| Taglines: Don’t Answer The Phone. Don’t Open The Door. Don’t Try To Escape. Someone has taken their love of scary movies one step too far. Solving this mystery is going to be murder. Someone’s Taken Their Love Of Scary Movies One Step Too Far! Make Your Last Breath Count. Now someone is victim and someone is a suspect From The First Name In Suspense Comes The Last Word In Fear Don’t Answer The Door, Don’t Leave The House, Don’t Answer The Phone, But Most Of All, Don’t SCREAM. Now everybody is a victim and everybody is a suspect! Courteney Cox as: Gale Weathers Release Date: 20 December 1996 (USA) Filming Locations: Cast Highlights:
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Trailer
Memorable Quotes
Gale: Jesus, the camera, hurry!
Kenny: My name isn’t Jesus.
Gale: Look, Kenny, I know you’re about fifty pounds overweight, but when I say hurry, please interpret that as MOVE YOUR FAT TUB OF LARD ASS NOW!
Gale: If I’m right about this, I could save a man’s life. Do you know what that would do for my book sales?
[last lines]
Gale: Okay I think it’s going to go something like this, just stay with me. Hi, this is Gale Weathers with an exclusive eyewitness account of this amazing breaking story. Several more local teens are dead, bringing to an end the harrowing mystery of the masked killings that has terrified this peaceful community like the plot of some scary movie. It all began with the scream of a 911, and ended in a bloodbath that has rocked the town of Woodsboro. All played out here in this peaceful farmhouse, far from the crimes and the sirens of the larger cities that its residents have fled. Okay, let’s take it back to one. Come on, move it! This is my big shot. Let’s go.
Gale: Oh, God, Kenny, I’m sorry, but get off my fucking windshield!
Gale: Guess I remembered the safety that time, bastard.
Gale: Looks like we’ve got a serial killer on our hands!
Deputy Dwight “Dewey” Riley: Well, a “serial killer” is not really accurate. Gotta knock off a couple more to get that title.
Gale: Well, we can help, can’t we? I mean, we certainly don’t have any leads. Have you located Sidney’s father yet?
Deputy Dwight “Dewey” Riley: No, not yet.
Gale: Well, he’s not a suspect, is he?
Deputy Dwight “Dewey” Riley: We haven’t ruled him out as a possibility.
[He becomes aware that he is gazing too long at her eyes]
Deputy Dwight “Dewey” Riley: If you’ll excuse me.
[Dewey turns away, but Gale pursues and grabs his arm]
Gale: I’m sorry, am I keeping you?
Deputy Dwight “Dewey” Riley: [Turning back to her, he removes his hat] If I may say so, Miss Weathers, you are much prettier in person.
[He gives her a flirty smile and turns away again to run up the school steps]
Gale: [delighted] So you do watch the show!
[Dewey stops and turns back]
Deputy Dwight “Dewey” Riley: I’m 25. I was 24 for a whole year.
[Gale runs across the school campus to Dewey]
Gale: Is there a problem on campus?
Deputy Dwight “Dewey” Riley: No. Everything’s under control.
Gale: [seductively] Well, of course. You’re here.
Deputy Dwight “Dewey” Riley: You’re not supposed to be here.
Gale: I know. I should be in New York covering the Sharon Stone stalker, but who knew?
[giggles]
Gale: You look awfully young to be a police officer.
Deputy Dwight “Dewey” Riley: I’m 25 years old.
Gale: You know, in a demographic study, I proved to be most popular amongst males 11 to 24. I guess I just missed you.
[giggles flirtatiously]
Gale: Of course, you don’t look a day over 12. Except in that…
[She looks him up and down, admiringly]
Gale: … upper torso area. Does the force require you to work out?
Deputy Dwight “Dewey” Riley: [Charmed, despite his common sense:] No, ma’am. ‘Cause of my boyish good looks, muscle mass has increased my acceptance as a serious police officer.
[They smile at each other]
Facts
• Cameo: [Linda Blair] the reporter who says, “People want to know, they have a right to know.”
• When Sidney comes out of the closet and stabs Billy with an umbrella, the stunt man was supposed to hit a pad on Skeet Ulrich’s chest. The first hit got the pad but the second one slipped and hit him in the chest (you can see it in his reaction). Wes Craven kept it in because of its authenticity.
• To keep ‘Drew Barrymore’ looking scared and crying, director Wes Craven kept telling her real life stories about animal cruelty. She is a keen animal lover in real life.
• William Faulkner’s novel “As I Lay Dying” (1930) features a character named Skeet McGowan (Scream features actors Skeet Ulrich and Rose McGowan) and a character named Dewey just as Scream does.
