesOn: The police question [[spoiler: Billy]] because of a cell phone. "Everyone has one." While that answer was somewhat hyperbolic in the 1990s, it's certainly true now. Also, the use of cell phones created a new frightening obstacle: you cannot rule out a suspect because he or she was on the phone while the killings happened.
280	* TitleDrop:
281	** At one point, Stu exclaims, "''It's a scream, baby!''"
282	** Gale says that the killing spree all started with "a ''scream'' over 9-1-1."
283	** 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, no longer are.
284	--->'''Casey:''' Oh, just some '''scary movie'''.\
285	'''Ghostface:''' What's your favorite '''scary movie'''?\
286	'''Gale:''' Several more local teens are dead, bringing to an end the harrowing mystery of the masked killings that has terrified this peaceful community like the plot of some '''scary movie'''.
287	* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:Billy and Stu]] decided to [[spoiler:stab each other ''before'' dealing with Sidney, and Stu is later too weak to help search for her when she escapes.]]
288	* TrashyTrueCrime: Gale Weathers the ImmoralJournalist is presented this way, as she had made her fame off covering Maureen Prescott's rape and murder in a way that suggests that Cotton, who Sidney believed, committed the murder, is actually innocent. She also follows Sidney (who is about seventeen at the start of the series) around, confronting her repeatedly and trying to mine her trauma for more content. However, this is also presented firmly as JerkassHasAPoint, as Gale is right that Cotton is wrongly accused. Though she and Cotton don't cover themselves in glory when they respond to being vindicated by stalking Sidney at college and trying to ambush her into an interview.
289	* 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.
290	* TwoDunIt: [[spoiler:Billy and Stu]], as it happens. This is also true in later films but is less of a twist after this first film set the pattern.
291	* UnrevealAngle: Casey unmasks the killer, but the camera moves up before the viewer can see the killer's true face. We only see Casey's reaction when she opens her eyes. [[spoiler:On rewatch, it's obvious that she recognizes the person behind it as Stu.]]
292	* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Both Ghostfaces undergo this after Sidney escapes and reveals the police are coming after them, using their own phone call mind games on them to add insult to injury. Billy throws a violent hissy fit and screams blue murder at Sidney, while Stu blubbers like a baby over [[MommasBoy what his parents will do to him]].]]
293	-->[[spoiler:'''Stu:''' My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!]]
294	* VillainsNeverLie: [[spoiler:Averted. Ghostfaces Billy and Stu openly admit that no matter if the victim answers a question right or wrong, they die, even though they said that Casey would live if she did. It makes it all the more surprising when Sidney assumes this trope in play and doesn't even contradict Billy's MotiveRant, specifically the part where Billy claims that her mother slept with his father which was the reason for his mother leaving. Given all the deception he commits throughout the movie to her and many others, it's a bit surprising that Sidney believed him so easily.]]
295	* VirginPower: Parodied by [[spoiler: Randy]] when he survives.
296	-->"I never thought I'd be so glad to be a virgin."
297	* WhamLine:
298	** In the intro, the phone call starts off like a friendly (if awkward) chat between two strangers, until...
299	--->'''Ghostface:''' You never told me your name.\
300	'''Casey:''' Why do you want to know my name?\
301	'''Ghostface:''' ''[[ICanSeeYou Because I want to know who I'm looking at.]]''
302	** The line that reveals [[spoiler:Billy]] as the killer just before [[spoiler:he shoots Randy (albeit non-fatally)]]:
303	--->'''[[spoiler:Randy]]:''' [[spoiler:Stu's flipped out! He's gone mad!]]\
304	'''[[spoiler:Billy]]:''' [[Film/{{Psycho}} We all go a little mad sometimes.]]
305	** The line that not only reveals [[spoiler:Stu as the second killer, but combined with (and immediately following) the above line, reveals there are two killers]].
306	--->'''[[spoiler:Stu]]:''' ''[[spoiler:Surprise, Sidney.]]''
307	** [[spoiler:After Billy and Stu reveal themselves as the killers, Sidney tells them they will never get away with it. Billy’s response?]]
308	--->'''[[spoiler:Billy]]:''' Oh, no? [[spoiler:[[YouKilledMyFather Tell that to Cotton Weary. You wouldn’t believe how easy he was to frame.]]]]\
309	'''[[spoiler:Stu]]:''' [[spoiler:Watch a few movies, take a few notes. It was fun!]]
310	** [[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 stunned by this.
311	--->[[spoiler:"Your slut mother was fucking my father. She's the reason my mom moved out and abandoned me. How's that for a motive?"]]
312	* WholeCostumeReference: The school janitor, played by Wes Craven, is seen wearing [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]]'s iconic hat and striped shirt.
313	* WouldYouLikeToHearHowTheyDied: Ghostface mentions to Sidney that [[RelativeButton her mother begged for her life]].
314	-->'''Ghostface''': Do you want to die, Sidney? Your mother sure didn't.
315	* WrongGenreSavvy: Tatum says that the killer "could easily be female". [[spoiler: Both killers turn out to be male, although all subsequent films (barring the third) have a female killer]].
316	* YouLookLikeYouveSeenAGhost: [[spoiler:Billy]] says this to Sidney right after the reveal to taunt her -- speaking into the Ghostface voice changer, no less.

Context Film / Scream1996