History YMMV / Scream1996

** [[spoiler: Tatum's death]], in which she attempts to crawl through a pet flap in the garage door. Arguably the second most famous scene from the original film, this scene became iconic through Ghostface’s creative method of murder.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: [[spoiler:Tatum]] for some. While they have a decent number of scenes and their death scene is a well-liked and memorable one, there are those who really feel the character deserved to make it to the climax, or even the sequels, and could have been used to subvert the cliche of the [[spoiler:the hero's/heroine's best friend getting killed]] present in so many horror movies.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Billy owning a cellphone is used as incriminating evidence against him by Sid and the police since the killer obviously had one to make those pre-killing calls. Nowadays, this would be nothing short of unreasonable to conclude since the vast majority of people own personal phones. In the mid-90's, they were indeed growingly popular (something pointed out by Billy even), but definitely not as accessible as they would get until the tail-end of the century.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny:
** ''Scream'' was one of the first mainstream movies to act as a GenreDeconstruction. It satirized the cliched nature of the slasher genre and the GenreSavvy characters were new and innovative at the time. Any horror films made afterwards have thrown some LampshadeHanging or other forms of postmodernism in there. After a decade of slasher films with GenreSavvy characters, ''Scream'' doesn't seem quite as fresh anymore.
** As noted by Creator/RogerEbert, ''Scream'' was one of the first films where the characters weren't just GenreSavvy, but savvy via actual existing movies, actors and the tropes they built rather than generalizations.
--->'''Ebert''': Wes Craven's 'Scream' violates one of the oldest rules in movie history: It's about characters who go to the movies. They've even heard of movie stars. They refer by name to Tom Cruise, Richard Gere, Jamie Lee Curtis. They analyze motivations (“Did Norman Bates have a motive? Did Hannibal Lecter have a reason for wanting to eat people?”). True, they went to the movies in ''Film/TheLastPictureShow'' and the heroes of ''Film/{{Clerks}}'' worked in a video store. Even ''Film/BonnieAndClyde'' went to the movies. But those movies were about the ''act'' of going to the movies. 'Scream' is about ''knowledge'' of the movies.
** The opening scene was shocking and up there with Creator/JanetLeigh's infamous death in ''Film/{{Psycho}}''. Creator/DrewBarrymore was a recognizable 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.
** To a lesser extent, the mask of the killer. The design predates the movie, and back in the day, it was a common generic Halloween mask, of the sort that you might pick up from a Halloween store, adding to the idea that the killer was just a regular guy imitating slasher villains. Obviously, since then, everyone just thinks of it as the ''Scream'' mask.
** Before ''Scream'', nearly every horror movie tried to hook their premise on a recognizable supernatural figure, trying to find the next Jason or Freddy, leading to characters like Chucky, Candyman, and the Leprechaun. ''Scream'' broke a mold by making the characters kids in a costume, and successive killers equally just normal people donning the mask and AbsurdlySharpBlade. In time, this has turned Ghostface into a rarity where it's an iconic ''costume'' rather than an iconic ''killer'', but several films in its wake have since pulled from its "person in a mask" premise.

** Not only that, but Tori Spelling had portrayed a character named Stacy Lockwood, who ended up being stabbed to death, in the 1994 Lifetime movie Film/AFriendToDieFor which was based on the real life Murder of Kirsten Costas, and Stacy Lockwood was based on Kirsten.

** [[spoiler:[[PsychopathicManchild Stuart "Stu" Macher]] is one of [[PredecessorVillain the original Ghostfaces]] with his partner [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas William "Billy" Loomis]]. A [[AxCrazy horror-loving psychopath]] who leaped at the chance to become a real killer, Stu assisted Billy in abducting, torturing, and brutally murdering Maureen Prescott, [[FrameUp framing]] her lover Cotton Weary for the crime. A year on, Stu murders Casey Becker and her boyfriend Steve out of spite for Casey leaving him, leaving her corpse for her parents to find, and then gleefully participates in the Ghostface murder spree with Billy that even sees his own girlfriend Tatum killed. Stu plans to massacre most of the attendees of a party so he and Billy can murder [[Characters/ScreamSidneyPrescott Sidney Prescott]], frame her father for it, and pass themselves off as innocent victims free to continue planning their "sequel", with Stu more than happy to stab Billy for their plan, culminating in him attempting to throttle Sidney as he claims he "always had a thing" for her.]]

