In Sidney Prescott’s room, next to her desk, there is a poster for Swamp Ophelia,
an album by The Indigo Girls, a folk-rock band from the 1980s. As you can see on the poster,
this band is a 2-piece. The latest single from that album
at the time Scream came out was also called “The Power of Two.”
This is symbolic because of the twist in Scream: the fact that there are two killers. The power of
two is the reason that they were able to trick police and clear Billy’s name as a suspect.
With this in mind, we can go back and find many more clues about Scream’s
double trouble antagonists. To learn the connection between Stu Macher’s room and
the video rental store, stick around to the end of this video.
(METAL INTRO) (you should know what goes here by now if you watch my vids)
Everybody knows that Scream is a satire, a horror movie that makes a commentary
about horror movies. But I think a lot of people overlook what a satire actually is.
So let’s take it back to the basic definition.
Satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize something. By
that definition, satire has always been around, long before Scream and long before movies. Even
the slasher genre had already come out with films like Student Bodies or Evil Dead 2.
So let's just drop the charade that Scream is some kind of first of it's kind movie.
What one of the things that makes Scream loved by many is its ability to satirize
without turning to comedy, which led to it being a legitimate force in the
genre that it was aiming to expose. In fact, Scream was so successful,
and so many tried to imitate it, that it’s acute self-awareness became the norm for a while.
Audiences had seen this happen in television a few years earlier with The Simpsons, the
family sitcom which attacked the positive family values of other sitcoms on the air at the time.
– [Lisa] Wow, it must be expensive
to produce all these cartoons. – [Producer] Well, we cut corners. Sometimes
to save money, our animators will reuse the same backgrounds over and over and over again.
– As a result, everybody wanted to make a show with that cutting edge social commentary like
The Simpsons. But the Simpsons was a comedy; a comedy that made fun of the TV families of 80s,
then surpassed them and became the TV family of the 90s. Scream was able to follow this blueprint,
but for horror movies. You can make the argument that Scream is funny, but it’s a different kind
of funny; it’s pretty clear the intention is not to have you – as they put it in the 90s – ROFL.
That isn’t to say screenwriter Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven
don’t understand the formula of setup and punchline. They actually transform
that concept and use it for some of the scares in the movie instead of laughs.
For example, there are a number of scenes that end with a big push-in to a spot in the background,
where Ghostface can then be seen lurking. We see this outside of Sid’s house, and at the grocery
store, so we start to associate that particular camera movement with the appearance of our
antagonist. When Tatum is getting beers from the garage, we see the camera brush past her and focus
on the doorframe. It starts to elevate our heart rates, but then, nothing happens. That’s such a
clever way to build suspense. Then we see the door close, but it’s just the cat, so we’re no longer
on edge, making it all the more effective when Ghostface does appear in front of the closed door.
There are other techniques like this used to throw off the audience,
and of course some clever easter eggs from Wes Craven, so let’s get into the Things You Missed.
(oooooohh SPOOKY MUSIC omg)
Even the title, Scream, feels like it’s poking fun at some
of the so-simple-it-could-be-about-anything titles of Alfred Hitchcock’s horror movies,
like Blackmail! Murder! Sabotage! Rope! And of course, Psycho! The beginning of Scream pulls
out a trick that was used in Psycho. Psycho came out in 1960 and it’s biggest star was it’s female
lead Janet Leigh, who played Marion Crane. She is prominently featured on the poster,
so audiences were totally shocked when they killed her off very early on in the movie.
Scream’s biggest star is Drew Barrymore, who is similarly the face of the marketing campaign,
so many people were shocked to see her brutally disemboweled in the opening scene.
There’s kind of a lineage that exists connecting the most prominent slasher
movie of each generation. When I covered Halloween here on Things You Missed, I spent a lot of time
talking about how it was inspired by Psycho. Now the torch is being passed down again to Scream.
We can see this in the name: Loomis. Psycho had Samuel Loomis, Halloween had Dr. Sam Loomis, and
Scream had Billy Loomis, who, after revealing he is one of the killers, drops a quote from Psycho.
– We all go a little mad sometimes.
– Billy is also most likely the one on the phone who asks Casey to guess his favorite movie.
– [Casey] A Nightmare on Elm Street! – [Caller] I like that movie, it was scary.
– [Casey] Well the first one was, but the rest sucked.
I was about to get up here and say that this was a joke by director Wes Craven, who also
directed the first Nightmare on Elm Street, but not the five sequels that would follow.
But apparently it was in the script before it was ever decided that Craven would be the director.
– [Craven] I kinda wanted to take that out, I did not write that line.
