Ninth viewing tonight; see my eighth viewing comments for a spoiler-free review.

Each time I rewatch Scream, I become more and more convinced that Billy and Stu are the characters that make this work. The interplay between them is amazing and subsequent viewings of the video store encounter and the "thanks, buddy" part earlier on provide the subtlest but most interesting clues to them being Ghostface, constantly accusing other persons and making excuses for each other. Also, the way Stu leans on Randy's shoulders while Billy glares at Randy in the video store! You really get the sense on multiple viewings that these are two deranged individuals enjoying playing with their prey.

The other great thing about Billy and Stu (as well as Ghostface in two of the other sequels) is that it is fun on rewatches to try to work out which one of them is responsible for which kill and which scare. Some are more obvious; others less so - and it is always something that keeps me thinking throughout as I rewatch scenes that I have seen over half a dozen times.

On a final note, I think what makes this such a great film for me is how it is funny and scary in almost equal measures. The Drew Barrymore sequence is still one of the most frightening things I have ever seen, even with the whole sequence mocked in the sequel. On the other hand, the film always has me laughing at several points - not just from the witty dialogue but the small things like Dewey's eating of an ice-cream cone cut against the tough chief smoking a cigarette.