A killer known as Ghostface begins killing off teenagers, and as the body count begins rising, one girl and her friends find themselves contemplating the 'rules' of horror films as they find themselves living in a real-life one.
The pic's chills are top-notch, but its underlying mockish tone won't please die-hard fans.
– Leonard Klady,
Variety,
21 Sep 2007
rotten:
Scream may be a cut above the gore fests that line the dimly lit back wall at your video store, but it is a far cry from genre classics like Halloween or Craven's own Nightmare On Elm Street.
– John Petrakis,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Oct 2013
fresh:
Scream builds to a splattering finale that should leave genre fans highly satisfied. Here's one of the year's better thrillers.
– Dave Kehr,
New York Daily News,
6 Oct 2013
rotten:
The picture is so full of cross-references, self-mockery and movies within movies (including a stalking that's recorded on video) that it can't help turning into a precious two-hour in-joke.
– John Hartl,
Seattle Times,
6 Oct 2013
rotten:
By the time Scream arrives at its final twist, Craven has done too many contortions of his own to give the finale much shock value.