Jay’s review published on Letterboxd:
A great rewatch! Even though I have not rewatched Scream in a while, it still remains to be impressive in regards to how it plays with the tropes of the slasher genre to create tension. Something I noticed on this watch is how some of the visuals and shot compositions remind me of a lot of the slasher movies where the killer is watching their target in the background without being noticed. Instead of having the killer actually in the background, there is nothing there. Playing with our expectations for what we would expect. Those scenes function as a way to indicate how characters are over cautions in this world due to their knowledge of this type of story. They are overly cautious to the point of making silly decisions as the characters would in typical slasher movies. Even the score is a great nod at making fun of how the score is usually incorporated in these types of movies.
Even though you obviously know who is behind the mask, it is creepy yet interesting to see how the killer manipulates the characters into a false sense of security. A false sense of security that audiences have developed due to an oversaturation of a genre that has the potential to challenge the viewer, but most of the time does not. It is a great way of using these characters to present the audience's sick twisted relationship with a genre that some do not seem to learn from, despite what they say.