• Wes Craven found the mask in a store while location-scouting in California.
• When the killer smashes his head through a window and Casey hits him in the face with the phone, Wes Craven is actually wearing the costume and was really hit in the face.
• When Bob Weinstein watched parts of the first scenes filmed (rough cuts), he said that the mask used was “idiotic”. He asked the producers to film one scene with seven different masks and let him choose the one he liked the most. Producers didn’t agree and threatened to shut down production. They told him to wait until the first sequence (‘Drew Barrymore’ ‘s) was completed and then he could decide. After watching it, he happily agreed to the mask used and didn’t make another complaint for the rest of the filming.
• Rose McGowan discovered that she could actually fit through a pet flap.
• Drew Barrymore was originally cast as Sidney Prescott (eventually played by Neve Campbell). But Drew Barrymore insisted that if she played Casey then it would make the audience think anything could happen.
• Melissa Joan Hart auditioned for the role of Sidney Prescott.
• The film was originally to be shot at a high school in Santa Rosa, CA, but after the school board read the script they objected to the violent nature and production was moved to Healdsburg, CA.
• The special effects artists used about 50 gallons of blood.
• Tatum’s house is right across the street from the house in Santa Rosa, California used in Pollyanna (1960). It is also across the street from the house used in Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt (1943). The house in the opening scene was next door to the house used in Cujo (1983).
• Billy’s surname, Loomis, is the same as that of Donald Pleasance’s character in Halloween (1978), which in turn was the name of Marion Crane’s lover in Psycho (1960).
• The beginning of the movie is much like When a Stranger Calls (1979).
• A poster of Jamie Lee Curtis (known as the ‘Scream Queen’ after Halloween (1978)) for the film Mother’s Boys (1994) is shown prominently at the video store. Another film of hers, Trading Places (1983) is mentioned.
• Janeane Garofalo turned down the role of Gail Weathers.
• On “The Directors” (2007), David Arquette revealed that he presumptuously turned down the role of “Billy” in favor for playing “Dewey”, which was originally written as a hunky, leading man part.
• As revealed on “The Directors” (2007), Wes Craven originally turned down “Scream” because it was too violent, but reconsidered making one more gory movie for the hungry fans who continually told him that he last best movie was The Hills Have Eyes (1977).
• Being a favorite of the writer Kevin Williamson, Molly Ringwald was offered the role of Sydney Prescott, but turned it down, saying she’d rather not be playing a high school student at the age of 27.
• The song “Don’t Fear the Reaper” can be heard; in Halloween (1978), Annie and Laurie listen to it in the car.
• When Sidney is going into her house, the killer comes out of the closet the same way Michael Myers comes out of the closet after Bob in Halloween (1978).
• When Casey’s parents come home and see that something is wrong, her father says to her mother, “Go down the street to the Mackenzies’ house…” which is a quote from Halloween (1978).
• When Billy (who looks like Johnny Depp) sneaks into Sidney’s room in a manner similar to a scene where Depp’s character does something similar in _Nightmare On Elm Street, A (1984)_.
• Casey hanging from the tree looks like the opening of Suspiria (1977).
• The school janitor Fred (played by Wes Craven) can be seen wearing Freddy Krueger’s outfit from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).
• Tatum wears a jersey with the number 10 on it. This is the same thing Johnny Depp’s character wore in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).
• Casey claims that all of the sequels to _Nightmare On Elm Street, A (1984)_ “sucked”. Wes Craven sold the rights to sequels before the film was released and became a success and disliked many of the sequels. See also: A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985).
• The mask is based on the painting “Scream” by Edvard Munch.
• The cheerleader in the washroom scene was played by one of Skeet Ulrich’s girlfriends.
• Matthew Lillard (Stu) add-libbed the line “Ah… Houston, we have a problem” when he discovered that the gun was gone.
• David Arquette’s sister Patricia Arquette starred in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) written and produced by director Wes Craven.
• The Jiffy Pop popcorn in the first scene acts as a clock. It goes from normal to out of control as does the scene
• A videotape box of the film Clerks. (1994) is visible during the close-up of the miniature camera that Gale has left behind during the final party sequence. Having been released by Miramax, the parent company of Dimension Films (which released “Scream”), “Clerks” director Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes reprise their roles from the View Askewniverse as Silent Bob and Jay, respectively, for a cameo in Scream 3 (2000).
• These are the horror film rules as stated in the movie: – 1. You will not survive if you have sex – 2. You will not survive if you drink or do drugs – 3. You will not survive if you say “I’ll be right back” – 4. Everyone is a suspect. – Two additional rules come from the killer: – 5. You will not survive if you ask “Who’s there?” – 6. You will not survive if you go out to investigate a strange noise.