– That answers my other question about that line. Wes returned to the franchise to direct Wes
Craven’s New Nightmare, in case you didn’t know who the director of Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
was… it was Wes Craven, which was the most recent Freddy Krueger movie at the time Scream was made.
It just seemed strange that he would diss himself like that. Apparently the
line later on, where Tatum mixes him up with Halloween director John Carpenter…
– Don't go there, Sid. You’re starting to sound like some Wes Carpenter flick or something.
– [Zac] …was also in the script before Craven’s involvement, but it kind of works better now,
seeing as how Scream uses Halloween as a template for the horror movie tropes that it satirizes.
After a few aggressive anonymous calls, Casey immediately picks up the phone and yells…
– Listen ***hole!
– What if that had been someone else calling just then? That would have been very rude Casey!
After breaking into the house, we see Ghostface looking around for her. My question is:
why doesn’t he just try calling the phone again and going towards the sound of the ringtone?
It seems logical that she would keep the phone on her to try to get help,
so she might have forgotten to silence it.
After Ghostface catches up with her,
there are a couple of easter eggs that play out on the Beckers’ side lawn.
(cinematic impact)
(industrial music) (HOT BEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
As I mentioned, Halloween is the main template that Scream uses
for it’s satire. It’s the movie that Casey is planning to watch in the opening,
and it’s the movie that crushes Stu’s head in the finale. There’s another Halloween
connection after Casey manages to get outside and sees her parents going back to the house.
Despite the title of this movie, she is unable to find her scream and get her parents attention.
– (barely audible) Mom…
– In Halloween II, we see this same phenomenon take
place as Laurie Strode tries to yell for help outside of Haddonfield Hospital.
– (barely audible) Help… help...
– Then there’s yet another Halloween reference just moments later.
– Get in the car. Drive down to the MacKenzies’. Call the police.
– When Laurie and the kids are targeted by Michael Myers, she gives them a similar order.
– I want you to go down the street to the MacKenzies'
house. I want you to tell them to call the police.
– I’m sure there will be a lot of people that already know about that easter egg. And honestly,
quite a few of the eggs in this movie are pretty common knowledge because of the nature of Scream;
it’s basically a movie that’s so loaded with references and nods,
that it’s going to attract people who already know about that stuff.
On Things You Missed™, I try to stick to things you might have missed, that’s why it’s called
that, if you didn’t know. However, if I leave out the ones that everyone knows about then
there are gonna be people in the comments complaining that I missed stuff. So let’s
just go through the ones that I think are more obvious real quick and get them out of the way.
Billy climbs through Sidney's window and startles her, just like Glen did to Nancy
in A Nightmare on Elm Street. Sheriff Burke is played by the actor who plays the police
officer in Nightmare on Elm St. Tatum’s number 10 crop top is very similar to a shirt worn by
Glen in A Nightmare on Elm St. Principal Himbry has the following conversation with the janitor.
– [Himbry] Damn little sh*ts – [Janitor] What’d you
call me? – Not you Fred.
– [Zac] That’s director Wes Craven cameoing as Fred, which is short for Freddy,
because he’s dressed up like Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare On Elm Street.
– [Rizzo] Frederick! Freddie!
When Ghostface pins down Sidney, he cocks his head just like Michael Myers,
and the movie makes a point to show that scene during Stu’s party. Sidney refers to the town of Woodsboro
under curfew as The Town That Dreaded Sundown. And Randy, who yells at the TV
to warn Jamie Lee Curtis about the threat behind her, also has a threat behind him.
– [Randy] Jamie, look behind you. Look behind you.
– The actor that plays Randy is also named Jamie,
and he’s being watched in a similar manner by Kenny, the news camera guy.
And speaking of people named Jamie, Sidney at one
point escapes from the attic out onto the roof like Jamie from Halloween 4.
I think those are all the more well known easter eggs,
so let's get into the fun stuff: the less obvious ones.
When Billy sneaks into Sid’s room, he tells her he was watching the Exorcist on TV,
with all the good parts cut out, and it made him think of their relationship. From this point,
they continue to reference back to this idea that their relationship is
like a movie. After Sid’s close call with Ghostface, a reporter asks her…
– So how does it feel to be almost brutally butchered?
People want to know, they have a right to know.
– And this is a cameo by Linda Blair, she played Regan in The Exorcist 23 years earlier. If you’re listening
closely during this Sidney and Billy scene, you’ll notice that there is a song playing
in the background. It’s an acoustic cover of Don’t Fear The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult.
A song that I like, but I am starting to get a little tired of hearing in movies and TV. But
I’ll save that rant for a future video, because here, there might be a good reason for it:
it’s the same song that Laurie Strode and Annie Brackett listen to in the car in Halloween. And
as I’ve said many times already, Halloween is the template that Scream builds off of.
