Scream (1996) Critic Reviews

A deft, funny, shrewdly unsettling tribute to such slasher-exploitation thrillers as "Terror Train," "New Year's Evil," and Craven's own "A Nightmare on Elm Street."Read the full review

Finely crafted, tense, scary thriller from start to finish.Read the full review

It's sensational in both senses of the word: a bravura, provocative sendup of horror pictures that's also scary and gruesome yet too swift-moving to lapse into morbidity.Read the full review

Deftly mixes irony, self-reference and wry social commentary with chills and blood spills.Read the full review

What did I think about this movie? As a film critic, I liked it. I liked the in-jokes and the self-aware characters. At the same time, I was aware of the incredible level of gore in this film. It is really violent.Read the full review

Scream is a rarity: a horror movie spoof that succeeds almost as well at provoking scares as laughs.Read the full review

While Scream has its frights, it feels more like one of those solve-the-mystery jigsaw puzzles than a real movie.Read the full review

Wicked fun with flickers of intelligence.Read the full review

Though the material is more intelligent than the norm and has an unusual third-act twist, it also employs some very clunky stereotypes.Read the full review