Overall Stars:

Scream: ****

Scream 2 : ***

Scream 3: **1/2

Scare Factor:

Scream: ****

Scream 2 : ***

Scream 3: **

   Note: This is not a Scream Trilogy box set; all three of the films will be released separately on Blu-ray on March 29^th through Lions Gate Home Entertainment. I have decided to review all three together as the films as a trilogy belong together and all tell the same continuous story.

   In 1996 horror director Wes Craven’s career was kind of on a downward spiral. He was the man who created the iconic Freddy Kruger and had a ton of success with The Nightmare on Elm Street series. However, since then, the majority of films he directed went unnoticed to the mass public and he took a gamble with a script written by a young screenwriter named Kevin Williamson. That script was Scream, it was your typical tongue and cheek slasher film but it had a great whodunit twist. Sure, a lot of films in the seventies and eighties have the same kind of plot, but little did the world know that Scream would not only end up reviving the slasher film, but would be one of the best slasher films ever made and launched the sub-genre of teen slasher films that we see today.  The film would produce two sequels that would only add more fusion to its story and help fuel the teen slasher films that would dominate the box office over the next few years. Scream can be hailed as the film that saved the downward spiral of horror films in the nineties. The trilogy will be now be made available on Blu-ray for the second time, however a ton of features will be included on all three discs. It’s also the perfect time for them to be released, as the forth Scream film will be released in a few weeks, bringing the surviving characters of the first three films back together for one more ride.

   For those that have been living under a rock the past fifteen years or for the new generation of horror fans who were too young to see the three films in theaters; the Scream films, especially the first film, in the nineties, were the horror films that mirrored Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the seventies, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13^th in the eighties and by today’s standards the remakes of those classics. Scream was the “it” horror film on that decade.

The story is about a young girl named Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), a teenage girl whose mother, Maureen, fell victim to a brutal murder one year earlier. A masked killer in a ghost faced costume is killing off young teenagers one by one. However his methods include all the clichés of every horror film you’ve ever seen. If a victim follows those clichés they will most likely end up dead. The killer however calls the unsuspecting victim right before they are about to be murdered and asks them questions about horror films, if they fail to answer the questions right, the hunt begins, and the victims are brutally murdered. Sidney is the main focus of the films and of the killer. She is the girl that everyone expects to survive in a horror film, because she fits the profile of the scared young girl who turns into the heroine. In all three films she is the focus of the killers. As you will learn, if you never seen the films, and I’m sorry to give away this minor spoiler, there is a different killer in each film. However, they all relate to one another in some way as the trilogy comes full circle in the third film. At least that’s what we think, because the forth film is about to thicken the plot once again.

  It was nice to go back and sit though these films once again. There were some good films that came out in the nineties that no one really saw, that I liked, but I can’t remember when and where I saw them. I can tell you the first time I saw Scream. It was in a packed out theaters about five weeks after the film was released. It was a word of mouth film, and was even re-released a few months after its initial release. The sequels faired well at the box office also, and although they were not as good as the first film they still were good films that added to the story. When I look back at nineties horror, I think Scream was the horror film of that decade. Sure there was The Blair Witch Project, but Scream was more than just a good scare, it was that popcorn horror film that kept you on the edge of your seat with both its mysterious plot and the terror it instilled in the audience. Even the sequels with there whodunit plot took you for a wild rollercoaster ride.

    All three of the Blu-ray discs are in 1080P High Definition presented in Widescreen format with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio with English SDH and English and Spanish subtitles. They all also include the films theatrical trailers and TV spots.

The Scream Blu-ray features Audio commentary with Director Wes Craven, and Writer Kevin Williamson. There is also a Production Featurette, behind the scenes on the set of Scream with Dew Barrymore and Q & A with the Cast and Crew. The Scream 2 Blu-ray features Audio commentary with Director Wes Craven, Producer Marianne Maddelena and Editor Patrick Lussier, Deleted Scenes with Optional Audio Commentary, Outtakes and a featurette.  Scream 3 has all the same feature as the Scream 2 disc, but also includes behinds the scenes montage of the film.

    With Scream 4 set to hit theaters in a few weeks, there are going to be a lot of horror fans that are going to want to re-live the original trilogy. What better way to do so than by getting the original trilogy on Blu-ray. It was a smart move on Lions Gate part to acquire the Blu-ray rights to the films and they did a wonderful job putting together all the goodies that each disc comes with. These disc are a must have for fans of the original Scream Trilogy. It is, after all, the best horror trilogy from the nineteen nineties.  

  - Horror Bob

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