31 horror films you need to watch this October

Scream

The Plot

After a late night phone call turns to a game of life or death horror-trivia, Casey Becker and her boyfriend are violently murdered—and their deaths are only the beginning. A masked killer known as “Ghostface” is stalking the teenagers of Woodsboro California, and Sidney Prescott is next on the list. She proceeds to contend with more terrifying phone calls and attempts on her life, all the while trying to discover the true identity and motive of the killer. For every laugh this horror-satire earns, it pours out another gallon of fake blood.

The Breakdown

Though it might not seem especially groundbreaking now, at the time Scream was a big deal; it was one of the first meta-horror movies, where the characters in the movie itself were aware of the common tropes in horror movies of a similar genre. Scream delights in slasher tropes even as it satirizes them; it’s violent and frightening, self-aware without becoming obnoxious. And it’s very 90’s, which could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your attitude towards denim.

Sidney is a tough cookie, a likable protagonist who is just as dubious of everything that’s happening as jaded horror audiences were 20 years ago. Scream comments on and subverts the overwhelming horror-narratives available for women at the time, which gloated over their subjects’ terror and helplessness and demanded that, in order to survive, a female character needed to be pure, good, and most of all virginal. Scream isn’t exactly a feminist manifesto, but it was an important step for female characters in horror, and should definitely be acknowledged as such.

The Scare Factor

Though a competent slasher and a great movie, Scream is more enjoyable as satire than it is likely to scare you on its own rights. Don’t worry too much about sleeping with the lights out.