Scream

(Wes Craven, US 1996, 111 min., DCP)

Author and Syracuse University professor Kendall Phillips joins us to celebrate the release of the second edition of Projected Fears: Horror Films and American Culture. One of the films Phillips focuses on in the book is Scream, the post-modern take on the slasher film directed by master Wes Craven in a world inundated with media on the form. The film follows high schooler Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) as she and her classmates are targeted by the Ghostface killer on the anniversary of her mother’s murder. Craven manages to maintain the tension and fear while simultaneously pointing out the tropes and cliches the very film traffics in. A classic, and a turning point in the horror genre.