Almost a quarter of a century later and Wes Craven’s postmodern twist on the slasher genre is still regarded as a modern horror classic, and the popularity of the Scream franchise shows no signs of slowing down, either, with the announcement that a fifth installment was in the works coming hot on the heels of the small screen spinoff wrapping up its third season last summer.
Scream was a massive success when it first hit theaters in December 1996, going on to earn $173 million at the box office on a budget of just $15 million, making it both the cheapest and highest-grossing movie in the entire series. Not only that, but it played a huge part in revitalizing a genre that many thought was running dangerously low on ideas, and soon after a huge number of thinly-veiled imitations began making the rounds.
The story subverted expectations from the very first scene as Drew Barrymore’s Casey Becker met a grisly demise at the hands of Ghostface, a surprising move that audiences never saw coming based on the actress’ heavy presence in the marketing materials and her standing as the biggest name in the cast.
In a recent interview, though, the Charlie’s Angels star revealed that not only was she happy for Casey to bite the dust before the credits had rolled, but that it was even her idea to start the movie off in such unexpected fashion.
“In the horror film genre, my biggest pet peeve was that I always knew the main character was always going to be slugging through at the end but was going to creak by and make it. What I wanted to do is to take that comfort zone away. I asked if I could be Casey Becker so that we would establish that rule does not apply in this film.”
With Wes Craven having passed away, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are stepping in to make their Scream debuts with the fifth entry, and based on their last effort Ready or Not, they might well be able to put a similarly shocking spin on the slasher movie when it arrives next year.