There could also be a second meaning here, the Ghostface costume is essentially a depiction of
a grim reaper. The name of the costume itself in universe is “Father Death.”
The next day the school is buzzing with rumors and news crews trying to capitalize on the story.
We first see one of our main characters, Gail Weathers, in the background of an establishing
shot. Even though we don’t end up going towards her here, the neon green outfit in a sea of dull
wardrobe colors draws the eye and lets us know she’s important. It’s like in a video game where
it will only let you target characters that you can actually talk to. That’s good filmmaking.
It’s also kind of a preview of how the movie ends, but Gail has a bloody lip and a red dress.
During school that day, each student is called into the office for interrogation. There’s a
chart on the wall that details which teachers are in which classrooms each period. Most of
the teachers’ names are crew reference easter eggs. Almost all of these refer to people in
the art department, who would have been the ones to put these decorations on set.
They include carpenter Art Williams, local lead person Kenny Montante,
additional set decorator Debra Echard, leadman Richard Lambert, set dresser Josh Elliot,
art department production assistant Charlene Bar, art director David Lubin, driver Ben Davis,
and set decorator Michele Poulik, probably a very unfortunate name to have to grow up with.
We actually see Michele put her name into the movie a couple times. In the hallway,
there’s a poster advertising Michelle Palik for President, a deliberate misspelling of her name.
In the bathroom, there’s some graffiti that says “Michele + Bob 4 ever”,
using the same unconventional spelling as the set decorator.
Because of her situation with her mom being killed a year prior,
the media attention is very familiar for Sid.
– [Sidney] You know the police and reporters and everything, it’s like Deja Vu all over again.
– That’s a redundant statement. That would be like saying I went on a side-tangent. Or,
if I commented on Scream’s acute self-awareness.
One of the things Scream does to stay interesting is play with our
expectations. Pay attention to the music sting that happens when Sidney opens the closet door.
(ghostly whisper in music)
Using typical horror movie logic, the audience can expect that this means a scare is about to
happen. It’s the perfect setup for that classic refrigerator door scare, but when she closes it,
nobody is there. This also establishes the idea that the closet should be empty,
making it even better when Ghostface busts out of it 5 minutes later.
– [Ghostface] With the murders and all, it’s like
right out of a horror movie or something.
– We see more of that aforementioned self-awareness
as Sidney mocks horror movies, saying they are all the same.
– …some stupid killer stalking some big breasted girl who can’t act, who’s always
running up the stairs when she should be going out the front door, it’s insulting.
– …only for her to do just that when she can’t figure out how to unlock the front door.
I always love this next part. She calls the police on her PC, connects to someone seconds later,
and the cops are at the door in 46 seconds. Take notes Uber Eats.
So Sidney is saved by the time Tatum shows up in her red VW Beetle. I don’t
know 100% if this is an intentional reference, but since it’s Scream,
I’ll just assume that it is. This is the car that Jack Torrance drives in
the novel version of The Shining. It appears in Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation as well,
as the car that’s been crushed by an overturned truck, Kubrick’s way of saying, screw you King,
I’m not gonna follow the book. Of course, there is a more obvious Stephen King reference later on.
– Corn syrup, same stuff they use for pig’s blood in Carrie.
– Tatum also goes with to the police station, where they get some info from Sidney. Her brother Dewey
tries to get her to respect him while he’s in uniform in front of his superior officer.
– [Dewey] He’s my superior. – [Tatum] The janitor’s your superior.
– Which is true… on the film set, since Wes Craven, the director,
plays the janitor. Technically he’s David Arquette’s boss.
Billy’s name is cleared when Stu calls Sidney again
using the Ghostface voice while Billy is still in custody. Sheriff Burke is no L.
I don’t even know if he’s on the level of Randy, to be honest.
– He’s got killer printed all over his forehead.
– Which is exactly where Sidney shoots him at the end of the movie.
Randy is portrayed as the biggest buff in the story. He works at the video store,
and knows all the rules about horror movies. We see these rules referenced time and time
again by the killer on the phone, and that leads us to see Randy as a prime suspect.
– I’m the first to admit it. If this were a scary movie, I’d be the prime suspect.
– However, there may be someone who is an equally big movie buff,
and that is Stu Macher. In fact, there are a couple clues that link him to the
video store just as much as Randy. The store has these two posters on display. The one
on the left is a poster for the 1993 film Mother’s Boys, starring Jamie Lee Curtis.
Stu is a big fan of Jamie Lee. All the videos he rents for his party have her in them.
