History YMMV / Scream1996

* FollowTheLeader: Kicked off the whole sub-genre of self-referential, postmodern teen horror movies during the late 90s. Examples include Film/TheFaculty, Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer, and Film/UrbanLegend among others. It also, interestingly, started a new form of marketing in which the movie posters featured a handful of the young stars all standing front and center in front of a dark background and giving a KubrickStare to the viewers.

*** Even more amusingly [[spoiler: Cartoon Network once did a Scooby Doo promo parodying Scream. Guess whose role Shaggy has a turn at.]]

** In the opening scene, Casey finds her boyfriend Steve tied up on her lawn, and the voice on the telephone says that in order to free him, [[Franchise/{{Saw}} she has to play a game with him.]] It ends with Steve gtting gutted like a fish, due to Casey's failure of answering one of the caller's questions.
** Both Neve Campbell and Creator/RoseMcGowan, who play best friends in this, have played witches before. Campbell had just done ''Film/TheCraft'' (also with Skeet Ulrich), and [=McGowan=] would later do ''{{Series/Charmed}}''. Even more hilarious with Sarah Michelle Gellar in the second film.

** The opening scene was shocking and up there with Janet Leigh's infamous death in ''{{Film/Psycho}}''. Drew Barrymore was a recognisable star and most viewers expected that she would be the main character. It was shocking that she'd be killed off in the first ten minutes. It's now become a staple of the franchise to have a DeadStarWalking in the opening, making the original lose a lot of its shock factor.
* Tearjerker: The fact the all of the victims have parents. [[spoiler: Even the killers.]] And they are never going to see them alive.

** Randy as well for being the PluckyComicRelief and DangerouslyGenreSavvy.

* ItWasHisSled: Casey's death was originally meant to be a surprise twist.

** Stu's VillianousBreakdown when he worries about his parents finding out what he did.

* FridgeBrilliance: In-universe, the Ghostface costume is called Father Death, alluding to the Grim Reaper. But the mask doesn't look like a skull, it's, [[ CaptainObvious well, a ghost]]... UNTIL, you look at the "nose" of the mask which resembles the nose hole of a human skull.

** [[Series/HappyDays Henry Winkler]] has a wonderful but brief performance in an uncredited role as the principal in the first film.

* TheUntwist: In the first film, [[spoiler:Billy is the main suspect, acts obviously deranged, and has lots of evidence stacked against him, leading you to believe he's just a RedHerring]]. Even if you're able to figure out he's Ghostface, the true twist is that [[spoiler:there are ''two'' Ghostfaces]].

* FollowTheLeader: Kicked off the whole sub-genre of self-referential, postmodern teen horror movies during the late 90s. Examples include TheFaculty, IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer, and Film/UrbanLegend among others. It also, interestingly, started a new form of marketing in which the movie posters featured a handful of the young stars all standing front and center in front of a dark background and giving a KubrickStare to the viewers.

** [[spoiler: Billy Loomis]] states that the PowersThatBe never decided why Hannibal Lecter [[ImAHumanitarian likes to eat people]] as an example of how motives don't make things better. Cue ''[[Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Rising]]'', which serves as Lecter's origin story, and was poorly received to the point of being a FranchiseKiller.

** [[spoiler:Matthew Lillard plays a creep in a mask. Six years later he would play [[Film/ScoobyDoo Shaggy]]. Lillard also played a killer accomplice]] on ''[[LawandOrderSVU Law & Order: SVU]]''. Although [[spoiler: he lived]] in the episode, [[spoiler: he unfortunately did not have parents to be mad at him]], but rather [[Series/TheCarolBurnettShow somebody]] [[WifeHusbandry far more disturbing...]]

** 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.]]

** [[spoiler:Lillard]] is also one of the targets of a SerialKiller in the first season of the show [[Series/TheBridgeUS The Bridge]].

** In the opening scene, Casey finds her boyfriend Steve tied up on her lawn, and the voice on the telephone says that in order to free him, [[Film/{{Saw}} she has to play a game with him.]] It ends with Steve gtting gutted like a fish, due to Casey's failure of answering one of the caller's questions.

** [[spoiler: Billy Loomis]] states that the PowersThatBe never decided why Hannibal Lecter [[ImAHumanitarian likes to eat people]]. Cue ''[[Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Rising]]'', which serves as Lecter's origin story.

* AdultFear: Hearing your daughter's weakening cries for "Mom" through the phone as she is dragged to her death is horrifying for any parent. Having it punctuated with seeing her hanging body puts things firmly within this trope.

** 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 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.]]

** Drew Barrymore only gets fifteen minutes of [[{{Pun}} scream time]], but it's easily the most famous scene in the first movie and provided a CareerResurrection as a possible star actress after her long battle with alcoholism.

** Drew Barrymore only gets fifteen minutes of [[{{Pun}} scream time]], but it's easily the most famous scene in the first movie.