Most of the clever meta commentary aged badly (and was better done by Craven in New Nightmare anyway), but this film off the charts misanthropy remains very effective (seriously, save from how careful Rose McGowan’s character is about Sydney, the only act of kindness in this whole movie is slice-throated cameraman pointing out to Sydney she could lock the van’s door). Craven’s set pieces remain very effective, but what is most impressive is how he moves slasher from the giallo inspired money shot kill towards a much more pervasiveness sense of violent doom. Most of reviews of the time were pretty obsessed about how gory this is, but compared with a run of the mill early 80s like The Prowler (with its Tom Savini assisted murders) it actually relative tame, only the violent scenes don’t feel divorced from everything else but rather rooted in its character’s high school existence. Also, Scream is so rooted in mid 90s it can’t stop feel very dated, but by now that is very much part of its charm and much like Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers the very 90s young cast actually adds to the wasteful feel that pervades the whole movie.