Day 31: A Movie That Redefined A Genre

SCREAM (1996)

At the time of this film's initial release, I wasn't a huge horror fan. I still am not a huge horror fan, but I do appreciate the genre and when it gets redefined. Before this film came out, no one analyzed horror and slasher flicks. No one picked them apart to find the strange nuances like: the virgin never dies, etc. Before Scream, we didn't categorize these films with "rules." And they didn't seem to make scary movies funny... until here (American Werewolf in London excluded).

The dialog was great, filled with witty banter between "friends" along with a great premise that could have happened to your next door neighbor. Unfortunately, like most franchises, the sequels began to show signs of deterioration in the writing, as they became more implausible (along with the extremely bad idea of killing off one the best characters). Scream greatly represents the redefined horror genre and it still lives up to its name almost 15 years later.

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