Scream is a film whose outward cynicism masks a great sincerity and love for the legacy and power of horror (particularly the slasher), yet it acknowledges its need to bend out of rigid formulas and start being scary again.

And Scream is scary. Anyone who has seen the opening can attest to that. It's legacy is far more than an artifact of the 1990s. Scream has stood the test of time more than its contemporaries because it's scary as fuck - while having a sly sense of humor and and great characters that keep the energy up during the non-stabbing scenes. It can't be overstated how great Williamson's screenplay is at weaving the horror/comedy elements of the plot with the emotional complexity of our queen Sidney Prescott.

Scream is not as full of primal fear or as thematically pure as Halloween (my all-time favorite slasher), but how could it be? We demanded more, and Wes delivered.