“Scream” makes fun of the entire horror genre. It has an abundance of horror movie cliches, most of which seem to have been done on purpose. Many of these cliches, along with the “rules” of surviving a horror movie are deliberately and effectively written in. However, as a result, the characters’ thoughts and behavior stick out as unrealistic. Continuing with my theme of how movies become “unreal,” i.e. lack believability, my biggest issues with “Scream” were the following:
THE BEGINNING
First issue: Casey keeps answering the phone even though she knows it’s the same creep calling.
Why it’s ridiculous: She’s clearly terrified after he says that he “wants to know who he’s looking at.” She’s pretty quick to hang up after that. However, she still answers the next time he calls. I’m pretty sure most people would just turn off the phone at that point. Or use it to call the cops.
Second issue: Casey lies about not having a boyfriend.
Why it’s ridiculous: As it turns out, not only does she have a boyfriend, but he’s also a football player. Convenient right? It seems more likely that she’d be lying the second time when she says she does have a boyfriend.
THE NEXT DAY AT SCHOOL
The issue: These teenagers are way too blasé about their classmates’ murders.
Why it’s ridiculous: Admittedly, I doubt most real teenagers would be very mature about this either. A lot of them would probably act pretty crass, and the movie kept it pretty realistic at first. However, the writers overdid it when the students went so far as to make all sorts of crude jokes about the murders. Sure, some of these characters are rude and immature, but they seem to have a basic understanding of what is and what isn’t socially acceptable behavior. Even the rudest, most tactless teenager would know when he’d gone too far.
THE NEWS REPORT ON THE MURDERS
At first, it seemed like too much of coincidence that the news just happened to be talking about the murders (and Sidney’s mother) when Sidney switched on the TV. However, upon further consideration, I realized that a double homicide would completely dominate the news in a small town like the one portrayed. Here’s what really bugged me.
The issue: Reporter Gale Weathers relates the two recent murders to the murder of Sidney’s mother a year ago.
Why it’s ridiculous: Why on earth would the reporter connect these two seemingly separate murders? Not only did they happen over a year apart, but the M.O.s are completely different. Even if these were the only two murders the town had ever seen, the murder of Sidney’s mother shouldn’t have been brought up.
THE FIRST ATTACK ON SIDNEY
The issue: Sidney locks the door, barricades it using another door, and tries to call the police.
Why it’s ridiculous: First, how would one door hold the other closed, would both of them just get pushed in the same direction? Second, the lock on the door didn’t seem to deter him at all. If he can break through one locked door, would the second really pose a problem? Plus, Sidney wastes time trying to call police when she should be trying to get out of the house. For someone who talks about how dumb the women in horror movies are, Sidney isn’t acting particularly smart.
ACCUSING BILLY OF BEING THE KILLER
The issue: Billy’s being at the house and having a cell phone automatically make him a suspect.
Why it’s ridiculous: Okay, so it turns out Billy actually is the killer, but this is what makes him suspicious? First, how could he get from the door to the window that quickly? He’d have to run outside and all the way around the house. It was probably his friend/accomplice inside the house unless he can secretly teleport. Plus, just having a cell phone doesn’t mean he’s the one that made the call to Sidney’s house, especially if owning a cell phone is common. If this was the only real evidence they had against Billy, the police wouldn’t legally be able to keep him.
THE POLICE’S TIMELY ARRIVAL
The issue: The police show up maybe a minute after Sidney uses her computer to call.
Why it’s ridiculous: No matter how fast they are, the police cannot possibly get somewhere a minute after they are contacted. In addition to that, she never typed anything in response to the question asking about her emergency. She only dialed the number.
THE PRINCIPAL
The issue: The principal waves scissors at a pair of students and calls them “heartless, desensitized, little shits.”
Why it’s ridiculous: A principal would definitely get fired for that.
THE SCENE IN THE VIDEO STORE
The issue: Randy gets really worked up when telling Stu his theories about the murders.
Why it’s ridiculous: It just seems a little too dramatic for an interaction that happens in public. Randy would probably be smart enough to know that such an outburst would draw attention, and would try to at least keep his voice down a little. The fact that the person he was talking about was only a few feet away from him would have also made him more cautious.
THE COP’S REACTION TO UNDERAGE DRINKING
The issue: Dewey only jokes about arresting his sister’s classmates for having alcohol. He doesn’t have any intention of doing anything about it.
Why it’s ridiculous: Maybe he’s trying to be the “cool big brother,” but even if he doesn’t think it’s a big deal, as a police officer, Dewey would still be required to do something about the underage drinking going on at the party.
STU’S SUDDEN CRAZINESS
The issue: Stu is suddenly a lot crazier than he was earlier.
Why it’s ridiculous: Someone with his degree of psychosis wouldn’t be able to fool people into thinking he was sane for so long. It makes sense that Billy, who refers to himself as a psychopath, could probably hide his disorder, since psychopaths seem mostly normal. Most people who encounter one never even realize it. However, psychosis is a completely different disorder and isn’t hidden as easily. Admittedly, there were points in the movie when Stu’s behavior was kind of bizarre, but it seemed more like he was just an obnoxious teenage boy. Also, most psychotics (especially those that haven’t even been diagnosed) don’t realize there is anything wrong with them, when Stu seems fully aware that he’s nuts.
BILLY AND STU TAKING THEIR TIME TO KILL SIDNEY
The issue: Billy and Stu spend all this time explaining their motive and their plan to Sidney.
Why it’s ridiculous: Okay, so they want her to know their motive, but they’d probably be in a little more of a hurry to kill her. After confessing their reasons for the murders, I doubt they would tell Sidney their entire plan. They certainly wouldn’t injure themselves before they killed their last two victims. It seems like the writers did that just to give Sidney time to escape.
THE LINE ABOUT THE SAFETY
The issue: After knocking Gale out, Billy makes a sarcastic comment about how guns work better when the safety isn’t on. Later, when she shoots Billy, she taunts him saying that the safety is off this time.
Why it’s ridiculous: Gale was unconscious when Billy made that comment. She never would have heard it.
STU’S DEATH
First issue: Stu doesn’t behave the way one would expect a dying man to act.
Why it’s ridiculous: Stu seems upset, but not nearly as upset as he would be if he were dying. The fact that he’s insane might cause him to react differently than a typical person would, but he doesn’t seem to be taking his death seriously at all. Instead, he simply whines like a child who feels he’s been treated unfairly. He’s upset, but it doesn’t seem serious at all. The comment about how mad his mom and dad are going to be was particularly stupid.
Second issue: Somehow, Stu manages to attack Sidney one last time while he’s bleeding to death.
Why it’s ridiculous: I also doubt he’d have the strength to tackle Sidney, considering that thirty seconds ago, he said he was too weak to stand.
GALE SHOOTING BILLY
The issue: Gale wakes up and walks back into the room just in time to shoot Billy and stop him from killing Sidney.
Why it’s ridiculous: It’s just too convenient that she’d arrive at exactly the right time to save the day. A lot of movies and TV shows do this, and it’s just so unlikely that everything would time out that way.
It's Unreal! 