Scream (1996)
Scream is a 1996 crime movie directed by Wes Craven, with a running time of 1h 52m. It stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox.
A year after her mother's murder, Sidney Prescott is trying to be an ordinary high schooler in the small town of Woodsboro. Then a killer in a ghost-face mask starts phoning teenagers, quizzing them on horror movies before the knives come out. Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson turn the slasher inside out, letting characters who have seen every scary movie narrate the rules even as they break them. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette and a game supporting cast keep the fear and the wit in balance. Sharp, self-aware and genuinely frightening.
Quick answers
What is Scream about?
A year after her mother's murder, Sidney Prescott is trying to be an ordinary high schooler in the small town of Woodsboro. Then a killer in a ghost-face mask starts phoning teenagers, quizzing them on horror movies before the knives come out. Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson turn the slasher inside out, letting characters who have seen every scary movie narrate the rules even as they break them. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette and a game supporting cast keep the fear and the wit in balance. Sharp, self-aware and genuinely frightening.
When was Scream released?
Scream was released on 20 December 1996.
How long is Scream?
Scream runs 1h 52m.
Who made Scream?
Scream was directed by Wes Craven.
Where can I watch Scream?
Scream is available on Paramount Plus, Paramount+ (Via Amazon Prime), YouTube TV, fuboTV, Hoopla and Kanopy.
Where to watch Scream
Stream: Paramount Plus, Paramount+ (Via Amazon Prime), YouTube TV, fuboTV
Rent: Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango at Home, Spectrum On Demand
Buy: Fandango at Home
Official site
Cast
- David Arquette as Dewey Riley
- Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott
- Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers
- Matthew Lillard as Stu Macher
- Rose McGowan as Tatum Riley
- Skeet Ulrich as Billy Loomis
- Jamie Kennedy as Randy Meeks
- W. Earl Brown as Kenny Brown
- Joseph Whipp as Sheriff Burke
- Liev Schreiber as Cotton Weary
- Drew Barrymore as Casey Becker
- Roger L. Jackson as 'The Voice' (voice)
Similar movies
Explore Scream guides
Scream in our writing
- The Data: Stranger Things Was Never an 80s Show. It Was Horror Wearing One
- Companion guide: Slashers
A few thoughts on Scream
The whodunit engine that drives Ghostface runs just as hard in One of us is next, where high schoolers get picked off inside a cruel game with a hidden hand behind it. For play instead of pages, Until Dawn hands you a group of teens in a slasher setup where your choices decide who lives, and Dead by Daylight lets you stalk or flee as Ghostface himself.
Continuing the Ghostface story after the original
Scream launched a franchise built on the same trick: characters who've seen these movies applying the rules to their own survival. Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4, Scream VI and the 2022 legacy sequel keep swapping killers under the same mask, while Scream 7 carries Sidney's world into a new chapter. Woodsboro's body count keeps climbing, but that meta wink never dulls.
Genre-savvy teens trapped inside a horror movie they know too well
Scream's teenagers narrate horror tropes even as Ghostface hunts them, and this angle collects other stories that trap smart kids inside genre rules they can't escape. Until Dawn's slasher-night survivors, Fear Street's cursed 1994 crew and I Know What You Did Last Summer's guilty friend group all face a killer who seems to already know the script.
Killers whose confidence is the scariest part
Ghostface stays eerily composed on the phone, and these picks share that chill of a killer who is smarter than everyone chasing him. American Psycho's Patrick Bateman hides monstrous violence behind polish, Mr. Mercedes gives Stephen King's killer a chilling patience, and Gacy and I Am Not a Serial Killer both study the mind behind the mask rather than just the kills.
Amateur sleuths hunting a killer hiding in plain sight
Sidney and her friends turn amateur detective to unmask the killer under the mask, and these picks follow that same instinct. One of Us Is Next lets a new group of teens investigate a copycat threat, The Kindaichi Case Files and Death Note both follow sharp minds outthinking a murderer, and Dead by Daylight puts you on the run from a masked stalker yourself.