• Kevin Williamson’s screenplay caused a bidding war in Hollywood.
• Kevin Patrick Walls, who plays Drew Barrymore’s ill-fated boyfriend, was given this small part as compensation for not getting the role of Billy.
• The opening with Drew Barrymore lasts for 12 minutes.
• Marco Beltrami landed scoring duties after Wes Craven”s assistant was on an Internet chat site, asking if anyone knew of any fresh musical talent.
• The use of caller ID increased more than threefold after the release of this film.
• When Casey is trying to answer the “Jason…It’s Jason” question in an attempt to save her boyfriend’s life, you can hear a light musical score homage to John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) theme.
• ‘Drew Barrymore’ and Neve Campbell did not meet Roger Jackson, the actor who played “the Voice” before shooting commenced. Whenever they are talking on the phone to the killer, they are actually talking to him.
• Two plugs for Kevin Smith’s Clerks. (1994). A poster for the film can be seen in the video store and the Video Box can be seen sitting on top of the VCR when everyone is watching John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978).
• Rose McGowan dyed her hair blonde in order to contrast her black hair from Neve Campbell’s.
• The MPAA wanted to cut out the graphic shot of the killer stabbing Casey Becker at the beginning, but director Craven claimed it was the only take of it they had filmed (which wasn’t true). The shot remained intact.
• The bathroom that Sidney is attacked in is the same one used on the “Stab 3” set in Scream 3 (2000).
• The production moved to the Sonoma Community Center in the City of Sonoma for the high school scenes. It was always scheduled to be shot in the Healdsburg area.
• Originally titled “Scary Movie” which was later used for a parody of the Scream and other pop culture horror films like it.
• Reese Witherspoon turned down the lead role.
• The killer was based on a Florida serial killer, the “Gainesville Ripper”.
• Joseph Whipp who played Deputy Burke, was also in the original _Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)_, where he played a cop named Sergeant Parker.
• Melinda Clarke turned down the role of Tatum Riley.
• Rebecca Gayheart auditioned for the role of Tatum Riley, but scheduling conflicts with her film Somebody Is Waiting (1996) prevented her from landing the role. She later turned up in Scream 2 (1997) playing a sorority sister.
• Charlotte Ayanna was considered for the role of Tatum Riley.
• The scene where the killer is sneaking up behind Randy is the only one where the person in the costume is actually one of the actors rather than a stunt man. Skeet Ulrich has specifically asked if he could wear the costume for once scene.
• The idea of the pet door in the garage came from Williamson’s assistant. Originally, Tatum’s death scene was to be a fist fight with the killer, and having the door come down on her neck.
• All the killer’s phone calls were really done by Roger Jackson on set with a cell phone. At one point, the crew were contacted by the police demanding to know who they were because they thought there was a real killer making the phone calls.
• Tatum says that the situation is like a Wes Carpenter film. This is a reference to Wes Craven, who directed the movie, and John Carpenter, who directed Halloween (1978), which is featured in the movie.
• Stu’s line “I always had a thing for ya, Sid!” and Sidney’s response “In your dreams!” were ad-libbed by Matthew Lillard and Neve Campbell.
• Contains spoilers for Friday the 13th (1980).
• Courteney Cox and David Arquette met and fell in love on the set of this movie. They eventually married.
• Body Count: 7
• Freddie Prinze Jr. auditioned for the role of Stu.
• When the phone slips out of Billy’s hand and hits Stu’s head, it was completely unintentional. Wes Craven kept it in because of Stu’s realistic reaction.
• Justin Shenkarow loved the screenplay so much that he elected to take a minor behind-the-scenes role. His name appears 25th from the bottom of the credits.
• The death of Principal Himbry was added to the film after Bob Weinstein noticed that there was about 30 pages in the script where nobody died and told Kevin Williamson that “somebody must die”. Subsequently, the addition of the scene gave Kevin Williamson a good reason to have all the party guests leave the party near the climax.
• Before the principal dies he goes out and finds the janitor named Fred dressed in a red and green sweater, reference to Freddy Krueger from _A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)_.
• Dewey (David Arquette) was supposed to die from the stab wound to the back. Director Wes Craven filmed the scene at the end of the film, where Dewey is alive and being taken to the hospital, just in case he changed his mind about killing Dewey. The screen-test audience loved the character Dewey so much that Craven decided to add his survival scene in the final cut. If you watch closely during the part where Gale (Courtney Cox) is knocked out by Billy (Skeet Ulrich), you can see that Dewey is not breathing when Gale lands on him because Dewey was intended to be dead. Every time Dewey is shown after he is stabbed before the final scene is intended to be his dead body, not him lying unconscious.