** In Kevin Williamson's [[https://imsdb.com/scripts/Scream.html original script]]: [[spoiler:[[MadArtist Stu Maker]] is a horror-loving fanatic who decides to become a real-life slasher villain with his partner Billy. Raping, torturing, and murdering Maureen Prescott with Billy and [[FrameUp framing]] an innocent man for it one year ago, Stu kicks off the Bayboro murders by heinously attacking his ex-girlfriend Casey with tormenting phone calls and [[ForcedToWatch forcing her to watch]] her new boyfriend Steve be disemboweled. Stu then gutted Casey herself and strung her body up for her parents to find. Working with Billy to rack up more bodies, ranging from their school principal, to Stu's own girlfriend Tatum and her brother [[Characters/ScreamDeweyRiley Dewey]], Stu relishes exposing the truth of the duo's crimes to Maureen's daughter, and reveals their intent to murder her and her father both so they can pin the mass murder on Sidney's dad. Stu then tries to murder Gale and Sidney's LoveInterest Randy, a smile on his face the whole time.]]

* EvilIsSexy:
** The killer has a deep soothing voice on the phone.
** [[spoiler:Creator/SkeetUlrich as Billy Loomis. He is supposed to lose his charm when [[VillainousBreakdown dropping the mask]], but many find him even more [[MisaimedFandom attractive as a psychopath]].]]

*** In ''Film/FiveNightsAtFreddys'', not only does [[spoiler: Lillard's character once again turn out to be the killer]], but there's even an ActorAllusion where [[spoiler: he wipes off his knife in the same manner.]]

* HesJustHiding: With the release of the ''Film/Scream2022'' trailer, a lot of fans have embraced the original idea for ''Scream 3''[[note]]where Stu was masterminding a series of high school murders from prison[[/note]] and are claiming [[spoiler:Stu]] survived his death by electrocution and will be the hidden BigBad of the film. It helps that, unlike [[spoiler:Billy]] (who received a gunshot in the head), there's a slight chance [[spoiler:Stu's]] death might have been non-fatal, as well as him never officially being mentioned in later movies as deceased. [[spoiler:Traction for Stu to return got even stronger after the release of the movie, which referenced Stu and featured Creator/SkeetUlrich as Billy in a fairly prominent role as a posthumous hallucination. It helps that Matthew Lillard is an enthusiastic supporter of the theory.]]

*** In Film/FiveNightsAtFreddys, not only does [[spoiler: Lillard's character once again turn out to be the killer]], but there's even an ActorAllusion where [[spoiler: he wipes off his knife with the same technique.]]

** Casey's death, in which name actress Drew Barrymore is shockingly killed off just as she thinks she's made it to safety. Any parodies or references to the film will inevitably be based on this scene alone. Barrymore had been listed as one of the leading actors, which led to many believing that Casey would be the film’s FinalGirl. Needless to say, her DecoyProtagonist role in the movie was a major shock.

** Casey's death, in which name actress Drew Barrymore is shockingly killed off just as she thinks she's made it to safety. Any parodies or references to the film will inevitably be based on this scene alone.
** [[spoiler: Tatum's death]], in which she attempts to crawl through a pet flap in the garage door.
** Randy listing the rules necessary for slasher movies.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Billy and Stu both crossed it before the events of the film when they murdered Maureen together and framed it on Cotton Weary. Had things gone differently, an innocent man would've been executed for their crime.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Billy and Stu both crossed it before the events of the film when they murdered Maureen together and framed it on Cotton Weary, nearly getting him executed.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Billy and Stu both crossed it before the events of the film when they murdered Maureen together and framed it on Cotton Weary.]]

** Mixed with {{Defictionalization}}, Dewey says the reason the police aren't able to track down who bought the Ghostface costume is because it's "sold in every five-and-dime in the state." Today, Ghostface has become the best-selling Halloween costume of all time.

** When [[spoiler: Billy]] is about to [[spoiler: shoot Gale and Dewey]], he randomly cracks his neck before doing so. Was this added to make him that bit more intimidating ''or'' was it possibly [[CharacterTics a tic of his]] that he had kept hidden up until then? If so could it have implied that he had some sort of mental disorder like schizophrenia or maybe even Tourette's?

** Given the amount of time [[spoiler:Stu]] kept Neil Prescott captive in [[spoiler: his]] house, it can be presumed that [[spoiler: his]] [[ParentalNeglect parents regularly spend weeks away leaving their teenage [[spoiler: son]] all alone at home and during a time when ''a serial killer is known to be on the loose''! While this doesn’t justify [[spoiler: his]] actions, it does beg the question: if [[spoiler: Stu's]] parents had been a bit more attentive would they have noticed the [[PsychopathicManchild problems]] their child had and gotten [[spoiler: him]] the help [[spoiler: he]] desperately needed? If so would it have made a difference?

