Scream (1996) DVD Cover

Scream is described by many as a postmodern film that uses a mix of Parody, a work that mimics in an absurd or ridiculous way the conventions and style of another work. Intertextuality, meanings of texts that is shaped by other texts, and Pastiche, a work that imitates the style of anothers work. The reasons for this reference of postmodernism come from the films use of knowledge of the horrors that came before as A. Haflidason states Multiple references to various movies of the genre litter a script that prides itself on being cleverer than the features it both mocks and reveres. (A.Haflidason, 2001) Scream is very much a horror that is self aware that it is a horror which uses this knowledge to its advantage, Intelligence, wit and sophistication - at last, a horror movie to shout about!, (TOL, 2006) If one knows their horror, one can simply pick out these references and the blur of meanings behind the text of the film. There are two major examples of this within the film, the sexually active teenagers and the villain him self. The Teenagers are really the first part that screams at the audience that it, as well as the people in the film, knows fully well what a horror is made up of and is using the audiences knowledge of the meanings

of horror films to guide and ultimately take the mick out of the rules of horror films. The kids have been shaped by the movies and can quote chapter and verse from Craven's "Nightmare on Elm Street," "Halloween" and "Prom Night" to explain the killer's gestalt. The rules of movie horror --- as delineated by a vid-store employee -- make Billy (Skeet Ulrich), Sidney's boyfriend, a prime suspect and also provide a long list of candidates for the potential-victims roster. (L.Klady, 2007) As most horror addicts know, the rule of the teenage victims is, is that there will always be the final stand the virgin girl whom has to fight for her life at the very end of the film. In Scream this rule is applied to save a young mans life that everyone expected to be dead but is warped for the once virgin girl. The virgin heroin of the story gives it up right at the end to non-other but one of the villains unknowingly. By the rules of horror which this film openly clings to, the girl, by all rights, should die, but ends up turning into a more confident and focused character right at the end to save her fathers life. This very much uses Parody to mimic yet distort the rules and intersexuality to warp the meanings of the text of the rules to make the new meanings for the rules openly to the audience.

The Villain him/them selves scream pastiche and intertextuality. The mask, the knife and the lurking in the shadows toying with there victims all use the past meanings of horror knowingly and try to make it as obvious as possible through out the film. The combination of the mask, knife and the lurking some up all the past stars of killing which is very much pastiche. It loughs at those horrors by using a simple Halloween costume as its representative of these meanings which is using intertextuality as it is using the past meaning yet once again warping it to lough at those meanings. The film it self very much loughs at the horror genre by using all the past horrors to define the rules of the film yet make the rules so obvious one could have a fair guess at whom the killer is yet still keeps you primed on your seat constantly guessing whos who.

Bibliography A.Haflidason, (2001) BBC [online] at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/05/24/scream_1996_review.shtml L. Klady, (2007) Variety [online] at: http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117436711?refcatid=31 Time Out London (2006) [online] at: http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/74157/scream.html

Illustrations Sream (1996) DVD Cover. (Online Image) at: http://wipfilms.net/wp-content/uploads/Posters/Scream%201996.jpg