“Do you like scary movies?” With those five words, Wes Craven’s Scream injected fresh blood into the veins of the horror movie back in the 1990s. Now a quarter-of-a-century old, it’s easy to forget just how game-changing this 1996 slasher movie was. Scripted by Kevin Williamson, making his breakthrough here before he’d go on to create teen sensation Dawson’s Creek, Scream set out to toy with the tropes of the horror genre in a way no film had ever done before.
This week sees the release of the fifth film in the franchise. Simply titled Scream, it’s the first entry in 11 years, since 2011’s Scream 4, and the first not directed by Craven who died in 2015. Taking over the reins are Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet, who made the highly watchable 2019 comedy-horror Ready or Not. At the centre, Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott returns to the quiet town of Woodsboro, as another killer begins stalking teenage victims.
The original Scream was nominally inspired by the real-life case of the Gainesville Ripper – aka Daniel Harold Rolling – who murdered five students in Florida. But it was really influenced by the world of, well, scary movies. Take the opening scene, as Drew Barrymore’s blonde Casey talks to a mystery caller on the phone, as he goads her into discussing her favourite horrors. Like A Nightmare on Elm Street. “It was scary,” he coos. “Well the first one was,” she replies, “but the rest sucked.”
It was the perfect in-joke given Craven directed the first Nightmare on Elm Street, starring Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger – the ghoulish dream-haunter with razor hands. Ironically, it was Craven’s return to the franchise, with 1994’s Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, that laid the groundwork for Scream. That entirely meta outing saw Krueger come to haunt his creators, with Craven and Robert Shaye, the boss at New Line, the company behind the Freddy films, playing themselves.
As clever as it was, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare didn’t make the impact that Scream did, although you wouldn’t know it from the early reviews of Craven’s film. “The pic’s chills are top-notch, but its underlying monkish tone won’t please diehard fans. That adds up to no more than modest commercial returns,” noted industry paper Variety, which predicted Scream’s December 1996 release would be “dead on arrival” alongside the season’s more traditional family films.
Instead, this slow-burner set the cinemas alight, grossing $173 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing slasher movie – until David Gordon Green’s 2018 reboot of the Halloween franchise eclipsed it. Suddenly, everywhere you looked, there were "Ghostface" masks – the white rubber face with the droopy mouth, inspired by Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream, that’s used by the killer in the film to disguise his identity.
Every bit as chilling as Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees (the hockey-mask wearing killer in the Friday the 13th films) or Michael Myers (Halloween’s violent entity), Ghostface instantly became a modern horror icon. But there was more to Scream than this, thanks to fiendish plotting and an attractive, fresh-faced cast – led by Campbell, who had come off the back of TV series Party of Five. Joining her were such rising stars as Liev Schreiber and Matthew Lillard, alongside Friends’ Courteney Cox and, of course, Drew Barrymore.
After the 1980s, the era of video nasties and Hollywood pumping out low-budget gore to serve the rapacious VHS home entertainment market, Scream felt like a much-needed palette cleanser. Rather than follow a predictable formula, it cheekily deconstructed the rules that horror films nearly all abide by. “Never, ever, ever under any circumstances say, ‘I’ll be right back.” Because you won’t be back,” explains Randy Meeks, the nerdy video rental store employee played by Jamie Kennedy.
Craven’s film even had the guts to tear up the rule book – notably in that now infamous opening scene with Barrymore. At the time, the former child actor from Spielberg’s ET the Extra-Terrestrial was unquestionably the film’s biggest movie star. But by the end of that scene, she was left slain by the Ghostface killer – a complete shock to audiences. What kind of movie dared bump off its biggest star in the first ten minutes?
When follow-up Scream 2 arrived a year later, Meeks was on hand to serve up the rules that apply to all horror sequels. “Number one: the body count is always bigger. Number two: the death scenes are always much more elaborate … and number three: never, ever, under any circumstances, assume the killer is dead.” Even more amusingly, it featured a film-within-a-film called Stab, a movie inspired by the Woodsboro killings seen in Scream (and a classic riff on how Hollywood can’t resist gratuitously pinching from real life).
The impact these two films had went far beyond the horror genre – not least in inspiring the crude parody Scary Movie (the original title of Williamson’s first draft for Scream) and its four sequels. Even now, you can see the lasting impression left by Scream on other movies. Just released, The Matrix Resurrections revisits the Wachowskis’ sci-fi extravaganza by putting Keanu Reeves’ character Neo back inside the all-encompassing virtual reality computer programme, as a designer of a trilogy of games called – you guessed it – "The Matrix". All very meta.
Of course, Scream did eventually succumb to what it mocked – with Scream 3 (2000) and the belated Scream 4 (2011) nowhere near as fresh or incisive as their predecessors. That the franchise also inspired a three-series television anthology, set in the fictional town of Lakewood, just added to the idea that the brand was being diluted. There was even a web series and a spin-off talk-show, Scream After Dark, as cast members came on to discuss the latest plot twists.
More recently, the genre has backed away from Scream’s self-referential slasher-style blood and gore, favouring the more character-driven so-called "elevated horror" of films like Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Us and Ari Aster’s Hereditary and Midsommar. Yet there can be no doubt that Scream’s impact was enormous – proof that a movie was capable of entertaining audiences and slyly commenting upon itself and the genre it belongs to. Whether 2022’s Scream will manage the same – or simply feel like a rehash – remains to be seen.
Scream opens in cinemas on January 13
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Company%20Profile
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FIGHT CARD
Bantamweight Hamza Bougamza (MAR) v Jalal Al Daaja (JOR)
Catchweight 67kg Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR) v Fouad Mesdari (ALG)
Lighweight Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) v Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)
Catchweight 73kg Mostafa Ibrahim Radi (PAL) v Yazid Chouchane (ALG)
Middleweight Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) v Badreddine Diani (MAR)
Catchweight 78kg Rashed Dawood (UAE) v Adnan Bushashy (ALG)
Middleweight Sallaheddine Dekhissi (MAR) v Abdel Emam (EGY)
Catchweight 65kg Rachid Hazoume (MAR) v Yanis Ghemmouri (ALG)
Lighweight Mohammed Yahya (UAE) v Azouz Anwar (EGY)
Catchweight 79kg Omar Hussein (PAL) v Souhil Tahiri (ALG)
Middleweight Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Laid Zerhouni (ALG)
Poacher
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The%20specs
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From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
Results
Stage Two:
1. Mark Cavendish (GBR) QuickStep-AlphaVinyl 04:20:45
2. Jasper Philipsen (BEL) Alpecin-Fenix
3. Pascal Ackermann (GER) UAE Team Emirates
4. Olav Kooij (NED) Jumbo-Visma
5. Arnaud Demare (FRA) Groupama-FDJ
General Classification:
1. Jasper Philipsen (BEL) Alpecin-Fenix 09:03:03
2. Dmitry Strakhov (RUS) Gazprom-Rusvelo 00:00:04
3. Mark Cavendish (GBR) QuickStep-AlphaVinyl 00:00:06
4. Sam Bennett (IRL) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:00:10
5. Pascal Ackermann (GER) UAE Team Emirates 00:00:12
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Grand Slam Los Angeles results
Men:
56kg – Jorge Nakamura
62kg – Joao Gabriel de Sousa
69kg – Gianni Grippo
77kg – Caio Soares
85kg – Manuel Ribamar
94kg – Gustavo Batista
110kg – Erberth Santos
Women:
49kg – Mayssa Bastos
55kg – Nathalie Ribeiro
62kg – Gabrielle McComb
70kg – Thamara Silva
90kg – Gabrieli Pessanha