** Given the amount of time [[spoiler:Stu]] kept Neil Prescott captive in [[spoiler: his]] house, it can be presumed that [[spoiler: his]] [[ParentalNeglect parents regularly spend weeks away leaving their teenage [[spoiler: son]] all alone]] at home and during a time when ''a serial killer is known to be on the loose''! While this doesn’t justify [[spoiler: his]] actions, it does beg the question: if [[spoiler: Stu's]] parents had been a bit more attentive would they have noticed the [[PsychopathicManchild problems]] their child had and gotten [[spoiler: him]] the help [[spoiler: he]] desperately needed? If so would it have made a difference?

** Given the amount of time [[spoiler: Stu]] kept Neil Prescott captive in [[spoiler: his]] house, it can be presumed that [[spoiler: his]] [[ParentalNeglect parents regularly spend weeks away leaving their teenage [[spoiler: son]] all alone]] at home and during a time when ''a serial killer is known to be on the loose''! While this doesn’t justify [[spoiler: his]] actions, it does beg the question: if [[spoiler: Stu's]] parents had been a bit more attentive would they have noticed the [[PsychopathicManchild problems]] their child had and gotten [[spoiler: him]] the help [[spoiler: he]] desperately needed? If so would it have made a difference?

** In Kevin Williamson's [[https://imsdb.com/scripts/Scream.html original script]]: [[spoiler:[[MadArtist Stu Macher]] is a horror-loving fanatic who decides to become a real-life slasher villain with his partner Billy. Raping, torturing, and murdering Maureen Prescott with Billy and [[FrameUp framing]] an innocent man for it one year ago, Stu kicks off the Bayboro murders by heinously attacking his ex-girlfriend Casey with tormenting phone calls and [[ForcedToWatch forcing her to watch]] her new boyfriend Steve be disemboweled. Stu then gutted Casey herself and strung her body up for her parents to find. Working with Billy to rack up more bodies, ranging from their school principal, to Stu's own girlfriend Tatum and her brother [[Characters/ScreamDeweyRiley Dewey]], Stu relishes exposing the truth of the duo's crimes to Maureen's daughter, and reveals their intent to murder her and her father both so they can pin the mass murder on Sidney's dad. Stu then tries to murder Gale and Sidney's LoveInterest Randy, a smile on his face the whole time.]]

** During the scene where Sidney admits to Billy that she can’t keep lying to herself about who her mother was, Billy looks oddly put out. Was he just [[BitchInSheepsClothing pretending to be sympathetic to Sidney's feelings]] or did he begin to realise that he and Sidney had more in common than he had previously thought i.e. a BrokenPedastal regarding their mothers and if so [[spoiler: did he have a HeelRealization about his murderous intentions that he ultimately chose to ignore?]]

** In Kevin Williamson's [[https://imsdb.com/scripts/Scream.html original script]]: [[spoiler:[[MadArtist Stu Maker]] is a horror-loving fanatic who decides to become a real-life slasher villain with his partner Billy. Raping, torturing, and murdering Maureen Prescott with Billy and [[FrameUp framing]] an innocent man for it one year ago, Stu kicks off the Bayboro murders by heinously attacking his ex-girlfriend Casey with tormenting phone calls and [[ForcedToWatch forcing her to watch]] her new boyfriend Steve be disemboweled. Stu then gutted Casey herself and strung her body up for her parents to find. Working with Billy to rack up more bodies, ranging from their school principal, to Stu's own girlfriend Tatum and her brother [[Characters/ScreamDeweyRiley Dewey]], Stu relishes exposing the truth of the duo's crimes to Maureen's daughter, and reveals their intent to murder her and her father both so they can pin the mass murder on Sidney's dad. Stu then tries to murder Gale and Sidney's LoveInterest Randy, a smile on his face the whole time.]]

* ToughActToFollow: Much like {{WesternAnimation/Up}}, while the movie is considered a masterpiece, the opening is considered so exemplary that the rest of the movie doesn't reach that same peak despite its best efforts.

** Early on, Stu dismisses the idea of the killer being a girl. [[spoiler:With the exception of ''Film/Scream3'', every film that followed in the series would have one female killer as part of the Ghostface team, as would [[Series/ScreamTVSeries the TV series]] and its reboot ''[[Series/ScreamResurrection Resurrection]]''.]] For bonus points, [[spoiler:the female killers in the second and fifth movies are the ones who kill Randy and Dewey, respectively, succeeding where Billy and Stu failed]].