Cult 101: Scream (1996)
Director: Wes Craven Run Time: 112 min. Rating: R Release Year: 1996
Starring: Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, Neve Campbell, Rose McGowan
Country: United States
Language: English
Cult 101 at Gateway Film Center
A celebration of the best cult films of all time.
See more Cult 101About the film:
A series of mysterious deaths befalls a small town. On the anniversary of her mother’s murder, Sydney Prescott becomes the target of the masked serial killer known as Ghostface. As the body count rises, Sidney and her offbeat group of friends turn to the “rules” of horror films to help navigate the real-life terror they’re living in.
“Smartly written, brilliantly directed, and seriously scary.”
—Ben Travis, Empire Online
Now regarded as one of the greatest horror and slasher films ever made, Wes Craven’s influential thriller Scream (1996) launched an enduring franchise that includes Scream 2 (1997), Scream 3 (2000), Scream 4 (2011), Scream (2022), and Scream VI (2023).
About the filmmaker:
Wes Craven was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Originally intending to be a college professor, he instead became one of the most recognized masters of the horror genre, best known for his pioneering work on slasher films mixing horror with satire. For his work, Craven received a number of lifetime achievement awards, including honors from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films in 1995 and the New York City Horror Film Festival in 2012.
He created the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise (1984–2010) and directed the first four films in the Scream franchise (1996–2011). He also directed cult classics The Last House on the Left (1972) — his directorial debut — followed by The Hills Have Eyes (1977), horror comedy The People Under the Stairs (1991), and psychological thriller Red Eye (2005). His other notable films include Swamp Thing (1982), The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), Shocker (1989), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), Music of the Heart (1999), and the 2006 Cannes Film Festival selection Paris, je t’aime (2006) as one of 22 international contributing directors.
See our upcoming films