I Scream, You Scream

Scream is a widely recognized and successful film that spurred on many sequels. What is it about horror movies that has us screaming at the character not to open the door or not to go down that corridor? The viewers know from past movies that certain things lead to an unfortunate demise in horror films. It happens time and time again. As said by character Randy Meeks, “there is a formula for horror movies”. Most horror movies are designed in a way that is almost unthinkingly displayed on screen. From what I’ve seen through my fingers, Scream falls into many of the classic horror movie tropes.

The protagonist is a girl named Sidney, who falls into “The Final Girl” trope. Like many of the other Final Girls, Sidney is reluctant to have sexual encounters. Early in the film, her boyfriend Billy sneaks into her room through the window, and they kiss on her bed. She ends up stopping him before things get too heated, expressing her wishes to keep it PG-13 for now. Final Girls are typically tomboyish and not entirely feminine. Sidney’s name, like many other Final Girls, is unisex, therefore giving her that not entire feminine quality. She also dresses very tomboyish, on many occasions wearing t-shirts and sneakers, while her friend Tatum wears skirts and crop tops. At the end of the movie, Sidney, no longer the damsel in distress, bolsters her strength and ends up killing her attackers, boyfriend Billy and his friend Stu. Once she escapes their grasp, she turns into the role of attacker when she calls them to harass them like they did to their victims. She even assaults Billy with a phallic object, the pointed end of a long umbrella. She transforms from screaming, helpless victim to her own savior.

Scream’s death scenes are way more brutal and torturous for the female characters compared with the male characters. The first death on screen is Casey’s boyfriend Steve. He is captured by Ghostface, and ultimately gutted when Casey fails to answer a question about a horror movie correctly. His death happened in the blink of an eye and is merely added torture for a female character. Another death in the movie is Principle Himbry. Ghostface plays a game with him, knocking on his door and then leaving. He ends up jumping out behind the door and stabbing the principle to death in relatively short scene that takes up little screen time. Female deaths, however, are much more drawn out and brutal. The first female death scene was Casey, following right after her boyfriend, whose death was used to torture her. This heart-racing scene was a sick game that Ghostface was playing with Casey which led to her death. Casey struggles for her life for over 10 minutes of screen time and is repeatedly brutalized leading to her being stabbed multiple times. Later in the movie, Sidney’s best friend, Tatum is murdered in a grotesque way. After a struggle with her attacker, she tries to escape through the pet door in the garage, and gets stuck. The killer then turns on the garage door, which ends up crushing her head. As in most horror films, female characters get a lot of screen time when it comes to their deaths.

Director Wes Craven develops his killers in a way that plays into classic examples, but also has some differences. There are actually two killers in this film: Billy, Sidney’s boyfriend, and Stu, his best friend. Both boys appear to be normal on the outside, but when they put on the mask, they are sadistic murderers. This isn’t usually the case in other horror films which typically have one person who plays no role other than the murderer. The mask is an important symbol of a killer. In this case, it is used as the disguise or alternate identity of the killers. The mask is also made to signify that the killer is barely human, equating murder as a sick act. In the last scenes with Billy and Stu, the viewer can see something isn’t right mentally. Billy’s motive for stalking Sidney specifically has do with his mother abandoning him while Stu is just tagging along for the “fun”. Sidney’s mother was having an affair with Billy’s father which caused his mother to leave them. This is a common theme in many horror movies when the killer has an absent mother. The slight modifications outside the other killer examples make them much more interesting to watch.

If all horror movies follow the same formula, what makes them so appealing to watch over and over again? Why are there constantly remakes and sequels from stuff we think we have seen before? Horror movies give viewers a sensory overload experience that you just don’t get most of the time from many other genres. It’s also very satisfying watching the Final Girl take control of the situation and survive long enough to save herself or be rescued. While there is a method to making these horror films, it still gets our hearts pounding when we see a girl heading towards a closed door or when someone leans over to look under the bed. It may be a formula of sorts, but it is one that the viewer definitely succumbs to every time.