– Terror train. Prom night. How come Jamie Lee Curtis
is in all of these movies? – She’s the Scream Queen.
– [Stu] And with a set of lungs like that, she should be.
– On the right is a poster for the band Greenjelly. This same poster can be seen when Sidney runs into
Stu’s room to escape Ghostface, so I think it just serves as a link to show us that Stu
probably spends more time than we’d expect at the video store.
The scene of everyone closing up shop in town is just ruined for me.
Twenty-twenty has ruined a lot of movies. I just imagine in real life,
there would be retards protesting on the streets; defying the curfew and saying things like: "there is no killer, it’s all a hoax."
At this point in the movie, there are a few innuendos as well. Tatum tells Sidney that
her intimacy issues will thaw out with time as she removes a case of popsicles
from the freezer. This basically tells us that Sidney's getting ready to lose her virginity.
Then there’s this… meme-worthy moment. Our eyes are drawn to a certain part of the frame, which
of course is Tatum’s lungs. Then our eyes are drawn to another part of the frame. This spiral
pattern just kind of draws you in, it’s like a hypnosis. Even though we don’t see her having sex,
we know that Tatum falls victim to rule number one, because her death occurs when she gets stuck
in the pet door in the garage, and she’s unable to get out because her tits and cheeks are too big.
Also the song playing when she enters the garage is "Drop Dead Gorgeous" by
Republica. Scream was doing death omen songs four years before Final Destination came out.
That night, Sidney does end up giving up the v-card to Billy,
and Ghostface breaks in and appears to kill him, but obviously we know it was just corn syrup.
The was Stu cleans up off the knife is interesting to me. The motion almost
kind of resembles taking off a condom, and for Sidney, it comes immediately as a post-sex act.
And Stu later admits that he did have a thing for Sidney,
which she responds to by pushing the TV onto him and saying
– In your dreams.
(Stu SCREAMing; source of movie title)
– It’s kind of a karma moment, because Stu was the one to laugh in Randy’s face when
he asked if he might have a chance with Sidney.
After everything we’ve been through,
it’s only fitting that the action ends with one last meta-horror trope.
– [Randy] This is the moment when the supposedly dead killer comes back to life.
For one last scare. – Augh!
(screams) (gunshot)
– Not in my movie.
– What do you mean not in my movie? It literally just happened.
Before we can end this video, there is one more thing I want to talk about.
(cinematic impact)
(hot AND I MEAN HOT spooky dance music)
The big surprise in Scream, that again, like the camerawork and writing choices
that I brought up in this video, uses our horror-genre expectations against us,
is the fact that there are two killers instead of the usual one that we get in most slasher movies.
The clues were there all along. In the Casey Becker scene, one Ghostface breaks into the
house and runs straight to the front door. We don’t know why at the time, but it was to let his
accomplice inside. You can actually spot that the door is now open when Casey’s parents get home.
At the fountain, Stu explains to Sidney how you gut someone,
Billy makes eye contact with him and says,
– Hey, it’s called tact you f*ckrag.
– We assume that he’s standing up for his girlfriend,
but he might actually be trying to shut Stu up before he says too much and gives them away.
This might be obvious, but Sidney first suspects Billy when she sees the cell phone
fall out of his pocket. If he has a cell phone, why does he need to come sneak through the window to talk to her?
Then there are multiple instances of Billy just acting sus. Like when
Sidney admits that she doesn’t think he’s guilty, he keeps trying to convince her.
– You still think it’s me? – No I don’t, it’s just somebody
was there, Billy. Someone tried to kill me. – I know, I know, the cops said I scared
him away. It wasn’t me Sid. – I know. He called me
again last night at Tatum’s house. – See? Couldn’t have been me, I was in jail.
– And this is obviously him trying too hard to drive
home the point that the second Ghostface call exonerates him.
Stu does a similar thing at the fountain.
– [Stu] No, I didn’t kill anybody. – [Billy] Nobody said you did.
– [Zac] Then at the school, there are a couple of pranksters who run around in Ghostface masks, and
they find themselves sitting in the principal’s office. One is wearing blue flannel with a white
t-shirt underneath, which is what Billy wears to the party, and the other wearing a muted
long sleeve shirt, not the same color, but very similar in style to what Stu has on at the party.
Now I want you to look very closely, right here…
(jumpscare)
Had to get that one last scare in. I’ll be analyzing all four Screams and maybe the
fifth once they release it, if they ever get around to that. Look for my Scream playlist on
the left and remember to subscribe to CZsWorld for new horrors every week, ring the deathbell
for all notifications, and I’ll see you in the next video. Assuming we both survive.
(spooky yet funky-fresh dance music)